Force carbing in a corny keg

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aaronc5150

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Hello all. Once I siphon my beer into my corny keg and bleed out the oxygen and pump the CO2 into the keg and get it carbonated - at this point do I let it sit in the fridge with all that pressure in it to settle, or do I bleed out some of the pressure before letting it settle in the fridge?

Thanks
 
Turn it to 30 psi for three days. Then turn down to 8-12 psi to serve. Once it's carbonated and sealed you don't have to leave the gas on when you're not serving.
 
If I cant leave the CO2 hooked up with it in the fridge for 3 days and I force carb it by laying it down and "shaking" it for as long as it takes at 30 psi... when its done, do I leave all that pressure in it when I put it in the fridge to settle, or do I bleed some out?
 
Once it's carbed, you need to turn it down to serving pressure or more CO2 will dissolve and it will become more carbonated. You need to have the CO2 hooked up in order to serve. WHy can't you leave it hooked up? Also, when you shake like that you will most likely get beer up the gas line which you will need to clean and sanitize. Make sure the keg is cold before you shake.
 
I don't agree with overcarbing and then turning it down. That seems unnecessary to me. If you have a fridge, set it at 10-12 psi and let it sit for a week. After a week it should be just about perfect!
 
Yooper said:
I don't agree with overcarbing and then turning it down. That seems unnecessary to me. If you have a fridge, set it at 10-12 psi and let it sit for a week. After a week it should be just about perfect!

This.
 
Might be an obvious observation, but the whole "to force or not to force" carbonation thing tends to revolve around how deep a pipeline one has developed. If one has plenty o' drinkable brew stock on hand, it's no biggie to just gas up the next keg at serving pressure and give it all the time it needs to "get there".

At the other extreme, when one has nothing to pour, I can definitely appreciate the sense of urgency that leads one to any of these high-pressure schemes. My sympathies go out to folks that find themselves in that predicament ;)

Cheers!
 
Might be an obvious observation, but the whole "to force or not to force" carbonation thing tends to revolve around how deep a pipeline one has developed. If one has plenty o' drinkable brew stock on hand, it's no biggie to just gas up the next keg at serving pressure and give it all the time it needs to "get there".

At the other extreme, when one has nothing to pour, I can definitely appreciate the sense of urgency that leads one to any of these high-pressure schemes. My sympathies go out to folks that find themselves in that predicament ;)

Cheers!

True. But when I have forced carbed quickly, I end up spending the whole keg fighting foaming issues.
 
Yooper said:
I don't agree with overcarbing and then turning it down. That seems unnecessary to me. If you have a fridge, set it at 10-12 psi and let it sit for a week. After a week it should be just about perfect!

I didnt say to overcarb. I just said to turn it up to 30 until the desired level of carbonation is reached, usually about three days (two if the beer is already cold), then turn it down to serve.
 
I always force carb and never have problems. Dissolved CO2 is Dissolved CO2. I have never noticed a difference in the final product between the two methods. One just takes longer.
 
Thanks for all the replies. So my question is, if I force carb the beer at 30 psi and "shake" the carb into it - before I put it in the fridge to let it settle without the CO2 hooked up (because i don't have room), do I leave the 30 psi in the beer or do I bleed some of it out? Or do I wait to bleed it out before serving a few days later..
 
Thanks for all the replies. So my question is, if I force carb the beer at 30 psi and "shake" the carb into it - before I put it in the fridge to let it settle without the CO2 hooked up (because i don't have room), do I leave the 30 psi in the beer or do I bleed some of it out? Or do I wait to bleed it out before serving a few days later..

You can leave the pressure on the head space, but before you try to pour your first glass, you want to shut off the gas feeding the keg, release all of the pressure in the keg, then turn the gas back on at your serving pressure.

Cheers!

[edit for clarity]
 
When force carbing at 30 PSI and slamming the beer with all that pressure, how do you know you have it the way you want it?
 
When force carbing at 30 PSI and slamming the beer with all that pressure, how do you know you have it the way you want it?

That's the tough part about 30 psi carbing. That is why I only do 30 psi for 24 hours and switch to serving pressure. Otherwise you will have to keep checking it for proper carb and taking the CO2 out is harder than putting it in.
 
When you say you do 30 psi for 24 hours - do you give it 30 psi and shake it and remove it from gas and leave it settling for 24 hours, or do you just hook the gas up at 30 psi without shaking it and leave it setting for 24 hours with the gas hooked up?
 
When force carbing at 30 PSI and slamming the beer with all that pressure, how do you know you have it the way you want it?

You don't and that's the problem. You have no way of knowing the volumes of c02 in solution when you crank up the psi for days, then when you drop it to 10-12 psi (which is totally arbitrary as well) you run the risk of foaming problems.

