Blichmann QuickCarb (New from HomebrewCon 2016)

[hafmpty]

Check this out. We know that HomebrewCon is the place where new stuff is debuted. Well...someone snapped a pic of this bad boy. Thoughts?

 

[kh54s10]

Looks quick. But for no extra equipment you can burst carb at 30 PSI while shaking and maybe even start drinking in an hour or two. I have always found it takes a few days for everything to equalize and make the taste stable. In other words, for me, the beer tasted better after a few days even when burst carbonating.

 

[day_trippr]

John B. done gone crazy

So the procedure looks sound, but let's face it, fraught with peril.
Lots of steps, eff-up any one of them and it's bad juju for the beer.
And the price is likely to be in the Blichmann Stratosphere.

But the thing I'd really be thinking about is whether recirculating finished beer through a beer pump isn't going to totally macerate the remaining longish-chain proteins and thus decimate head retention.

In any case, my pipeline provides a couple of weeks cold-carbing/conditioning in a fridge fitted with lots of CO2 drops and dedicated to that function....

Cheers!

 

[inda_bebe]

looks cool. id buy one of these for my IPAs. Hate the idea of force carbing at 40 psi, then purging the keg releasing all that hop aroma. seems like its easy to make if i buy a diaphram pump, but for $180 and releasing in mid July. ill just wait till its available.

 

[hezagenius]

What advantage would this have over a keg lid with a carb stone? I'm curious because I've been debating getting one of those lids with a built-in carb stone that can carb up a keg in about half a day or so.

 

[day_trippr]

"Time". You can fully carb green beer in one short session and be ready to drink same immediately.
Your carb stone isn't going to do that...

Cheers! (It's all about impatience )

 

[awtesta]

so i order one of these yesterday when it came out, should have it hopefully next week and use it maybe ~2more weeks.

as for why i bought it? i'm impatient but more importantly i have gotten knocked on a few of my submissions for carb issues so I'm hoping that this can help be dial it in correctly.

i'll post back once i've used it and have my thoughts.

 

[bboykin87]

I just received mine today and I just so happen to have a cream ale that needs to get carbed. Hopefully I can get it done within the next few days.

 

[ja3372]

has anyone tried this at home yet, interested in buying one.

 

[bboykin87]

Tried it last night and it worked pretty good, I stopped it too early though. The instructional video said to go 40 minutes or until the carbonation wasn't visible. That happened after about 20 minutes or so and I disconnected the system and tried the beer. It was close maybe 70-80% carbonated plus I think the temp of my beer dropped from what it was when I calculated what pressure to use. I was carbing a Cream ale to 2.6 volumes. I am going to taste it tonight to see where it is. So although I don't think it quite got to 90% carbed I think it has more to do with my process than the equipment itself. Unfortunately it will be awhile before I have another beer to try this with. I'm bottling the Stout I have fermenting now.

 

[Qhrumphf]

But the thing I'd really be thinking about is whether recirculating finished beer through a beer pump isn't going to totally macerate the remaining longish-chain proteins and thus decimate head retention.

Doubtful. Any large scale operation is going to be pumping finished beer. Several times. Granted I don't know why they'd be recirculating it. But I don't think the pump would hurt anything.

so i order one of these yesterday when it came out, should have it hopefully next week and use it maybe ~2more weeks.

as for why i bought it? i'm impatient but more importantly i have gotten knocked on a few of my submissions for carb issues so I'm hoping that this can help be dial it in correctly.

i'll post back once i've used it and have my thoughts.

If you're getting knocked for carb in competitions and you're bottling off of the keg, I'd look to your procedure for bottling. This thing won't help you. The Beer Gun might though.

 

[dragonfire540]

Got mine today and I tried it out. It did carbonate quickly as advertised. I like the build quality and the pump is pretty nice. It is self priming.
I plan to see how it works for transferring finished beer in general. I think it will work well for pulling beer from fermentor to the key through a plate filter. Will find out!

 

[MeanLowerLow]

Can anyone comment on cleaning it?

 

[dragonfire540]

Cleaning was easy I just took off the ball lock fittings and put the ends in warm pbw then turn it on for a few minutes
Then rinse in some starsan the same way.

 

[enkamania]

The hose won't connect to my CO2 regulator, should I chop off the end and connect manually?

 

[dragonfire540]

That is whatI did.

 

[Physicsbrewer]

I plan to see how it works for transferring finished beer in general. I think it will work well for pulling beer from fermentor to the key through a plate filter. Will find out!

Please post your results once you try this! That would push me over the edge into getting one if I could filter and use it to carb...

 

[enkamania]

Can anyone comment on cleaning it?

I had a bucket of warm water and Oxyclean and pumped it through, just like the sanitizing method in the video.

