Advice needed for force carbonation technics...

[bolepa]

Hi Forum! Yes, this is exactly thread name days... I always force carbonating mead for two weeks at 30F with PSI set at 30 in my 3 & 2.5 gallons kegs. I used to buttle mead strait out from keg using "BierMuncherBottle Filler" method (Using the BMBF (BierMuncher Bottle Filler)). I never was satisfied with the result: very week carbonation. Some time ago I got 'The Last Straw" from Facebook marketplace and pretty happy with it but.... mead is still not carbonated enough to my satisfaction. All information I found online and this forum tells me that if I carbonate beverage at 30F and CO2 regulator set to 30 PSA I should get carbonation level close to sparkling wine (champagne). While my mead is well carbonated, it's still never close to that level... Am I looking for too much? Maybe.... This is why I decided to ask this forum with hope to get some advice from you... Thank you!

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[MightyMosin]

From my reading, traditional champagne has a volume of CO2 of 4.6 to 6.0. The pressure needed from your tank is quite variable based upon your meads temperature.

You said 30PSI at 30F; that should have gotten you ~5.05 volume of CO2. If you wanted (and have the bottles to support it) 6.0 as your CO2 volume, you would need the pressure set to 38.25 Lb at that same 30F.

Any foaming issues while bottling? If so you are certainly letting some of that CO2 getting away. One of the things that I do when bottling a carbonated mead is I place my keg into a bucket and I then surround it with ice to keep the contents cold and it really seems to help keep foaming way down. My last bottling, there was no foaming at all; granted I was only set to about 3 volumes of CO2 when I carbonated it and used ~ 10Lb for bottling pressure.

 

[bolepa]

Any foaming issues while bottling?

Yes - half way in buttling it starts foaming and I couldn't avoid it. In spite I keep all bottles in the fridge during buttling and get only two out each time I need bottles - it start foaming.... I had that toughs about keg starting warming up during buttling but went to denial because I couldn't believe it starts warming up within 15-20 minutes... Oh, well.... Next time before bottling I need to run to close by store and get a bag of ice.... Thank you for y our advice!

 

[Skeeter686]

What I've done for beer is to mix up some StarSan in a bucket with ice and drop the bottles in there. I'll pull them out one or two at a time, as I need them, empty them into the bucket, and promptly fill. The bottles should be near freezing temperature and, supposedly, there will be less foam if you're filling a wet bottle (or glass).

It seems to work pretty well for me, and I assume it would work equally well for mead.

 

[bolepa]

What I've done for beer is to mix up some StarSan in a bucket with ice and drop the bottles in there. I'll pull them out one or two at a time, as I need them, empty them into the bucket, and promptly fill. The bottles should be near freezing temperature and, supposedly, there will be less foam if you're filling a wet bottle (or glass).

It seems to work pretty well for me, and I assume it would work equally well for mead.

Thank you, Skeeter! Will try to incorporate you method next time I am buttling. Any idea on how much StarSan to how much of ice?

 

[Skeeter686]

Thank you, Skeeter! Will try to incorporate you method next time I am buttling. Any idea on how much StarSan to how much of ice?

It's not an exact science, because the melting ice will dilute the StarSan. I dump ice into the water until it's very cold and the ice isn't really melting anymore. Then I add a slightly heavy-handed dose of the StarSan concentrate and top it off with a little more ice. StarSan is usually 1 fluid ounce per 5 gallons of water, and I might do maybe 15% to 25% over the recommended rate to account for the additional melting ice.

I don't actually measure how much extra goes in. I just kind of eyeball it, but I'd base it on how much ice there is.

 

[MightyMosin]

Do it in a brew bucket with gallon markings on the side. The ice isn't going to displace any more water when melted and you'll then know how much Star-San to add for a proper ratio.

 

[Skeeter686]

I have no idea why I didn't think to go downstairs and bring up a brew bucket!

 

[bolepa]

It's not an exact science, because the melting ice will dilute the StarSan. I dump ice into the water until it's very cold and the ice isn't really melting anymore. Then I add a slightly heavy-handed dose of the StarSan concentrate and top it off with a little more ice. StarSan is usually 1 fluid ounce per 5 gallons of water, and I might do maybe 15% to 25% over the recommended rate to account for the additional melting ice.

I don't actually measure how much extra goes in. I just kind of eyeball it, but I'd base it on how much ice there is.

Do it in a brew bucket with gallon markings on the side. The ice isn't going to displace any more water when melted and you'll then know how much Star-San to add for a proper ratio.

Thank you, guys! That was helpful. I'll try this going forward...

 

[MightyMosin]

I have no idea why I didn't think to go downstairs and bring up a brew bucket!

There are plenty of things I have read and said duh to myself. We don't see what's right in front of at times.

 

[MightyMosin]

If you want to play with the carb volume and temperature variables, you can do it in Excel or similar spreadsheet. It's a long formula.




Here is what I have:
Cells A4 and A5 are where you enter the formula that will reference A1 and A2 values.
My A4 number type is set to general, while A5 is set to Number with a single decimal point

A4 =-16.6999-0.0101059*A2+0.00116512*A2^2 +0.173354*A2*A1+4.24267*A1-0.0684226*A1^2
A5 =-16.6999-0.0101059*A2+0.00116512*A2^2 +0.173354*A2*A1+4.24267*A1-0.0684226*A1^2

 

[bolepa]

Thanks, MM! I am OK with Excel but not at "advanced" level.... I think this will be a bit too much for me. Also, it looks like that both formulas are identical.... Well... This is probably just me....

 

[MightyMosin]

Both formulas are the same but by setting the number type differently, the 2nd one will round the number.

All you have to do is copy/paste the formula (starting with and including the equal sign) into cells A4 and A5.
In cells B1 and B2 are where you put the prompt about volume of CO2 and the temperature

Your actual volume and temperature data are entered into A1 and A2.

To set the number type, click on cell A5 and then press CTRL+1 on your keyboard (or right-click and choose format cells); on the pop-up go to the number tab and adjust

 

[bolepa]

Both formulas are the same but by setting the number type differently, the 2nd one will round the number.

All you have to do is copy/paste the formula (starting with and including the equal sign) into cells A4 and A5.
In cells B1 and B2 are where you put the prompt about volume of CO2 and the temperature

Your actual volume and temperature data are entered into A1 and A2.

To set the number type, click on cell A5 and then press CTRL+1 on your keyboard (or right-click and choose format cells); on the pop-up go to the number tab and adjust

Oh! I got it. Thanks for the explanation - I appreciate that!