Force carbonation with air

[Berwen]

I am considering force carbonating a gallon of beer for immediate consumption using air. Hoping to get a nitro like carbonation/head.
Thinking of pumping air into small keg at around 40 psi and shaking several times. Then dispensing through a stout nozzle at around 44’f.
What are your thoughts, suggestions?

 

[Erik the Anglophile]

Sounds like you will have horribly oxidated malt vinegar...

 

[bailey mountain brewer]

Air??? Umm no.

 

[Yooper]

Carbonation is done without 'air'- it's done with CO2 gas.
Carbonic acid is produced, which gives the beer that 'bite' vs flat beer.
Without pressuring with CO2, or bottle carbonating by producing CO in the bottle, there are no bubbles to provide carbonation.
You'd have flat beer no matter how much "air" you forced into the beer.

 

[mac_1103]

Nitro beers are still carbonated. I believe that the process uses a 70/30 mix of N2 and CO2. Even if you're not worried about oxygen because you're going to drink it all in an hour, air won't work.

 

[Berwen]

Was planning on starting with beer carbonation with only about 1.5 vols from fermentation. Then adding air pressure to raise carb level to about 2.5 for immediate consumption.
Don’t see how this is much different than the Genniss beer syringe/pump or the pocket syringe used in Australia.

 

[Broken Crow]

No.
Raising from any volume requires CO2.
The only way to get a 'nitro head' is to use nitro and a stout tap with the diffusion insert.
If you have a keg and want to serve from it as many bars serve Guinness, then you need a nitro-regulator, creamer-faucet and 'beer-gas'. If anything, leaving a partially carbonated beer under pressure of plain air will reduce your carbonation level to achieve equalibrium.

 

[mac_1103]

Don’t see how this is much different than the Genniss beer syringe/pump

If you're talking about the microdraft system, my guess is that it's very different. The beer in those cans is fully carbed/nitroed and the pump is just to provide serving pressure.

 

[day_trippr]

Don’t see how this is much different than the Genniss beer syringe/pump or the pocket syringe used in Australia.

Guinness. And they didn't "pump air" into the beer with the syringe:

In 1978 Guinness introduced the ‘Creamer’ or ‘Surger’ syringe that you would get with a pack of bottles or cans. You would pour the bottle into a pint glass, then remove some of the Guinness using the syringe, and then inject it back from a few inches up to give it a head.

It should be noted they don't do this anymore, but instead rely on a nitrogen "widget" in the can like others do these days...

Cheers!

 

[PCABrewing]

Was planning on starting with beer carbonation with only about 1.5 vols from fermentation. Then adding air pressure to raise carb level to about 2.5 for immediate consumption.
Don’t see how this is much different than the Genniss beer syringe/pump or the pocket syringe used in Australia.

I can tell you from personal experience pressurizing with air will not do anything more than allow the existing beer to be dispensed with whatever residual carbonation it has left.
My buddy tried it when he ran out of CO2 in his Beermeister. He used the air compressor to periodically re-pressurize.
We had OK beer for 1 night, then the whole batch was flat the next day, though it would still dispense
Probably drank some compressor oil too.