 

[dirtybear7]

I also recently got one, I found it worked great, I used it on two kegs (one at a time) and was easy to use and clean. I found their video helpful. I too have a Co2 regulator with a barb, so I just used hose I already owned. @ $179.00 They should definitely include an extra hose or at least instructions for this scenario. That said if you are kegging your own beer, you are probably familiar with what you have to do to remedy the issue.

 

[dionito]

I built my own:

http://amzn.to/2aoE8YN
http://www.ebay.com/itm/121951096591?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

Add tubing and you're done. It works just fine for less than $60.

Cheers!

 

[dirtybear7]

I built my own:

http://amzn.to/2aoE8YN
http://www.ebay.com/itm/121951096591?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

Add tubing and you're done. It works just fine for less than $60.

Cheers!

Awesome, does that include the pump or are using an existing march/chugger pump?

 

[dirtybear7]

Awesome, does that include the pump or are using an existing march/chugger pump?

Never mind, my bad, I now see there are two links.

 

[dragonfire540]

I built my own:

http://amzn.to/2aoE8YN
http://www.ebay.com/itm/121951096591?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

Add tubing and you're done. It works just fine for less than $60.

Cheers!

I thought about doing something similar before I bought the Blickmann it will likely work as well but the stone they are using and the t itself it a bit different
The stone is much longer and the T is built so the longer stone fits better making the stone in contact with the beer longer. I bet if you put apples to apples you might find the Blickmann will carbonate a bit quicker and due to longer contact. I commend you though nice work building it out and I am sure it works satisfactory
Just 2 cents

 

[jimmer]

What advantage would this have over a keg lid with a carb stone? I'm curious because I've been debating getting one of those lids with a built-in carb stone that can carb up a keg in about half a day or so.

With a keg lid carber you have to take off the lid when you are done, exposing the brew to air. It's messier and a bit awkward, as the stones available are 0.5 or 2 microns and you will clog them with oils if you handle them. According to Blichmann, this is 10 microns and not so fussy. It seems that it would be easier to go from keg to keg on larger brews because you just snap it on and off with the QDs.

 

[dragonfire540]

Please post your results once you try this! That would push me over the edge into getting one if I could filter and use it to carb...

I just transferred out of my Conical through a plate filter using the quick carb pump to push. It worked really well, much better then CO2 which is what I have been using till now.

Keep in mind I ran biofine for 2 days and chilled to 32F before running into filter so it would not clog it up.


I went from my racking valve to the pump then to a plate filter then to keg. Transferred it rather quickly then carbonated with quick carb for about an hour. It is almost ready so will see how the carb level is. May let it sit overnight on quickcarb if need be. Instructions said if you want to get perfect to do that. otherwise it should be around 90% or so in an hour.

 

[Physicsbrewer]

I just transferred out of my Conical through a plate filter using the quick carb pump to push. It worked really well, much better then CO2 which is what I have been using till now.

Keep in mind I ran biofine for 2 days and chilled to 32F before running into filter so it would not clog it up.


I went from my racking valve to the pump then to a plate filter then to keg. Transferred it rather quickly then carbonated with quick carb for about an hour. It is almost ready so will see how the carb level is. May let it sit overnight on quickcarb if need be. Instructions said if you want to get perfect to do that. otherwise it should be around 90% or so in an hour.

Fantastic news, thanks for updating! Looks like I'll be buying one now.

 

[duelerx]

I just transferred out of my Conical through a plate filter using the quick carb pump to push. It worked really well, much better then CO2 which is what I have been using till now.



Keep in mind I ran biofine for 2 days and chilled to 32F before running into filter so it would not clog it up.





I went from my racking valve to the pump then to a plate filter then to keg. Transferred it rather quickly then carbonated with quick carb for about an hour. It is almost ready so will see how the carb level is. May let it sit overnight on quickcarb if need be. Instructions said if you want to get perfect to do that. otherwise it should be around 90% or so in an hour.

Can you purge the lines with CO2 before carbing?

 

[dragonfire540]

Can you purge the lines with CO2 before carbing?

I dont see why not. turn on gas before the pump or turn on gas then manually release the quick disconnects to purge it out that would do it.

 

[limulus]

I ordered one of these also. I have a lot of global travel for work and I've had little time to do anything lately. So being able to carb a beer in an hour makes sense to me. I also make wine and I'm wondering if this pump could be used for other tasks. I like the filtering idea posted above.

I ordered from a Blichmann dealer and then got a confirmation from Blichmann. I guess that means it is a drop ship item from Blichmann. How long does that normally take?

 

[limulus]

My QuickCarb arrived today. I'm on my way to the west coast but I did open the box. The only other thing I have from Blichmann is a BeerGun which I have never used. The first thing I noticed as soon as I opened the box was the nice plastic case this comes in. It's like a case a drill or similar power tool comes in. Very nice Blichmann. Now all I have to do is find the time to brew up a batch!