Carbonating a Kolsch

[jmadway]

I am force carbonating a kolsch in a keg. According to the carbonation chart it should be carbonated to 2.58 volumes. I am doing this with the beer at about 40 degrees at 13.1 psi. Here's my question: when the beer is finished carbing up and I raise it to the 50 degree serving temp that is recommended for the style, how long will the high carbonation last when I set my 50 degree serving psi to around 10?

If I were to carb a kolsch at this temp (which I do for most of my ales) I would need to do so at 18.5 psi, which I am obviously not going to serve it at. I would assume that the beer will hold its carb level just fine at 10psi once it's fully carbed, but since most of my beers need much less carbonation, I thought I'd make sure.


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[betarhoalphadelta]

No, it won't hold carbonation. The CO2 will come out of solution until equilibrium pressure is reached. You have two options:

1) Serve at 18.5 psi. You'll need longer beer lines to do this. I keep two of my beer lines in my keezer at 25' (the other four are 10') just in case I want to serve beer at higher pressure/carbonation.
2) Keep the CO2 to that keg disconnected. After a few points, reconnect at 18.5 psi, leave a few hours, then disconnect. This way, in a sealed keg, the carbonation won't be lost and you'll be periodically replenishing what does get lost due to pouring and increased headspace.

But if you connect it at 10 psi, it'll eventually equalize to the lower carbonation level of your other beers.

 

[jmadway]

No, it won't hold carbonation. The CO2 will come out of solution until equilibrium pressure is reached. You have two options:

1) Serve at 18.5 psi. You'll need longer beer lines to do this. I keep two of my beer lines in my keezer at 25' (the other four are 10') just in case I want to serve beer at higher pressure/carbonation.
2) Keep the CO2 to that keg disconnected. After a few points, reconnect at 18.5 psi, leave a few hours, then disconnect. This way, in a sealed keg, the carbonation won't be lost and you'll be periodically replenishing what does get lost due to pouring and increased headspace.

But if you connect it at 10 psi, it'll eventually equalize to the lower carbonation level of your other beers.

Good info. Thanks for the tip!


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[jmadway]

Good to know. Thanks for the tip!


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