Carbonic Acid & Cold Conditioning (or something else?)

[pegasusherd]

Hi All,
I've recently started doing a lot of kegging using forced carbonation -- e.g. setting at 15-25 psi at 40F (depending on style) and leaving it sit (no shaking, quick carbing, carb stone, etc.). After 1-2 weeks, the beer is clearly carbonated but it's nearly devoid of flavor ... tastes very dry. Not bad, just very plain. However, after about another two weeks or so (e.g. 4 weeks total), it changes significantly and the flavor comes out wonderfully ... tastes like two completely different beers. This has happened with two wheat fruit beers and one blonde ale where I used peppers (all ales).

From my reading, it sounds like this is some effect of carbonic acid. Not necessarily that it's over carbonated (I'm not getting a lot of "bite," mostly just lack of flavor, dryness, etc.) but that there are some chemical reactions happening during this early conditioning phase? Can anyone point me to a resource to help me understand what exactly is going on here?

Is there anything I can do to avoid this extended "conditioning time?" I feel like there must be, because I understand commercial brewers are force carbonating and then serving fairly rapidly thereafter, especially with ales.

Thanks for any insight you can share,
Chris

 

[mac_1103]

1) 15 to 25 PSI is quite a range - 2.75 to 3.65 volumes of CO2 at 40F. I guess that's not necessarily too high for a fruited wheat beer, but it may be that overcarbonation actually is the issue. Do you then reduce the pressure to serve?
2) Maybe you're packaging too soon and an extra week or two in the fermenter before carbonating would give you the same benefit as the extra week or two after carbonating.

 

[pegasusherd]

1) 15 to 25 PSI is quite a range - 2.75 to 3.65 volumes of CO2 at 40F. I guess that's not necessarily too high for a fruited wheat beer, but it may be that overcarbonation actually is the issue. Do you then reduce the pressure to serve?
2) Maybe you're packaging too soon and an extra week or two in the fermenter before carbonating would give you the same benefit as the extra week or two after carbonating.

So to clarify, it's usually 15 psi .... the 24 psi is for a fruited wheat beer I have been carbing and serving at the same temperature.

Usually I have been doing 2 weeks in the conical, and then to the keg for carbing/conditioning. Two weeks to fully carb, but then usually needing another two weeks for the dullness/dryness to fade and the flavor to come back.

 

[mac_1103]

I have been carbing and serving at the same temperature.

And pressure?

two weeks for the dullness/dryness to fade and the flavor to come back.

So you're saying the beers taste good before you carbonate them?

 

[pegasusherd]

And pressure?

I can't type today, arg! Meant to say pressure. So I have been carbing and serving at the same pressure (and temp, hah).

So you're saying the beers taste good before you carbonate them?

Hard to say because room temp/lack of carb vs. cold/carb is somewhat hard to compare. But I drank some uncarbonated room-temp apricot wheat beer last weekend while transferring from fermenter and it was quite flavorful ..... now it's in the dull, rather flavorless stage after chiling/carbonating ... based on recent experience with other beers, I expect another two weeks or so and it will be great. I'm just having trouble wrapping my head around what exactly is going on, and what (if anything) I can do about it.