Force Carbing 8 kegs at room temp

[ccombs70]

Hi everyone! I'm new to the forum and have a bit of a unique situation:

How big of a tank would I need to consistently carb 8 half barrel kegs? Any way to carb this many at room temp inside of a work week without agitating?

Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

 

[Yooper]

Hi everyone! I'm new to the forum and have a bit of a unique situation:

How big of a tank would I need to consistently carb 8 half barrel kegs? Any way to carb this many at room temp inside of a work week without agitating?

Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

You probably could get by with one 5 pound tank, assuming no leaks (but I didn't do the math). You only need an 8 way distributor.

A week might be pushing it, but you could start at 45 psi for the first 48 hours and drop to 30 psi and it should be decently carbed in a week.

 

[ccombs70]

You probably could get by with one 5 pound tank, assuming no leaks (but I didn't do the math). You only need an 8 way distributor.

A week might be pushing it, but you could start at 45 psi for the first 48 hours and drop to 30 psi and it should be decently carbed in a week.

Thanks Yooper. I don't want to make the thread go in the wrong direction for this forum, but I'm trying to bring homemade root beer to our concession company. On our big weeks we'll use 8 kegs and need those back online for the next... Our season is a little over 4 months.

I've read of a few people saying their keg was flat after more than a week at 40psi... shaking it was the only way??... at room temp

 

[Yooper]

Thanks Yooper. I don't want to make the thread go in the wrong direction for this forum, but I'm trying to bring homemade root beer to our concession company. On our big weeks we'll use 8 kegs and need those back online for the next... Our season is a little over 4 months.

I've read of a few people saying their keg was flat after more than a week at 40psi... shaking it was the only way??... at room temp

Oh, I assumed it was beer. Since carbonation is time, temperature, and pressure dependent, I think it would be very tough to get soda carbed up enough at room temperature in a week. I don't have a carb chart that goes up that high, but I use 30 psi at 40 degrees, since soda is much more highly carbed than beer. I would guess you'd need a much higher pressure at room temperature, but I don't know how high it'd need to be. It will take a ton of line to serve soda, don't forget about that. I think I used 30' for 30 psi for each tap.

http://www.kegerators.com/carbonation-table.php
Here's the carb chart I use but it only goes up to 68 degrees and 30 psi.

If you can't chill the kegs when force carbing, it could very well take 3 weeks to carb them up. I'd make sure of the pressure needed, and try to increase it a bit to speed up carbonation, but I don't know of anybody that actually did it with soda so that's a bit of a gamble for sure.

 

[ccombs70]

Oh, I assumed it was beer. Since carbonation is time, temperature, and pressure dependent, I think it would be very tough to get soda carbed up enough at room temperature in a week. I don't have a carb chart that goes up that high, but I use 30 psi at 40 degrees, since soda is much more highly carbed than beer. I would guess you'd need a much higher pressure at room temperature, but I don't know how high it'd need to be. It will take a ton of line to serve soda, don't forget about that. I think I used 30' for 30 psi for each tap.

http://www.kegerators.com/carbonation-table.php
Here's the carb chart I use but it only goes up to 68 degrees and 30 psi.

If you can't chill the kegs when force carbing, it could very well take 3 weeks to carb them up. I'd make sure of the pressure needed, and try to increase it a bit to speed up carbonation, but I don't know of anybody that actually did it with soda so that's a bit of a gamble for sure.

That's what I keep running up against lol. There isn't much data on carbing soda like I need. I've got to build something to lightly agitate the lot as it gasses. Something manual I can control. Any idea on a tank size to last a decent part of the season for home base force carbing? I have a couple 20# tanks that I will go with the units at events. I've read of guys using up to 45' tap lines! Most seem to use what you recommended.

 

[GPP33]

How long your bottle will last will be dependent on how much head space you have. Very little actually goes into solution. Most of the CO2 is squished into the head space.

 

[IslandLizard]

If you need to carb these on an ongoing basis during the summer, you need a BIG CO2 tank!
5# is nothing.

Carbing is measured in volumes, soda is usually at 4 volumes.
To get that carbing level it needs to be dispensed at 30 psi at 40F, running through 30-40' of 3/16" tubing (also kept at 40F) to keep the CO2 in solution.

If you're in a hurry, you can force carbonate by rolling/agitating a 40F cold keg for 10 minutes while under 40-60 psi until no more gas is absorbed. You're there when the regulator stops groaning. Keep the same pressure on for another 1-2 days, stored at 40F. Bleed off the excess CO2, set the regulator to 30 psi to stabilize and it should be ready to serve the next day. It needs to be kept at 40F to keep the soda carbonated and ready for dispensing. If the keg warms up you'll get excessive foaming, unless you store it cold again for a few days to allow the CO2 to go back into solution.

I think you should fill the kegs by weight or volume, leaving enough headspace, not sure how much on 1/2 barrels for soda. Perhaps around 0.5-0.75 gallon?

 

[ccombs70]

If you need to carb these on an ongoing basis during the summer, you need a BIG CO2 tank!
5# is nothing.

Carbing is measured in volumes, soda is usually at 4 volumes.
To get that carbing level it needs to be dispensed at 30 psi at 40F, running through 30-40' of 3/16" tubing (also kept at 40F) to keep the CO2 in solution.

If you're in a hurry, you can force carbonate by rolling/agitating a 40F cold keg for 10 minutes while under 40-60 psi until no more gas is absorbed. You're there when the regulator stops groaning. Keep the same pressure on for another 1-2 days, stored at 40F. Bleed off the excess CO2, set the regulator to 30 psi to stabilize and it should be ready to serve the next day. It needs to be kept at 40F to keep the soda carbonated and ready for dispensing. If the keg warms up you'll get excessive foaming, unless you store it cold again for a few days to allow the CO2 to go back into solution.

I think you should fill the kegs by weight or volume, leaving enough headspace, not sure how much on 1/2 barrels for soda. perhaps around 0.5-0.75 gallon?

At room temp you don't think the brew will be able to hold enough co2 in solution? Are you recommending keeping less or more headspace than normal? I'm guessing more would allow the solution to move more when agitated??

I was hoping to chill the kegs the day I serve them. There won't be much over a week at most between brewing and serving time. I'm thinking about ways to lightly agitate 8 half barrels at a time lol.

 

[ccombs70]

I think the easiest thing to do is buy a few more kegs. Our basement stays around 70 degrees. With more kegs I can leave them on gas for a solid week. Depending on our events I'll have up to two weeks to gas them sometimes.

It's $50 a year to lease a 50# tank for the house. I don't think that's too bad.