Force Carbing the pipeline

[Kuglehaus]

So, until my 2nd Co2 container magically appears, I have a problem:

I have kegs o beer that won't fit in the fridge to start force carbing. When I kick a keg, I have to wait 2 weeks or so to start enjoying the new brew.

If I were to put the keg under pressure and leave as such outside the fridge (or in another fridge ) would I get a head start on the carbing?

I would assume so, but I'm curious if anyone has "prepped" their pipeline and acheived carbonation without being continuously hooked up to the bottle. Appreciate any insight that anyone has. Thanks.

 

[beerthirty]

I do it all the time. Just hit it with about 30 PSI every other day for a week. The headspace is so small in a full keg you won't over carbonate. when you do stick it in the fridge and hook up the gas with normal PSI, it won't take nearly as long to fully carbonate. The numbers vary due to the room temp. The warmer the room the longer it will take to carbonate.

 

[GreenwoodRover]

IIRC There was a recent thread discussing this very topic. I think the consensus was to ref a carb chart (ie desired carb volume, with beer temp and PSI required) the warmer the beer the more PSI you need.
The one thing I couldn't wrap my head around was whether this was a one shot at "X" psi or if the room temp keg needed to be hit again several times with pressure "X" over the course of several days.

EDIT: beethirty beat me to it with a much better answer.

 

[mmb]

You can also prime with corn sugar if it's going to sit for a while outside of the kegerator. First few pints will have some yeast sediment and then everything clears up fairly nicely.

Not the best option, but it's another option all the same.

 

[RayInUT]

You shouldn't have to wait two weeks for it to force carb anyway. Once you put it in the fridge, let it cool down overnight. In the morning you can hook it up to the CO2 at 30 PSI and rock it back and forth vigoriously. You will hear the gas going through the regulator. Do that for about fifteen minutes and take a break. Repeat again in a half hour or so. Do it until you don't hear gas going through the regulator. Wait a couple hours, release pressure on the keg until the gauge reads about 5 PSI and start drinking. I keep my untapped kegs at about 40*F and I have them tapped and ready to drink in a few hours.

 

[madewithchicken]

You can connect an empty keg to the keg the full one and fill it with co2. I have only done this once and I used 45 psi. Not sure what pressure to suggest.

If you were carbonating with a co2 tank and regulator you will achieve normal carbonation at about 30 psi (at normal room temp.) So since the pressure is going to drop as the gas is absorbed then it needs to start higher than 30 psi.

I may consider starting with 45 psi and just hit the extra (empty) keg with 30 psi (check the temp in the room and then check a carb chart) every so often.

 

[Kuglehaus]

I did think about naturally carbing, I'm trying to establish a process that afford me the greatest flexibility. It's definately something to keep in my pocket. I've seen some sites selling a stainless stell "stone" to assist in carbing. What does this do, and is it something that might assist with my issue?

 

[mmb]

The stone just makes smaller bubbles of CO2 and makes it bubble through the beer. More surface area and thus quicker carbing.

Also allows a path for the beer to flow back up into your gas lines if pressure chages, FYI.

 

[Kuglehaus]

You can connect an empty keg to the keg the full one and fill it with co2. I have only done this once and I used 45 psi. Not sure what pressure to suggest.

If you were carbonating with a co2 tank and regulator you will achieve normal carbonation at about 30 psi (at normal room temp.) So since the pressure is going to drop as the gas is absorbed then it needs to start higher than 30 psi.

I may consider starting with 45 psi and just hit the extra (empty) keg with 30 psi (check the temp in the room and then check a carb chart) every so often.

Now that is a damn good Idea, I have extra kegs, I could use one as a temp gas cylinder... That solves a couple issues... pure genius man.

 

[Cpt_Kirks]

Now that is a damn good Idea, I have extra kegs, I could use one as a temp gas cylinder... That solves a couple issues... pure genius man.

+1 on the Genius!

How much CO2 would an "empty" cornie hold? Enough to push the beer out of one or more full kegs?

Hmmm...

 

[GreenMan]

+1 on the Genius!

How much CO2 would an "empty" cornie hold? Enough to push the beer out of one or more full kegs?

Hmmm...

Would probably work. Only think I see as going wrong is that the pressure will vary as the keg empties so it will change the carbonation of the beer over time but if you just do this as a party thing. The change in co2 in the beer will be insignificant. Say if you fill the empty to 10 psi it will push the first few out well and then the last few will be pushed out with 5 psi which should be enough. Slower pour but still should have the right carbonation.

 

[Kuglehaus]

So I actually decided to try a couple different approaches. I decided to use this for a little learning experience vs just try to figure a quick solution. I've got one keg (with a gas in that I can't remove *what good luck*) that I'm going to use as a surrogate C02 tank, I have a keg hooked up to that right now. I added 5oz of boiling water/corn sugar to another and it is sitting in the basement (~65f). And another I hit with 30 psi and rocked around for 10min. Will do that again tonight and draw a sample each day from that one to get a sense of when it's done. I'll probably sample each just for my own knowlege.. might ever keep a spreadsheet....hmmm...

Curious here, what pressure will a corny safely hold? Anyone know off hand.... guess I could search..

 

[RayInUT]

So I actually decided to try a couple different approaches. I decided to use this for a little learning experience vs just try to figure a quick solution. I've got one keg (with a gas in that I can't remove *what good luck*) that I'm going to use as a surrogate C02 tank, I have a keg hooked up to that right now. I added 5oz of boiling water/corn sugar to another and it is sitting in the basement (~65f). And another I hit with 30 psi and rocked around for 10min. Will do that again tonight and draw a sample each day from that one to get a sense of when it's done. I'll probably sample each just for my own knowlege.. might ever keep a spreadsheet....hmmm...

Curious here, what pressure will a corny safely hold? Anyone know off hand.... guess I could search..

Corneys are rated for 130PSI but you wouldn't catch me hitting one with more than 40 PSI!!! Bottle bombs are one thing but I sure as hell wouldn't want to be around an exploding keg. BTW, it you force carb one of the kegs and rock it for ten or twenty minutes pretty well and listen for the gas dissolving in the beer, it should be ready to drink immediately. Keep in mind though that the beer will taste "green" if it hasn't sat in secondary for a while to age.

 

[JesseRC]

well if you do fill a keg to say 60-70psi and then place an inline pressure regulator on that hose (cheap air regulator) and set to 10psi. I wonder how long that would last.

 

[madewithchicken]

Now that is a damn good Idea...

I used to do this for dispensing soda from the keg. Soda tastes better at higher carbonation levels than beer.

Now I have too many tanks and regulators.

 

[Kuglehaus]

Now I have too many tanks and regulators.

No, now you have more reasons to make more BEER! and a new keezer! or a dedicating forced sanitization station.... common... take pics so we can drool over the stuff...

 

[madewithchicken]

I have 7 co2 tanks and 4 regulators. I only need 3 of each at the most. One for normal carbonation, one for high carbonation and the last for taking to parties and other random stuff.

I keep finding ads on craigslist for stuff. I will buy an old draft system (for commercial beer) for about $25 because i need the faucet. Then i will sell the sanke tap for about $20 and be left with regulators and tanks.

I am trying to get my friend to buy a few kegs so I can sell him some stuff.