HELP! 1st Time Kegging Force Carbonation Question

I just kegged an APA and have tried a "You Tube" Fast Force Carbonation method.

After racking I set PSI at 30 and rocked it for 5 mins...the guy in the video then reduced PSI and served.

However, mine was not chilled. I let it sit at 30 PSI for an hour and became worried I may over-carbonate.

I just reduced to 8 PSI.

ANY SUGGESTIONS? Thanks for the advice!

 

I set mine to roughly 20 psi and let it sit for a week. No rocking, no shaking

 

Well, the chilling and the rocking are what do the force carb. There are several tables that you can look at to see how cold and how much CO2 pressure you need. You say yours wasn't chilled, what temp was it? If it wasn't chilled, you're not going to over carb. RDWHAHB. Luck - Dwain

 

It was room temp...approx 68 degrees

Should I crank up the PSI overnight?...the next couple of days?

 

I tried to force carb a room temp beer in a similar fashion, only I had 30-40 psi, disconnect and shake, reconnect 30-40, then disconnect and shake again. Let it sit and....hardly any carbonation. I put it in the fridge overnight and force carbed the same way after it was at 39F and it was perfect!

 

+1 to BillyBock's comment. I've always chilled mine (back when I did force carb), and never had any problems. - Dwain

 

Thanks for the input. I will try force carb round 2 now that it is cold.

Any suggestions on serving psi?....8-10?

 

Depends on your line length and temperature. For me, I was always in a hurry to get it carbed and got nothing but problems, too much foam etc. Now, I rack to keg, let it sit for a day in keezer to cold crash and then add about 15 PSI for near a week or until it tastes right. Then drop it down to about 8-10 for serving (more or less as needed to get perfect pour). I use cobra taps.

 

Here's a handy table- Force Carbonation Table. Figure out your temp and how carbonated you want your beer to be, then just set it to the psi on the table. I've only got a single regulator right now and my fridge is about 41F, so I set mine at 11-12 psi for all my beers.

I made the mistake once of trying to fast-carb it and failed horribly. I know its possible since there are a ton of people on here that do, but now I just leave it at 11-12psi and let it sit there until it has carbed up properly (2-3 weeks).

 

I usually connect the CO2 line to the OUT post of the keg and turn up the pressure to 20 psi. My shop temperature is about 45 degrees this time of year and my beer carbonates within 2-4 days. In 2 it is ready to drink however in 4 the head retention seems to be at its best. I then drop it down to 8-10 psi. Even if you have to force carbonate quickly you should use a Force Carbonation Table to match your style. If you do manage to over carb, just release the pressure on the keg and it will usually correct itself. At least, that has been my experience.

erikpete18: thanks for the link to the carb table!

 

I take mine from room temperature and put it in the Keezer. As it is chilling I put about 35 to 40 PSI on it. I check in 24 hours. Normally, It's chilled and almost the right carb at that time. Sometimes, it will come out just slightly under carb'd and needs another 4 hours or so at 35 to 40 PSI to get to the right level of carb. Then turn it down to 8 PSI for serving. One thing, make sure to burb the pressure relief air lock after bringing the pressure down otherwise it is still at 35 to 40 PSI in the Keg eventhough your regulator may say only 8 PSI.

For Nitro, I take mine from room temperature and put it under CO2 for 24 hours while chilling at about 20 PSI. This half carbonates it and makes it ready for the Nitro. I then put it under 35-40 PSI of the Nitro beer gas and rock/shake for 15 minutes. Let it sit for a half hour and serve under nitro pressure of about 35 PSI. Watch the pretty cascade.

 

You're pretty much got to chill it before you force-carb. Warm liquid won't hold gas. Chill it to serving temperature/storage temp and then force-carb.

 

8-10 PSI for 3 wks gets you good carbonation, and some conditioning time. Drink other homebrew while relaxing & not worrying.

I guess I can understand if you only had 1 keg and can't wait, but I find that most if not all of my brews improve after a little conditioning.

Sent from Spreadhead's iPhone.