Can you carbonate beer with dry ice?

[prankster1590]

Can you bottle with dry ice instead of sugar. Something like this:

If you ferment at 12 degrees celsius your beer contains about 1,12 volumes of CO2. The goal is 2,5 volumes of CO2. So I have to add 1,38 volumes of CO2. My bottles are for 0,33 liters of beer so its needs a volume of 0,33 L*2,5=0,825 L of CO2. To reach this I need to add 1,38*0.33 L = 0,46 L of CO2.
The density of CO2 at 12 degrees celsius is about 1,87 g/L. So 0,46 L CO2 = 0,86 grams of CO2 which is added as dry ice to a bottle of 0,33 L with the beer and than capped.
60 bottles of beer is about 20 liter so total need of dry ice is 0,86 grams * 60 bottles = 51,6 grams of dry ice (if its 100% pure)

How would this effect maturation (3-5 weeks lagering at 3 degrees celsius) and taste if the beer is a lager?

 

[shoengine]

Of course you can but why?

 

[Jayjay1976]

Wouldn't dropping dry ice into a liquid cause an eruption? Guess if you were real fast on the capper...

 

[prankster1590]

Yeah. Its a bit unpractical. Dont know why. Just curious if someone tried and what the result was

 

[Bramling Cross]

In my younger, more delinquent days, I carbonated many soda bottles with dry ice.

They make a very satisfying boom.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Yeah. Its a bit unpractical. Dont know why. Just curious if someone tried and what the result was

Perhaps experiment with a keg, and be certain of the amount needEd… because shrapnel.

 

[shoengine]

In my younger, more delinquent days, I carbonated many soda bottles with dry ice.

They make a very satisfying boom.

I did as well. Had a Pepsi 2 liter that went flat over a weekend. Tasted perfect after a couple of hours. The 2 liter also almost turned into an oval. Ironed every thing out on that bottle.

I'm wiser these days

 

[shoengine]

Wouldn't dropping dry ice into a liquid cause an eruption? Guess if you were real fast on the capper...

Nope, unless it's boiling. Room temp would work just fine. Of course it is then a deadly time bomb with an unknown timer. With any luck it'll take out the cap first...

 

[Jayjay1976]

Nope, unless it's boiling. Room temp would work just fine. Of course it is then a deadly time bomb with an unknown timer. With any luck it'll take out the cap first...

I'm pretty sure that even chilled beer is far above the boiling point of carbon dioxide. I never tried to carbonate anything with dry ice, but I have dicked around with dropping chips of it into a glass of beer, and there was not much left to drink.

Edit: The boiling point of carbon dioxide is -109.2 F, so the difference between room temperature and chilled beer is insignificant.

 

[day_trippr]

Sublimation point of CO2 at 1 atmosphere is −78.5 °C (194.7 K) −109.3 °F
It can't really exist as a liquid at 1 atmosphere...

 

[Dr_Jeff]

If the beer was cold so that it readily absorb the co2, it would seem that one could drop a chunk into a keg, then close the lid.
The beer might end up over carbonated, but no bomb, no shrapnel as the kegs have a pressure relief valve.
The situation would likely be that the beer couldn't absorb it fast enough and the PRV would open.

 

[Jayjay1976]

If the beer was cold so that it readily absorb the co2, it would seem that one could drop a chunk into a keg, then close the lid.
The beer might end up over carbonated, but no bomb, no shrapnel as the kegs have a pressure relief valve.
The situation would likely be that the beer couldn't absorb it fast enough and the PRV would open.

It would seem that the original question was about carbonating beer in bottles with dry ice. No PRV. Boom.

Also, I believe that cold beer can absorb more CO2 than warm beer, but not at a faster rate. Or do I have that backwards? Where the nerds at?

 

[bracconiere]

In my younger, more delinquent days, I carbonated many soda bottles with dry ice.

They make a very satisfying boom.

LOL, i only played with pool acid, and aluminium foil in 2 liters....great fun burrying them in the dirt and thinking it was cool how big they got...


as far dry ice and bottling, maybe a quick closed transfer? like blend it in the blender to powder it. drop it in the bottling bucket, slap the lid on, then counter pressure fill the bottles? lol....or maybe have the dry ice in a in line setup? so as the beer passes it, it gets just enough as it melts?

 

[Barbarossa]

If you try, please film it.

