Force Carbonating Glass Growlers

Scary thought isn't it ;-) Since I started using the Tap-a-Draft system, and force carbonating on my big CO2 bottle, I've worked up the nerve to force carbonate glass growlers to 20 psi........ I'm not comfortable going beyond that. The carbonation cap that is sold to use with Tap-a-Draft fits growlers, and I find myself carbonating growlers fairly frequently.

I have cloth sling hanging from a bungee cord that I hang whatever I'm carbonating in so I don't have to hold the weight while shaking / sloshing. This provides some protection against glass shards if one were to burst........ I don't really expect a growler to burst under 20 psi, but if it does, I don't want it to burst in my hands.

I now have 3 "delivery systems" for beer. One is the Tap-a-Draft, another is bottle conditioned beer.....I often put some in the Tap-a-Draft, and bottle condition some...... Force carbonated 1L bottles.......... I use them like a growler and dispense right into the bottle, then force carbonate for a bit of additional pressure using a simple fixture I built to force carbonate flip top bottles, and the force carbonated growlers. I decided that force carbonating anything less than a liter was a waste of time without some sort of shaker system and the ability to force a 6 pack at a time.

There is a shaker in my future ;-)




H.W.

 

That's some crazy sh!t right there...

 

I kind of thought so too............ but I'm growing more confident. I do NOT advocate doing this for obvious reasons. The growlers go straight to the fridge. The beer is quite cold while I'm doing this.......for better absorption, and I shake a significant amount of time after removing CO2.......with the idea of getting more absorption and reducing pressure.......By the time they get opened, the pressure is about like a commercial bottle of beer. The 20 psi is just to accelerate absorption.

My thinking is that if the bottle doesn't burst while it is contained and hooked up to CO2, and I shake afterward, the pressure will never be as high as that 20 psi peak.... As long as I don't sit it in the sun somewhere. There is no way to know what the limits are...... and I really don't want to find out. Glass is pretty strong, and I'm pretty comfortable with 20 psi. My Ez Caps are rated for over 100 psi......but they are smaller and heavier.



H.W.

 

Yeah, I appreciate you aren't actually advocating this practice, and only posted it for...ummm....why?

 

Safety glasses...just wear your safety glasses.

 

Impatient? Enjoy the taste of green beer? I'm trying to understand why... Presumably you make beer enough that something is always on hand... So trying to understand why you want to take green beer and force carb....

This could also be a trolling post seeking the Oh-no's for doing a lazy ass no no. Lol.