DIY Corny Keg Carbonation Lid

[bbarr21]

Pieces before put together





Assembled

 

[Toymaker]

How well does it work?
Is the aerator heavy enough to sink to the bottom, or does it float?
Do you do anything special to carbonate? Shake, swirl, lay down, stand up?

 

[John_FL]

And most importantly, full parts list. Looks like a good idea.

 

[JuanMoore]

Nice job! I just secured the tubing to the gas diptube for mine since I'm too cheap to buy an extra gas post.

How well does it work?
Is the aerator heavy enough to sink to the bottom, or does it float?
Do you do anything special to carbonate? Shake, swirl, lay down, stand up?

I used silicone tubing for mine, but it should work the same as the OPs. The airstone is pretty heavy and sinks to the bottom. To carbonate with an airstone most people chill to serving temp, set the pressure to 4-5 psi, and then turn it up ~1psi every hour until it's at the desired serving pressure. Takes about a day to fully carbonate. No shaking or agitation. Some people also just use the set and forget method with the airstone

 

[Veedo]

A day? Interesting.

 

[Adeering]

Nice job! I just secured the tubing to the gas diptube for mine since I'm too cheap to buy an extra gas post.

With it secured to the gas diptube, do you have any problem dispensing the beer. I dont think it should effect it but want to make sure

 

[bbarr21]

Haven't used it yet, need to clean it all up and have a beer ready to carb up. But I'll definitely let you know how it goes, thinking about putting some keg lube on the gasket I between the washer for some added sealing power.

Parts list from the beginning of the thread (in order):
Cornelius style gas in post
corny post adapter (homebrewstuff)
1/4" flare to 3/8" mip
SS washer, keg lid
corny post o-ring
SS washer
3/8" fip to 1/4" barb
1/4" ID hose
SS 0.5 micron diffusion stone with barb

I had everything but the post adapter so I have no clue on the price of this project

 

[John_FL]

Awesome! Thanks for the parts list. I am def. going to give this a shot.

 

[bbarr21]

FYI the hole for the parts listed is 1/2"

 

[John_FL]

I also use ten gallon cornies to ferment in. I might do something similar to them to make thermo wells. Instead of silicone tubing, I'll use stainless tubing and cap the end. Thanks again, this has inspired me to think about a few new ideas!

 

[bbentley40]

Ok, please forgive my ignorance on this.. but what is the purpose? Why does hooking the gas up to the gas in not work just as well?

 

[JuanMoore]

Ok, please forgive my ignorance on this.. but what is the purpose? Why does hooking the gas up to the gas in not work just as well?

By breaking the gas up into millions of tiny bubbles and releasing it from the bottom of the keg, the surface area of the beer exposed to the gas is increased exponentially. This means you can accurately carbonate a beer in less than a day as opposed to 2 weeks. While there are other ways to carbonate a beer quickly without a carb stone, they often result in excess carbonic acid and rarely result in the exact desired carbonation level.

 

[bbentley40]

By breaking the gas up into millions of tiny bubbles and releasing it from the bottom of the keg, the surface area of the beer exposed to the gas is increased exponentially. This means you can accurately carbonate a beer in less than a day as opposed to 2 weeks. While there are other ways to carbonate a beer quickly without a carb stone, they often result in excess carbonic acid and rarely result in the exact desired carbonation level.

Gotcha.. thats kinda what I was figuring but figured I would ask for my own edjumakation.

 

[CidahMastah]

Not to be a debbie downer but that seems like a lot of parts to throw at a corny that already has a perfectly fine gas/liquid post.

I can carb a corny to near perfect carb in ~ 24hours by simply taking a room temp corny and tossing it in the keezer. Then put the PSI up to 55 for ~24hours (no shaking). Then kill the gas, burp and reset PSI to serving (say 12psi). The keg is ready to go and perfectly balanced in the next couple days, but near perfect carb for drinking that day. just sayin'

 

[Adeering]

But you are guessing and have the chance for over carbing, for less parts ( diffuser stone and tubing) you can connect to the already gas in port

A possible benefit to the lid is its not keg specific, so if you have two taps you only need two diffuser stone/lid assemblies

 

[CidahMastah]

But you are guessing and have the chance for over carbing, for less parts ( diffuser stone and tubing) you can connect to the already gas in port

A possible benefit to the lid is its not keg specific, so if you have two taps you only need two diffuser stone/lid assemblies

My method isn't guessing any more than this method is (in fact it is less guessing since you have to keep turning the PSI up each hour). I have used this method for over a year and a half and get consistent results every time.

I also don't have to worry about cleaning the diffuser stone, or possibly infecting a batch through the stone.

 

[kevink]

Not to be a debbie downer but that seems like a lot of parts to throw at a corny that already has a perfectly fine gas/liquid post.

