Carbonating at 30 PSI. Is it Ok to plug the beer lines?

[beauvafr]

I plugged the beer line while carbonating my keg at about 30 PSI. It has been like this for about 10-12 hours. I was suppose the wait 24 hours like this and apply service/normal pressure.

I sample a bit and returned at 30PSI, beer line are still pugged.

Did I do something wrong?

 

[BigFloyd]

I'm not certain about what you are describing. When I have to burst carb at 30psi (I normally do low and slow), I don't connect the beer line coupling to the post.

 

[b-boy]

I generally disconnect my beer lines if I'm a keg carbing this high.

 

[Thesomeguy]

When I Force Carb my CO2 is connected to the kegs liquid out line so connecting the Beer lines is not an option, it was always my understand that you wanted to Force carb through the liquid line to get the CO2 throughout the liquid instead of waiting for the solution to absorb from the top down. I may be explaining it wrong and if so please someone correct me.

 

[day_trippr]

Unless you have a carb stone at the end of your Out dip tube, pushing CO2 through it is not going to accomplish much more than pushing through the In dip tube...

Cheers!

 

[beaksnbeer]

Unless you have a carb stone at the end of your Out dip tube, pushing CO2 through it is not going to accomplish much more than pushing through the In dip tube...

Cheers!

and stirring up the sediment

 

[Yooper]

When I Force Carb my CO2 is connected to the kegs liquid out line so connecting the Beer lines is not an option, it was always my understand that you wanted to Force carb through the liquid line to get the CO2 throughout the liquid instead of waiting for the solution to absorb from the top down. I may be explaining it wrong and if so please someone correct me.

As mentioned, if you're not using a carb stone or something to make the bubbles smaller, the effect of carbing through the "out" line is useless. It probably won't hurt, as long as your disconnect doesn't get stuck on the wrong post, but it won't help either.

I don't understand what is meant by the lines being plugged, and that concerns me. Not only should they not be plugged, they should shoot out like a firehose at 30 psi. Could there be an obstruction in the diptube or something, by loose hops? The beer should easily pour, or rather, blast out at that pressure.

 

[FredTheNuke]

You can carbonate from either the liquid out or gas in. The equilibrium will be much slower to occur via the liquid out (reduced surface area for gas exchange so may take weeks). You will also need a black ball lock on your gas line... And as mentioned a stone would speed up the process (surface area for gas exchange again). See Henry's Law for more physics details. "At a constant temperature, the amount of a given gas that dissolves in a given type and volume of liquid is directly proportional to the partial pressure of that gas in equilibrium with that liquid."

 

[day_trippr]

It wouldn't actually be slower as the gas that rises will end up occupying the same head space and exposing the same surface area of beer as top pressure via the In dip tube.

The point is merely that "fat bubbles" rising rapidly through the beer column won't accelerate the carbing process by much if at all...

Cheers!

 

[FredTheNuke]

It wouldn't actually be slower as the gas that rises will end up occupying the same head space and exposing the same surface area of beer as top pressure via the In dip tube. The point is merely that "fat bubbles" rising rapidly through the beer column won't accelerate the carbing process by much if at all... Cheers!

True until the head space reaches 30 psi and those big bubbles stop coming out of the dip tube... Then the law of partial pressure takes over and exposed surface area becomes a factor.

 

[norsk]

You don't need to "plug" your beer lines. They can handle the 30 PSI, though I just leave the liquid out couplings off until the beer is carbed. try 30 PSI for a total of 36 hours, bleed the system, then set to 12 PSI or whatever you wish to serve at. I just tasted a APA, IPA and Raspberry Wit today that I began 2 days ago and they are all doing great. Good luck.

 

[day_trippr]

True until the head space reaches 30 psi and those big bubbles stop coming out of the dip tube... Then the law of partial pressure takes over and exposed surface area becomes a factor.