I will do 30 psi for 24 hours ONLY (no shaking, leave the gas on), then set it to the PROPER psi, which is based on beer style, and exact serving temp. If you can't devote a week to carbing, you need another hobby.


_
 
If you can't devote a week to carbing, you need another hobby.


_

A little harsh, no? :confused: There are MANY instances where one would want to turn around a keg carb in less than a week. As somebody mentioned, if you only have one tap and are out of beer, that qualifies as a perfect example. The longer method may work better, but turning it over quickly is a perfectly acceptable alternative (as long as you aren't 100% picky about carbing to style).

I've done the 30psi shake method a few times, usually with great success. The plug and wait method is far more reliable and gives better results and I would always recommend it - for those with time.

To the OP, if you are going to carb and shake, make sure the beer is cold before hooking up the gas. It'll absorb better, especially since you can't leave it hooked on gas.
 
I will do 30 psi for 24 hours ONLY (no shaking, leave the gas on), then set it to the PROPER psi, which is based on beer style, and exact serving temp. If you can't devote a week to carbing, you need another hobby.


_

That's the best way IMO. I lightened up on the last sentence. :mug:
 
You don't and that's the problem. You have no way of knowing the volumes of c02 in solution when you crank up the psi for days, then when you drop it to 10-12 psi (which is totally arbitrary as well) you run the risk of foaming problems.

I will do 30 psi for 24 hours ONLY (no shaking, leave the gas on), then set it to the PROPER psi, which is based on beer style, and exact serving temp. If you can't devote a week to carbing, you need another hobby.


_

Wildwest, at the method you mentioned, after the 24 hours is up and you set it to the proper psi and serving temp, how long do you leave it settling before, a week?
 
Wildwest, at the method you mentioned, after the 24 hours is up and you set it to the proper psi and serving temp, how long do you leave it settling before, a week?

You can test it whenever you like, it just takes around a week to fully carb. As you sample it, you will taste the progress.
I also carb at serving temp, for me it's 42f, it's strictly personal taste and where most styles generally can be enjoyed.





That's the best way IMO. I lightened up on the last sentence. :mug:

Ha, I just don't get all the prep that goes into a good beer, then trying to rush it, your beer will NEVER be better by rushing the last process.


_
 
Ive only carbed one beer so far but it worked perfectly. Do the shake method at 30psi for 6-7 minutes on a cold keg of beer. you can hear the co2 going into the beer. after the 6-7 minutes you shouldnt hear it anymore. slowly bleed of the pressure. Dial back to 10 psi and fridge overnight. The next morning mine was pretty awesome. Will I have the same result next time, not sure.
 
If you put it on 30psi, then take the gas line off, the 30psi will desolve pretty quickly and you'll have about nothing left in the headspace. It won't get overcarbed doing this, it will be undercarbed or more like not carbed at all.
 
I don't agree with overcarbing and then turning it down. That seems unnecessary to me. If you have a fridge, set it at 10-12 psi and let it sit for a week. After a week it should be just about perfect!

Who can wait so long to sample their beer!?
Your patience amazes me.

Time factors are one of the main reasons I brew beer and not wine/mead.

...that said, most of my beers taste like a ripe ass for the first week or two that they're in the keg.
2-4 weeks of aging in the keg seems to be the standard for optimal flavor with my setup.
 
Who can wait so long to sample their beer!?
Your patience amazes me.

Time factors are one of the main reasons I brew beer and not wine/mead.

...that said, most of my beers taste like a ripe ass for the first week or two that they're in the keg.
2-4 weeks of aging in the keg seems to be the standard for optimal flavor with my setup.

Patience? I keg my beer at about day 10. I can wait 7 more days to drink it. By then, it's perfect. A 17 day old beer isn't exactly requiring tons of patience! No way I'd be able to age it for 2-4 weeks!

Although, the beer I'm drinking now (as in right at this moment) I was drinking on day 13, I believe. It was good then, and it's good now. With good pitching rates, fermentation temperature control, and good ingredients, beer doesn't really take very long.
 
Daaaamn! I generally leave mine in primary/secondary for about 2-4 weeks. Don't usually start drinking a beer until about 6 weeks after the day I pitch.

Am I being an idiot and waiting too long?
I'm relatively new to the homebrewing thing (I think I've done about 15 five-gallon batches) and I've figured most of my process out from random books at the library and Google searching.
 
Daaaamn! I generally leave mine in primary/secondary for about 2-4 weeks. Don't usually start drinking a beer until about 6 weeks after the day I pitch.

