Quick carbonation technique question

[seanppp]

I brewed a beer on the pilot system at my friend's microbrewery, a very small batch (I ended up with 5 corny kegs) and I want to put it on very soon so I looked up how to quick carbonate. I saw that 30psi for 1 minute, rolling the keg on the ground, should do the trick. I did that, but I didn't hear any flow going from the regulator to the keg. There was CO2 flowing when I first hooked it up or when I pulled on the pin at the top, so there wasn't anything wrong there. But I figured I'd hear something as I was rolling the kegs. Is it sometimes very quiet? It was a large (4' high or so) tank, not sure if that matters.

I'm a bit worried that I didn't put all that much CO2 in there! The kegs are in the walk in refrigerator, and I will check the carbonation tomorrow. Any advice would be welcomed, as I'd like to have it carb'd up by Sunday.

Thanks!

 

[dobe12]

I've never done that method, so I can't comment directly, but I routinely carb kegs in about 3 days using another method. This is my method when putting a filled keg directly into my kegerator without any precarbing.

30psi for 24hrs
release pressure and turn down to 20psi
20psi for 24hrs
release pressure and turn down to 10psi
10psi for 24hrs

At this point you can start tasting. It's usually pretty close to carbed or at the very least, drinkable and needing another day or two to fully carb.

NOW, I have also got into the habit of precarbing warm. If there is no open spot in my kegerator when I fill a keg (and this is my goal) I precarb kegs still at room temp. I have a second 5lb CO2 tank w/regulator and splitter, so I can actually carb 2 kegs at room temp. I just hook up the gas and keep 30psi running for a week then disconnect the gas. When a spot opens in the kegerator I put one of the precarbed kegs in and let if cool overnight. The next day I release the pressure and hook up the gas at 10psi. I start tasting and usually have to either adjust up or down for a day or so to balance it out.

 

[pkrath84]

I've found if you roll out around you can speed up the process of force carbing due to increased surface area. I purge a few times and then chill as long as possible, as cold as I can for my patience and I'm good to go. Sometimes you notice some carbonic bite. But it goes away as the co2 dissolves into solution.

 

[KEG99]

If the kegs were not cold, you won't get much CO2 to mix with the beer. The colder the beer the more CO2 it will accept.

 

[jeffcosgrove]

You should hear flow coming from the regulator. When I transfer a batch to the keg that I want on tap soon I consult this chart:

http://www.kegerators.com/carbonation-table.php

Since my basement is around 60 I set pressure to 23-25 psi. I tilt the keg away from the IN post and swirl around gently so as to achieve mixing but not cover up the IN post with liquid. I can definitely hear flow through the regulator when I do this. You should also feel it getting colder at the top of the keg. I use a 20 oz paintball tank for this procedure. I do this about 15 times while warm and then transfer to kegerator under normal pressure. It is usually a bit undercarbed, but close enough to drink and then I let normal pressure carb it up from there.

If you already have it cold I would set it at serving pressure and roll it around as I described above. If the beer can accept the CO2 you will hear it coming in through the regulator as you swirl the keg.

HTH

 

[jeffcosgrove]

Each time I swirl I wait for regulator to open up and then stop when I can hear it cut off. I usually do it over the course of 4-6 hours.