But we are comparing carbing via In vs Out dip tubes, and if the head space and gas pressure are the same, the rate of diffusion will be almost the same - the slight increase in exchange due to the bubbling from the Out dip tube constituting the difference...

Cheers!

 

[brewguyver]

You can carbonate from either the liquid out or gas in. The equilibrium will be much slower to occur via the liquid out (reduced surface area for gas exchange so may take weeks). You will also need a black ball lock on your gas line... And as mentioned a stone would speed up the process (surface area for gas exchange again). See Henry's Law for more physics details. "At a constant temperature, the amount of a given gas that dissolves in a given type and volume of liquid is directly proportional to the partial pressure of that gas in equilibrium with that liquid."

Heard an interesting theory on brew strong relating to oxygenating wort - I wonder if it also applies to force carbing. The tiny bubbles from the O2 stone don't dissolve in the wort so much as they force more unoxygenated wort to the surface of the vessel. There they pick up O2 from the highly oxygenated headspace. Curious if the same happens with CO2 stones, or if they actually dissolve gas in the wort.

Personally I've had limited success with them - it seems to work just as well pressurizing to 10-15 at 40 degrees F and leaving for a week.

 

[beauvafr]

Sorry if I misleaded some here.

I don't want to carb the beer in the line! I was just asking if it's ok to keep the beer line plugged to the keg when applying 30 psi to my keg.

What I'm trying to do is to speed up the carb process.

 

[masonsjax]

It won't hurt to leave the beer line plugged (connected) while force carbing.

 

[day_trippr]

Sorry if I misleaded some here.

I don't want to carb the beer in the line! I was just asking if it's ok to keep the beer line plugged to the keg when applying 30 psi to my keg.

What I'm trying to do is to speed up the carb process.

Leaving the Out QD connected won't hurt but it isn't going to affect carb time...

Cheers!

 

[BigFloyd]

Sorry if I misleaded some here.

I don't want to carb the beer in the line! I was just asking if it's ok to keep the beer line plugged to the keg when applying 30 psi to my keg.

What I'm trying to do is to speed up the carb process.

One bit of caution. I read a post a couple weeks ago about a guy who was doing this with a picnic tap on the end of the beer line. At some point, the higher pressure caused the picnic tap to somehow either spring a leak or come off the line. He found the 5 gallons of beer in the bottom of his keezer and an empty CO2 tank.

I don't see any advantage in leaving the beer line hooked up while burst carbing, so I don't.

 

[mjdonnelly68]

I'll second the caution about the picnic tap.

From my experience: They can't handle more than 12-15 PSI without leaking. I've had enough fail and leak that I don't even leave them hooked up unattended anymore. I slap them on to serve and disconnect between sessions.

Picnic taps are cheaply made - don't trust them with your precious brew.

 

[beauvafr]

Thank you all for your help! Cheers

 

[JuanMoore]

Heard an interesting theory on brew strong relating to oxygenating wort - I wonder if it also applies to force carbing. The tiny bubbles from the O2 stone don't dissolve in the wort so much as they force more unoxygenated wort to the surface of the vessel. There they pick up O2 from the highly oxygenated headspace. Curious if the same happens with CO2 stones, or if they actually dissolve gas in the wort.

Personally I've had limited success with them - it seems to work just as well pressurizing to 10-15 at 40 degrees F and leaving for a week.

When it comes to carbing with a stone, it's a combination of the small bubbles dissolving some gas into the beer, as well as agitating the surface so that more beer is exposed to the gas in the headspace that speeds things up.

How are you utilizing the carb stone? If you're just connecting the gas at serving pressure and letting it sit, you're not utilizing the carb stone to it's advantage. If you start at a very low pressure, and then increase by 1-2 psi every hour until it's at serving pressure, it will carb up fully in under 24 hrs. You can also bubble CO2 through the beer while venting out of the top at the very beginning, which will give you a considerable jump start, and decrease the time even more.