12 hour ride for my keg?

So I'm thinking of taking a 5 gal keg of Pale ale to my uncles in South Carolina from Pennsylvania. It' about a 12 hour ride. I was thinking, brew it, keg it (uncarbed) and go for the drive.
Does anyone see any ill effects with the beer sloshing around in the back of my 4runner for that time? I hate to ruin a batch, not to mention the embarassement when I serve it.

 

If you're transporting it uncarbed, how are you going to carb & serve it when you get there? Why not have it on gas for the trip down?

 

Definitely purge any oxygen before you begin your journey. I would probably just put enough pressure in it to keep it sealed. Problem is, how long with you be there? It'll take a few days to properly carbonate.

 

I thought carbing it first it might really build too much pressure. I have 5 days so I can force carb it there. I'll bring my 5 lb tank.

 

I carried a carbed keg in the back of a truck to Snowshoe W. Va a week ago (11.5 hrs travel). I tapped it and started drinking it as soon as I got there. It was wonderful!

 

Just carbonate it before you leave. The sloshing around will not cause it to over carbonate so long as it isn't hooked up to the CO2 tank, as the extra pressure in the head space is just CO2 that has come out of solution during the drive, it will be dissolved back into the beer when you cool it down. Corny kegs are rated to over 125 psi, and most pressure release valves have safety releases, but that won't ever be an issueif you only carb it to 2 or 2.5 volumes.

Think about it this way, frat guys throw kegs around in the back of their cars/trucks and the beer isn't overcarbed. Same go for bottles that are imported for Europe or that are trucked across the states.

Carb it up, and hit the road, that way you can ice it down and pour a pint asap.

 

Thanks,will do!

 

I can force carb in 2 days, I understand everyone is saying carb first, but don't you think it would be better to transport uncarbed?

 

it makes no difference carbed or not. I'd carb it just so I could enjoy it as soon as I arrive

 

I guess it doesn't really matter in the end, so long as you purge the keg with CO2 before hand and then set the lid with about 15 psi after it's racked. It's just far easier and seems to make more sense, why arrive with an unfinished product? What if the beer doesn't carb up in 2 days? What if it gets over carbed? Do it at home, it's easier to troubleshoot and control conditions.

When are you going on the drive? You could possibly have time to keg, carb, and jump to a new keg so really minimize the amount of sludge and sediment, making the beer ready to drink the day you arrive after just a few hours on ice.

 

Gotcha, Will carb and Go! Good point zgardner, about controlled conditions at home. I got it down pat with temps and pressures at home
Thanks for the advice

 

Curious. No one put in the mention of carbing *during* the drive. With beer sloshing around in a pressurized state, isn't that the same as force carbing at home and shaking it all about?
I'm sure it'd be difficult to monitor the exact state of carbonation though, without an accurate expectance chart for force carbing beer at x temperature and y time and z agitation.

 

The biggest issue i see here is temperature. If the beer is at room temp, even with the sloshing, it probably wouldn't dissolve much gas.

 

I would TOTALLY do this. Use Beersmith/BeerTools/whatever software and find the APPROPRIATE pressure to dissolve 2.5 volumes of CO2 at 70F. Then put this pressure on your regulator and leave the keg hooked up to the gas during your drive with the keg on its side. When you get there it'll be perfectly carbed, assuming you keep your car around 70F.

It's a a product of the solubility of a gas in a liquid being a function of partial pressure and temperature. Regardless of mechanical effects, at a given temperature and pressure the solution will not supersaturate. I use this principle all the time to force carb kegs. I set the reg to about 40 PSI, lay the keg on its side and rock it gently with my foot for a while sitting at my desk doing homework. I have never overcarbed a beer doing this, even when I've gone way past when I stop hearing the bubbles.

If you do this, though, make sure that you have a check valve installed in your gas line, just in case.

 

I like that idea even more! :rockin:
Thanks Trigger

 

What advantage is there to carbing during the trip. You have a proven method of quick carbing at home where you can easily check to ensure it's progressing like you want and not overcarbing. I say carb it up at home like you normally do, and don't get cute trying to carb on the road.

 

Simple. I'm lazy.
There's something that's already going to do the manual work for me, wether I want it to or not. I like taking advantage of those things. Some people call it efficiency.
It's not like I'm planning on running a company that has a truck, co2 tank, kegs and monitors in each tank reading dissolved co2 with auto shutoffs or anything.

 

Personally I'd carb at home. Much more controlled environment.

Carbing in the vehicle... well if something were to go wrong, you'd have a helluva mess, not to mention you'd be taking in a lot of CO2 until you realized it. (I am aware that CO2 is more noticeable than CO). You'd also need to carry your usual tools with you.

Think about it... ALL of the breweries out there ship their kegs already carbed! Be it Rogue or Bud!

M_C

 

+1 for carbing at home, but carbing on the road in a pinch would be funny/cool assuming it was in the back of a truck and you weren't going to potentially gas yourself if the disconnect came off.