I can carb a corny to near perfect carb in ~ 24hours by simply taking a room temp corny and tossing it in the keezer. Then put the PSI up to 55 for ~24hours (no shaking). Then kill the gas, burp and reset PSI to serving (say 12psi). The keg is ready to go and perfectly balanced in the next couple days, but near perfect carb for drinking that day. just sayin'

I do this too and it works great. The problem with any quick carbing option is that the beer is never really ready even after a week on the gas. The improvement from one to two weeks is huge, so I don't even drink very much until its been kegged for at least two weeks. Ymmv of course.

 

[CidahMastah]

I do this too and it works great. The problem with any quick carbing option is that the beer is never really ready even after a week on the gas. The improvement from one to two weeks is huge, so I don't even drink very much until its been kegged for at least two weeks. Ymmv of course.

You have a point there, but my results are a bit different. For me I will say that while a decent drinkable carb after that duration I wouldn't bottle it. IMO it is ready to bottle and 99% "stabilized" at the carb level you want in 3-5days total. For me this all depends on what I am shooting for. A belgian, lager, etc. with high carb would be more at the 4-5 day mark where as an IPA or scotch ale would be ready in 2-3.

As you point out YMMV. You sort of have to dial in your system based on your keezer temp, etc. But you will get pretty darn close.

I should also say I am starting with properly conditioned kegs that are done with any natural degassing. So usually my beers sit on yeast for 3 weeks then condition for at least another 3-5 before they are subjected to the boost carb. The exception with this would be hefes, or lawnmower beers which I have pulled as ealy as 10 to 14 days and put on the gas.

 

[kevink]

Wait. So you're bottling after you carb in the keg? Why?

 

[CidahMastah]

Wait. So you're bottling after you carb in the keg? Why?

Generally I only keg my beers. However i usually bottle RIS, barley wines, belgians, imperials etc. In those cases I usually bottle in 22's and store them so they don't tie up a keg for 6+ months to a year.

My co brewer bottles all of his stuff because he doesn't have a kegerator yet. I came up with this method early on because I would hear Wednesday that he wanted to bottle Friday. So I needed a way to get it carbed and stable for bottling in a hurry. This method is my golden ticket for that.

I like variety. When a keg kicks I usually always have one in the pipeline I have been dying to try. So I boost it to get in on active duty ASAP. 5 taps and I still wish I had more. Which is silly in a way for how much I actually consume.

 

[kevink]

My co brewer bottles all of his stuff because he doesn't have a kegerator yet. I came up with this method early on because I would hear Wednesday that he wanted to bottle Friday. So I needed a way to get it carbed and stable for bottling in a hurry. This method is my golden ticket for that.

Why doesn't he just use priming sugar?

When a keg kicks I usually always have one in the pipeline I have been dying to try. So I boost it to get in on active duty ASAP. 5 taps and I still wish I had more. Which is silly in a way for how much I actually consume.

If you have a keg in the pipeline, can't you just have it hooked up to the gas and carb it at serving pressure so it's ready when you are? I could understand if your kegreator is usually full and your kegs in the pipeline had to sit outside of it.

I guess your situation is just different than mine. I always seem to have less full kegs than capacity in my keezer, so as soon as I keg I hit it with around 35-40 psi for a day, turn it down to serving pressure for 5-6 days, drink a few over the next week, then it's usually ready to go.

 

[wailingguitar]

I have my carb stones attached to the gas tube, and no, there are no dispensing issues


Also, I don't mess with the bumping up of pressure or any of that. With a CO2 stone in the keg, you can carb beer at serving pressure/temp in 48 hours. ZERO guess work and minimum effort.

 

[CidahMastah]

Why doesn't he just use priming sugar?

he doesn't like the yeast from natural carb (neither do I). Nothing like swallowing the last bit of sediment. And if you transport beers you mix all the sediment back into the brew, nonHBers are unsuspecting of the yeast as well and makes for a bad experience until they learn.

If you have a keg in the pipeline, can't you just have it hooked up to the gas and carb it at serving pressure so it's ready when you are? I could understand if your kegreator is usually full and your kegs in the pipeline had to sit outside of it.

You hit the nail on the head with you second conclusion. The keezer is always filled and pipeline kegs sit outside the keezer (11G batches and double or triple brew days help ). To carb them it would be a different PSI based on those kegs being at room temp. i have one two body regulator and a nitro set up. Usually I have a couple high carb brews and a couple low carb beers in the keezer so I need both bodies to accomplish that.

Short version is that I would have to buy another regulator, manifold for the number of desired kegs, gas ports and other hardware to carb them out of the keezer. Or I can boost carb for 24hrs and have the carb near perfect in the next couple days.

as soon as I keg I hit it with around 35-40 psi for a day, turn it down to serving pressure for 5-6 days, drink a few over the next week, then it's usually ready to go.

try doing the same procedure, just at 55psi instead of 35-40. It will cut your carb time in half.

