Force Carbbing

[bken620]

Before I start I want to say I have found the best way to carb is to set it and forget it without a doubt, but could the following be a possibility to help move the process along.

Say I have multiple kegs, 4, all of my beer is below the co2 diptube. I set my psi to 40 for about an hour and a half, that's just how long I set it for, then I close off the ball valve between my regulator and my co2 manifold that connects all my kegs and reset my set screw to serving pressure, say 12 psi. In the process I leave the 40 psi co2 in the kegs, I then reopen the ball valve between my regulator and my kegs.

Would this speed up the carbing process? Is this good/bad idea, has anyone else done it this way, because I can't seem to find anyone who has.

 

[ol-hazza]

In theory it would speed up the carbonation. But to speed it up by a significant amount would take your other kegs out of action with overcarbonation I would have thought.

Why not just disconnect your other kegs and hit it with some high pressure overnight? that way you only risk overcarbonation of 1 keg not all 4.

 

[bken620]

In theory it would speed up the carbonation. But to speed it up by a significant amount would take your other kegs out of action with overcarbonation I would have thought.

Why not just disconnect your other kegs and hit it with some high pressure overnight? that way you only risk overcarbonation of 1 keg not all 4.

So here is my dilemma, I had two kegs done and carbed, one is almost kicked. I kegged another beer into two cornys and put them on my manifold, not sure if it would pull my other kegs out of suspension. ( I don't have check valves, now I'm going to get them)

Well low and behold, my two carbed kegs are now flat. So I was thinking hit all four with a high amount of co2 without burping them and then turning it down to serving pressure so they would all equalize.

 

[SGTSparty]

Interesting. so you had 2 carbed kegs on a manifold and then you added 2 more uncarbed kegs? And the result was that it pulled CO2 out of you're carbed kegs?

I'm prefacing this by saying I'm not an extremely experienced kegger and that I have a 4 body secondary regulator not manifolds but if I'm understanding your situation correctly that doesn't sound like it should have been the end result. When you added you're two uncarbed kegs, if you didn't change the settings on your regulator there should still have been serving pressure in the head space all 4 kegs. The regulator should have continued letting CO2 into the system as those uncarbed kegs absorbed the pressure from their head spaces. Right?

I would think the only way they should have pulled CO2 out of your carbed kegs is if a) the PSI setting on the regulator was below the carb level of the already carbed kegs b) the CO2 of the carbed kegs was coming out of solution faster than the regulator was letting CO2 into the system or c) you have a leak/are out of CO2 in the tank.

Any one with more experience w/ kegging and manifolds want to check my understanding here? OP did I correctly understand your situation?

Edit to add:

Instead of dialing up your pressure you could just pop your QD's off your carbed kegs while the others are carbing and only pop them on when you're pouring? Kind of a PITA but so is over carbed/flat beers?

 

[GilSwillBasementBrews]

Before I start I want to say I have found the best way to carb is to set it and forget it without a doubt, but could the following be a possibility to help move the process along.

Say I have multiple kegs, 4, all of my beer is below the co2 diptube. I set my psi to 40 for about an hour and a half, that's just how long I set it for, then I close off the ball valve between my regulator and my co2 manifold that connects all my kegs and reset my set screw to serving pressure, say 12 psi. In the process I leave the 40 psi co2 in the kegs, I then reopen the ball valve between my regulator and my kegs.

Would this speed up the carbing process? Is this good/bad idea, has anyone else done it this way, because I can't seem to find anyone who has.

I wouldn't leave 40PSI in the kegs, lower your serving pressure on the regulator, then reopen the ball valve to your manifold. If you don't have back check valves installed on each keg line you could push beer back through your co2 lines and foul your regulator and/or your manifold with beer unintentionally.

 

[GilSwillBasementBrews]

I would think the only way they should have pulled CO2 out of your carbed kegs is if a) the PSI setting on the regulator was below the carb level of the already carbed kegs b) the CO2 of the carbed kegs was coming out of solution faster than the regulator was letting CO2 into the system or c) you have a leak/are out of CO2 in the tank.

The only thing I could think to add to that would be if you had 2 carbed kegs and 2 uncarbed kegs hooked to a manifold with no check valves and shut the tank off. Then I could see the 2 carbed kegs diffusing pressure with the 2 uncarbed kegs resulting in all four being undercarbed.

 

[bken620]

The only thing I could think to add to that would be if you had 2 carbed kegs and 2 uncarbed kegs hooked to a manifold with no check valves and shut the tank off. Then I could see the 2 carbed kegs diffusing pressure with the 2 uncarbed kegs resulting in all four being undercarbed.

This is what happened, though I didn't shut off my co2.

 

[ol-hazza]

So here is my dilemma, I had two kegs done and carbed, one is almost kicked. I kegged another beer into two cornys and put them on my manifold, not sure if it would pull my other kegs out of suspension. ( I don't have check valves, now I'm going to get them)

Well low and behold, my two carbed kegs are now flat. So I was thinking hit all four with a high amount of co2 without burping them and then turning it down to serving pressure so they would all equalize.

I guess it just the system reaching equilibrium, I didn't think it would happen with the carbed kegs staying under pressure but the more I think about it the more I'm willing to accept it.
I've never noticed it happening before, but it has probably been exacerbated because you are carbonating twice as much as is already in the system.

Simple fixes could be to carb one at a time (purge headspace of the one you aren't carbing immediately of course),
turn off carbed kegs at the manifold apart from when you are pouring from them (only while the other kegs carbonate)
or buy a dual regulator so carbing kegs are in a seperate circuit.

If you over pressure the other kegs while these 2 carbonate it can stop them from going flat if you get the pressure right however if you use too little they will just go not quite as flat, or too much they over carb.

So your solution would work but is not the one I would use personally.

 

[GilSwillBasementBrews]

This is what happened, though I didn't shut off my co2.

I would think your co2 is most likely empty then. As stated above if your tank was still open it would replace whatever co2 was absorbed by the uncarbed kegs while maintaining serving pressure in the already carbed kegs. If your co2 is not empty I am at a loss as to what would be the cause.

 

[william_shakes_beer]

Your description makes no sense. There must be something else going on that is not apparent. Your description suggests that all 4 kegs are in the same pressure zone, and that there is only one shut off valve, between the regulator and the manifold. Please verify this is correct.

 

[bken620]

Your description makes no sense. There must be something else going on that is not apparent. Your description suggests that all 4 kegs are in the same pressure zone, and that there is only one shut off valve, between the regulator and the manifold. Please verify this is correct.

There is one shutoff valve between the regulator and manifold and four shutoff valves on the manifold and the kegs. One shutoff valve for each keg.