Force Carbonation in a bottle

[wannabrew]

I am thinking about force carbonating but I want to bottle the beer too. Would it work to use a regulator and carbonate the beer in the bottle?
I have a feeling it would be smarter to carbonate it in a keg first but i don't have a keg.
Another question - would carbonating it in a glass carboy be an option? something about pressure and glass that size worries me (plus the loss of all the sweet nectar). Maybe I could do it in a plastic carboy? Ideas? Prefereably affordable ones

 

[Yooper]

No, it would blow up the bottles. The force to carbonate would cause carboys/bottles to explode. And even if you could do it in a plastic carboy, how would you serve the beer?

But what WOULD work is plastic 2L soda bottles with a carbonator cap. Of course, you could only do one at a time so that would be a huge PITA.

 

[badbrew]

yeah go to the local shop and spend $20 on the carb cap if you need beer now. You could in theory buy a bunch of 2L soda on sale for 2/ $1 and pour them out and force carb one by one capping them after you shake up at 30 psi.

 

[wannabrew]

yeah go to the local shop and spend $20 on the carb cap if you need beer now. You could in theory buy a bunch of 2L soda on sale for 2/ $1 and pour them out and force carb one by one capping them after you shake up at 30 psi.

what is "shake up at 30 psi?"

 

[wannabrew]

No, it would blow up the bottles. The force to carbonate would cause carboys/bottles to explode. And even if you could do it in a plastic carboy, how would you serve the beer?

But what WOULD work is plastic 2L soda bottles with a carbonator cap. Of course, you could only do one at a time so that would be a huge PITA.

I was thinking of force carbonating in the carboy, then siphoning it off into glass bottles and then capping them.

 

[beergynt]

Use priming sugar and bottle or get a kegging setup.

 

[Yooper]

I was thinking of force carbonating in the carboy, then siphoning it off into glass bottles and then capping them.

Have you ever tried to siphon carbonated beer? It'd be a foamy mess (even if you COULD force carb in glass, which you can't) and just siphoning to a bottle would have the beer foam so that the beer in the glass bottles would be flat anyway. Why are you opposed to a keg? You could easily force carb in that, and then bottle from the keg with a counter pressure bottle filler, as long as the keg/beer was cold.

 

[wannabrew]

Have you ever tried to siphon carbonated beer? It'd be a foamy mess (even if you COULD force carb in glass, which you can't) and just siphoning to a bottle would have the beer foam so that the beer in the glass bottles would be flat anyway. Why are you opposed to a keg? You could easily force carb in that, and then bottle from the keg with a counter pressure bottle filler, as long as the keg/beer was cold.

No, I guess I haven't tried

How affordable is the keg setup you're refering to?

 

[wannabrew]

I was thinking of force carbonating in the carboy, then siphoning it off into glass bottles and then capping them.

so it wouldn't really be siphoning because the force from the CO2 would pressure it (I am envisioning a closed system). It should transfer ok if it is really cold and i don't splash (by using a longer tube). That should keep the foam down right?

 

[beergynt]

I'm assuming you already have a CO2 tank and regulator, so all you really need is a Corny keg, some beer line, and disconnects. Probably about $70-80.

 

[BigRob]

You cannot, should not, and hopefully will not, carbonate in a carboy. It will explode, and make a mess, if you're lucky. If you're unlucky you might lose an eye, die, etc.

 

[seanoj]

Force carbonate in a keg and then use a counterpressure filler (or better, a Blichmann beer gun) to fill your bottles with carbonated beer.

 

[AUEnder]

Sweet Jesus don't force carb a carboy. Or any glass vessel. Do it in a keg or don't do it at all. If you need beer quickly and don't have a keg setup try bottling as usual then keeping the bottles at 75 F or so for a few days. Not ideal, but they will carb faster.

 

[badbrew]

what is "shake up at 30 psi?"

Your local brew shop will have the carb cap that fits a 2L bottle as well as the white ball lock connector and tubing to fit your regulator. Fill the bottle, cap it, hit it with 30 psi, and shake the bottle to absorb co2. It will take some experimenting to find the amount of shaking necessary. Maybe 30 seconds, maybe 5 minutes.

And if it explodes, at least it won't be a glass carboy bomb :fro:

 

[wannabrew]

I'm assuming you already have a CO2 tank and regulator, so all you really need is a Corny keg, some beer line, and disconnects. Probably about $70-80.

Where would you usually get this stuff?

 

[beergynt]

Where would you usually get this stuff?

http://stores.kegconnection.com/StoreFront.bok