Am I being an idiot and waiting too long?
I'm relatively new to the homebrewing thing (I think I've done about 15 five-gallon batches) and I've figured most of my process out from random books at the library and Google searching.

Heck, no- if it works for you then you should keep doing what you're doing!

I've never bought into the "MONTH IN PRIMARY!" bandwagon. If the beer has a reasonable OG, no complex ingredients that require some mellowing (roasty grains, oak, etc), and you pitch the proper amount of yeast at the proper fermentation temperature, then leaving the beer in the fermenter only 3-5 days after FG is reached is fine. I tend to use more flocculant yeast, so the beer is clear by about 7-10 days after pitching. I dryhop at that time if doing so, then rack to the keg 3-7 days later.

My oatmeal stout takes a bit longer to come together, so that beer is usually about four weeks old when I start enjoying it, but it's best at about 6 weeks old.

I sometimes do a quick carb method, but with no shaking! I set the psi at 30 for 36 hours, then purge and reset to 12 psi. It makes the beer ready at about day 3-5 instead of day 7, so it doesn't save much time but it does make it easier for samples!
 
All good reading. This is my first attempt at kegging in a corny. I have used the 5 liter mini keg system and don't have much good to say about it other then it doesn't take up much room. Was never able to get the kegs to hold pressure with the tap installed. Anyway, just shoved an American Wheat into a corny this afternoon and put 20 psi to it. After reading the posts here I believe I'll go bump it up to 30 for a day then crank it down to 10 or so. On another note... I guess CO2 stays liquid at about 800 psi? I was expecting a higher pressure. Man it's great to finally have a spare fridge!!!
 
On another note... I guess CO2 stays liquid at about 800 psi? I was expecting a higher pressure. Man it's great to finally have a spare fridge!!!

Yes, maybe it does. The best way to use the "high pressure gauge" that shows the pressure in the tank is to cover it with duct tape. It's completely useless, and doesn't show you the amount of gas you have left. In a fridge, it will stay at 750 until the tank is completely empty, and then go to 0 in one minute. It's best to either remove it or at least don't look at it!
 
I'm curious about the possible happy medium between force carbing at 30psi and setting at pressure (10psi) and waiting a week. This is my first kegging experience, and so I set my pressure to 10psi and have rolled it around like you would if you were truly force carbing at 30psi, but at the lower pressure.

What kind of results will I get with this? Will it speed up the carbing process by a few days, or will it still take the entire week(ish) to carbonate because it's only at the 10psi? I guess I saw this as a way to avoid overcarbonating but still getting the beer carbed quicker than the 'set it and forget it (for about a week)' method.
 
The best way to use the "high pressure gauge" that shows the pressure in the tank is to cover it with duct tape. It's completely useless, and doesn't show you the amount of gas you have left.
I've heard people say this, but for me, once the high pressure gauge starts to drop I can still get up to a few days of serving pressure from the tank. So the gauge does have value in knowing that the end is near and giving me time to plan a trip to the weld shop.

The pressure of CO2 in liquid form is constant for the temperature that it's at, so as long as you have liquid CO2 in the tank the gauge will not move. A dropping gauge tell you that the liquid is gone and that you're down to only gas. At this point the gauge is giving you an accurate reading of how many PSI you have left. If you're trying to force carb a beer it won't last long, but a 20lb tank with 400 psi of CO2 will serve a lot of beer. A 5lb tank (less volume) not as much.
 
I've done that shake n roll method, the 30 psi for 36 hrs method, the set it & forget it method & the .5 micron carbonation stone method. I prefer to hook it up & wait (usually sampling a bit along the way, I like seeing how the beer changes). If I'm in dire need of a quick turnaround, the carbonation stone is my choice-I can be drinking carbed beer in about an hour, and perfectly carbed beer the next day. I'll use the 30/36 occasionally, and am happy with the results. The one method I wont do again is the shake & roll, just didn't like that one; too little control.

my .02

-d
 
If you can over carb beer how comes it doesn't over carb when you set it and forget it? If the answer is beer can only absorb so much co2 then how can it be over carbed doing the other methods?
 
I've set a keg of beer at 30 for about 3 days and it was perfect. Dropped the pressure and suddenly had foaming issues. I had to bleed gas and shake to get the excess out and reset to proper pressure.

If I had to quickly carb again (and I don't foresee that), I'd probably hit with 20 lbs and shake for a few minutes, then purge and drop it to 11 lbs and go from there.

I never want to overcarb again. Too much work.

This last keg I set to 11 PSI and after a few days to a week it's nicely carbed and no foaming issues! Plus, the beer is not worse for an extra week of cold conditioning.

Summary, I prefer the set and forget unless I have an urgent need to carb quicker.
 
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