 

[prankster1590]

If you try, please film it.

I wil do it with a mentos.

 

[moorejl57]

Try it with a plastic soda bottle first to make sure you can weight accurately enough, sounds interesting. The hard part may be getting dry ice that is clean enough for consumption. It might make an interesting way to flush an open bottle prior to filling. Drop a chip in and place cap loosely on top until the chip disappears.

 

[NeoBrew]

I’m pretty sure trying this would be delusional. The surface of dry ice sublimates instantly when it comes in contact with a liquid that has enough specific heat to convert the surface of the ice to a gas. That covers all liquids at normal temps. That is why there are so many videos of people dumping it in pools etc. it is instantaneous and dramatic.

The only way you could get this to work is to put it in a capsule that keeps it cold enough, long enough to cap whatever you using. Of course, that sort of scheme is ridiculous when you can just hook up a bottle of CO2.

I would also wonder, even if you could get it in a keg and cap it fast enough, if the PRV would be able to vent fast enough.

As others have said, if you try it please take a video. Better yet, take several angles and send me the footage. I ought to be able to turn that into 15 minutes of fame.

 

[MaxStout]

Can you bottle with dry ice instead of sugar. Something like this:

If you ferment at 12 degrees celsius your beer contains about 1,12 volumes of CO2. The goal is 2,5 volumes of CO2. So I have to add 1,38 volumes of CO2. My bottles are for 0,33 liters of beer so its needs a volume of 0,33 L*2,5=0,825 L of CO2. To reach this I need to add 1,38*0.33 L = 0,46 L of CO2.
The density of CO2 at 12 degrees celsius is about 1,87 g/L. So 0,46 L CO2 = 0,86 grams of CO2 which is added as dry ice to a bottle of 0,33 L with the beer and than capped.
60 bottles of beer is about 20 liter so total need of dry ice is 0,86 grams * 60 bottles = 51,6 grams of dry ice (if its 100% pure)

How would this effect maturation (3-5 weeks lagering at 3 degrees celsius) and taste if the beer is a lager?

Username checks out.

 

[NeoBrew]

Username checks out.

I noticed that too!

 

[dwhite60]

While it would be carbonated there is a lot to be said for letting the beer "condition" in the bottle for three weeks, or more. Part of this is getting the CO2 fully absorbed into the beer.

 

[Oleson M.D.]

Yes...but why?

 

[Qhrumphf]

It might make an interesting way to flush an open bottle prior to filling. Drop a chip in and place cap loosely on top until the chip disappears.

I had completely forgotten. The first couple quick sours I ever did were grain-soured "sour mash" rather than kettle souring. I had used dry ice in an attempt to keep the headspace of my cooler flush with CO2 while the lid was off. Don't know if it actually did anything or just gave me peace of mind.

 

[Brewbuzzard]

I tried this years ago and fortunately for me I had enough since to put the bottle in a padded box. Hell of a bottle bomb. I only used a speck and the beer was very cold. My advice is to abandon this idea.

 

[Qhrumphf]

As another who has also put dry ice into bottles of liquid knowing full well they'll explode, and then quickly retreated to distance to watch them explode, don't try to carb a beer this way. They'll explode.

 

[AzOr]

As another who has also put dry ice into bottles of liquid knowing full well they'll explode, and then quickly retreated to distance to watch them explode, don't try to carb a beer this way. They'll explode.

Yup. And when placed into those old steel trash cans- Kaboom!
That may or may not happened in high school. Just as we were returning from lunch and sitting like angels in class when it went off.

Geez- I hope my kid isn’t half the knucklehead I was.

 

[Brewbuzzard]

Yup. And when placed into those old steel trash cans- Kaboom!
That may or may not happened in high school. Just as we were returning from lunch and sitting like angels in class when it went off.

Geez- I hope my kid isn’t half the knucklehead I was.

We would have been friends I'm sure.

 

[balrog]

Yup. And when placed into those old steel trash cans- Kaboom!
That may or may not happened in high school. Just as we were returning from lunch and sitting like angels in class when it went off.

Geez- I hope my kid isn’t half the knucklehead I was.

Our kids are the ones coming up with the tiktok "devious lick" and "loosen lug nuts & film what happens" challenges.

 

[Qhrumphf]

Pretty sure kids doing stupid things is part of the human condition.