 

[JuanMoore]

I've never cared for the carbonic acid bite I seem to detect for beers that have been burst carbed by shaking or high pressures. I don't seem to get that with the carb stone. It usually fades and becomes unnoticeable after a week or two for me, but I've heard others say that their beer that was overcarbed using a burst carb method never completely lost it.

My method isn't guessing any more than this method is (in fact it is less guessing since you have to keep turning the PSI up each hour).

I completely disagree. As I mentioned in my first post in this thread, you can also use the set and forget method with a carb stone. You've learned your system well enough to prevent overcarbonation, which by your own admission means you're stopping short of full carbonation and letting it take a few days at serving pressure to get the rest of the way there. With the carb stone it's perfectly carbed to match the serving pressure every time, not slightly overcarbed, not slightly undercarbed, but perfectly carbed. This is true for any carbonation level or temperature, and there's no worries about when to turn the pressure down. There's absolutely no way to overcarbonate using a carb stone because the pressure never gets over serving pressure. What happens if you forget or get distracted and it stays at 50psi for an extra day? What if you want to change your serving temp or carbonation level? What about other people with a slightly different serving temp, serving pressure or desired carbonation level than you? Sure they can eventually get their system dialed in like you have, but it's going to take some trial and error (guessing) to get there. I'm not discounting your method or it's merits, but to say that it's less guessing than using a carb stone is ridiculous.

 

[Adeering]

Im ordering the parts for this on my next ingredient order on friday cause I dont trust the high pressure shake methods, I rather just set it and wait the 2-3 weeks to get a complete carb using the standard method.

But this is great that I can now have it carbed in a few days and not worry about accidently over carbing it.

Now I cant decide if I want to take the plunge on building it into the lid or not. Would be nice to only need 2 stones (as I just have a dual tap kegerator) and just switch the lids out instead of having to try and use the same two kegs, or buy more stones

 

[Veedo]

Man, its hard to believe you can carb a beer in two days just by using a stone. I guess i'll have to try it to see for myself.

 

[John_FL]

Maybe a dumb question. Can I just use the cheap stones intended for an aquarium aerator?

 

[bruin_ale]

interesting, thought I'd heard that carbing this way didn't make a huge difference over the traditional methods of force carbing. I think I'll give this a try, but I have a question:
Do you have a setup like this for each keg, or do you open the keg and retrieve the stone when you want to carb the next batch? I'm specifically interested in what Juan is doing, since I don't really care to modify my keg lid and spend a bunch of money on parts if I don't have to (although, having a separate lid setup like this might be the answer to my question as it'd be easier to just swap it out with a regular lid when the beer is carbed).

 

[CidahMastah]

I've never cared for the carbonic acid bite I seem to detect for beers that have been burst carbed by shaking or high pressures. I don't seem to get that with the carb stone. It usually fades and becomes unnoticeable after a week or two for me, but I've heard others say that their beer that was overcarbed using a burst carb method never completely lost it.



I completely disagree. As I mentioned in my first post in this thread, you can also use the set and forget method with a carb stone. You've learned your system well enough to prevent overcarbonation, which by your own admission means you're stopping short of full carbonation and letting it take a few days at serving pressure to get the rest of the way there. With the carb stone it's perfectly carbed to match the serving pressure every time, not slightly overcarbed, not slightly undercarbed, but perfectly carbed. This is true for any carbonation level or temperature, and there's no worries about when to turn the pressure down. There's absolutely no way to overcarbonate using a carb stone because the pressure never gets over serving pressure. What happens if you forget or get distracted and it stays at 50psi for an extra day? What if you want to change your serving temp or carbonation level? What about other people with a slightly different serving temp, serving pressure or desired carbonation level than you? Sure they can eventually get their system dialed in like you have, but it's going to take some trial and error (guessing) to get there. I'm not discounting your method or it's merits, but to say that it's less guessing than using a carb stone is ridiculous.

have no idea what this carbonic acid phenomena is, never experienced it. Seeing as how commercial breweries don't use set and forget, rather a dialed in boost type carb method I find this carbonic acid thing a little curious.


as for the rest we can agree to disagree. Failing to follow the process is not the definition of guess work. My method works just as reliably as yours and other folks here have used it at my recc with repeatable results.

 

[barryfine]

I force carbonate without a stone and have gotten great results! I don't see any need to pump the gas up so high though. I just use the following chart to dial in the exact force carb pressure for the temperature of the beer. I've bottled after 3 days and the carbonation was just right.

http://www.kegerators.com/carbonation-table.php