Carbonation choices

[Brewer_Dad]

Hi all...

So, new to kegging. First was set it and forget it, took a couple of weeks but turned fine. Second was forced carbed 2 days ago, a disaster, but could save it thanks to this

Overcarbed Keg? Here's an INSTANT SOLUTION!

This seems overkill. I just release all the pressure from the keg, then over the course of a half hour/hour, I poor beers off of the pressure from the carbonation itself every 5-10 minutes. I get a buzz and my beer comes back to correct carb level. But, then again I am not one to obsess over...

www.homebrewtalk.com

Now I want to try burst carb, 30-40 psi for a day or so. Any pointers?

It's a 5 gal batch, now cold crashing at 2 celsius.

Thanks!

 

[Mtrhdltd]

Fyi, when using bottled co2 its all forced carbonation, just a matter of how fast you force it. I recommend set and forget. Beer needs cold conditioning time anyways. My beers like 2 weeks, so why worry about carbonating quicker?

 

[Vale71]

A day or so at 40 PSI may still get you overcarbonated beer. One poster used an accurate scale to measure the amount of CO2 absorbed by the beer in order to avoid this issue (paging bracconiere!).

 

[grampamark]

One can split the difference between force carbing and set and forget. For several years, probably 50-60 batches, I’ve been setting the pressure at 30 psi for 24 hours and then turning the gas off, to allow the beer to absorb the C02 in the headspace, for 12-24 hours, then setting the pressure to the chart pressure for my temperature and desired carb level. This results in well carbonated beer in 4-5 days instead of 2 weeks and avoids over carbonation.

 

[Transamguy77]

I second what @grampamark does, not exact but close enough works well.

 

[Number13brewer]

Fyi, when using bottled co2 its all forced carbonation, just a matter of how fast you force it. I recommend set and forget. Beer needs cold conditioning time anyways. My beers like 2 weeks, so why worry about carbonating quicker?

New to kegging as well. So when you say “set it and forget it” does that include serving pressure as well? Like let’s say I set my psi to 9 @ 45°F do I leave it there to serve the beer too or turn down the PSI?

 

[McKnuckle]

It means you set it to appropriate long-term serving pressure for your system, and don't touch the setting again til you finish the keg. Actually, you may never touch it again. I don't - my regulator stays at 12 psi literally all the time.

FYI, 9 psi @ 45ºF is potentially not enough pressure for adequate carbonation. You'll achieve about 2.0 volumes with that combo. Might want to shoot for a bit higher, say 2.4 volumes, with 13-14 psi.

 

[Mtrhdltd]

Yep, set regulator to serving pressure and leave it alone. One of my regulators stays at 12 psi. The other changes slightly depending on beer style.

 

[Number13brewer]

It means you set it to appropriate long-term serving pressure for your system, and don't touch the setting again til you finish the keg. Actually, you may never touch it again. I don't - my regulator stays at 12 psi literally all the time.

FYI, 9 psi @ 45ºF is potentially not enough pressure for adequate carbonation. You'll achieve about 2.0 volumes with that combo. Might want to shoot for a bit higher, say 2.4 volumes, with 13-14 psi.

Makes sense to me! Thanks for your advice. I appreciate it.

 

[gnef]

My process is a bit different. After I transfer a beer to the keg, I look up the CO2 chart and find the room temperature on it to set the PSI to the proper level, and then I rock it on the floor (I usually lay it down and stand on it to roll it back and forth, but sometimes I just shake it vigorously).

This way, you will never overcarbonate the beer. I generally undercarbonte it a bit this way, and then once it is chilled, I leave it connected to CO2, and within a couple days it is exactly where it needs to be. This has worked well for me for a long while, but figure out what works best for your process!