Force Carbonation - Yes I Used the Search

[edie]

just looking for a little reassurance, first time to keg and force carbonate.

dunkel in the primary for 2 weeks and secondary for 1 week. will siphon into keg. sounds like i should put the keg in the newly constructed keezer, thank you very much, at 38-40 degrees and let the beer get cold. 24 hours to get cold?
then go with what, read a few posts that said 38 psi and a couple that said 30psi for 48 hours. once that is done release most of the pressure than set at 10-12 psi and serve.

by the way spent a few hours reading several different sticky posts in the beginners forum and it's true, i did learn some things. thanks for all the experienced contributions.

 

[carnevoodoo]

http://brewery.org/library/CO2charts.html

Go there. That's the set and forget numbers. I do 30 for about 36-48 hours and then check. Then I reduce pressure to proper levels and I check it in another few days to make sure I didn't screw it up somehow.

 

[JumboBlimpJumbo]

If your secondary will fit in your keezer you could cold crash that overnight so more sediment will be left in your secondary when you siphon off instead of at the bottom of your keg. The rest sounds good. If you're impatient like I am though you would put 30 psi on your keg, lay it on its side and roll it back and forth somewhat vigorously about 100 times, and drink it right then. You can pull a couple glasses off of it half way through to check the level of carbonation and make sure you don't overdo it.

 

[Bobby_M]

I'll be brief and just suggest not shaking the keg at 30psi. Set at the chart temp and wait 2 weeks. Overcarbing is a crappy way to start your kegging adventures.

 

[JumboBlimpJumbo]

I've never had that kind of patience... If I have to wait 2 weeks I'd rather bottle it and have 5 gallons of some drinkable beer taking up room in my fridge.

The first time I kegged I set it to 12 and shook it to carbonate, and you can't overdo it that way because it will just reach the same equilibrium that it does when you leave it alone for a few weeks. When I did that though I had to shake it for quite a while to get a good level of carbonation.

 

[Bobby_M]

Brewing itself is about patience. I've never tasted a blast carbed beer that was any good. IMHO, the build up of carbonic acid is over the top. To each his own though, I just wouldn't recommend it for the first time kegger.

 

[JumboBlimpJumbo]

Not any good? Come on man, blame someone for having a bad recipe, but dissolving CO2 in your beer faster makes it not any good? Just by saying that you're implying that the beer I brew is bad. What about using a diffusion stone?

I can see where the carbonic acid thing might come into play if someone over carbonates their beer and then has to drop the pressure and let CO2 out of solution. If you don't over carbonate in the first place though you're still working with the same chemistry as if you had waited 2 weeks. I don't see how you could possibly explain a difference in taste for the two carbonation methods other than the rapidly carbonated beer being 2 weeks younger when you try it.

Sorry for the little rant, I know you are always helpful and knowledgeable about brewing and give very good advice. I just felt a little offended by your comments and I'm sure that wasn't your intention.

 

[Drunkenfool]

These guys r fighting over nothing.. If u wanna keg it now do it Dude don't wait to carbonate the beer until its cold there is no reason 4it if it is in the keg hit it with 15 while it is cooling. Make sure you purge the keg of co2 b4 u fill it connect the hoses and let it go. Have a few semi flat beersOver the next week and enjoy!

 

[AnOldUR]

I've never tasted a blast carbed beer that was any good. IMHO, the build up of carbonic acid is over the top. To each his own though . . .

Interesting. I've never shaken a keg, but usually have more than what will fit so use two liter bottles and a Carbonator Cap for the extra. With that, I'll charge the bottle to 30-40 lbs and shake. It works and the beer's been good, but never as good as what comes out of the keg a couple weeks later. I've always just attributed the bit of harshness to young beer. A carbonic bite may be what I taste. Have to pay more attention next time. May be save a bottle and do a direct comparison.

 

[Bobby_M]

Not any good? Come on man, blame someone for having a bad recipe, but dissolving CO2 in your beer faster makes it not any good? Just by saying that you're implying that the beer I brew is bad. What about using a diffusion stone?

I can see where the carbonic acid thing might come into play if someone over carbonates their beer and then has to drop the pressure and let CO2 out of solution. If you don't over carbonate in the first place though you're still working with the same chemistry as if you had waited 2 weeks. I don't see how you could possibly explain a difference in taste for the two carbonation methods other than the rapidly carbonated beer being 2 weeks younger when you try it.

Sorry for the little rant, I know you are always helpful and knowledgeable about brewing and give very good advice. I just felt a little offended by your comments and I'm sure that wasn't your intention.

I've never had your beer and I have no idea if it's good or not. Don't be so defensive. My statement stands. I've never had a beer that was recently boost carbed that was as good as I'd hope and that includes my own beers. I'm even talking about beers that have been aging in the keg. I'm not a chemist so I can't fully understand what's going on but my guess is that higher partial pressures of CO2 forms equally higher levels of carbonic acid. Assuming you eventually hit a normal carbonation level, the amount of acid would reduce back down to its equilibrium level and the beer would be fine. How long? Who knows. Maybe I'm the only one that tastes a difference.

 

[zanemoseley]

One thing I will say is I've had mixed results when setting at 30 psi and leaving for 48 hrs. Sometimes it seems to work perfectly but I've had a couple occasions where it overcarbed the beer. Overcarbed beer is a PITA, it takes a bit of the fun out of pouring from a tap as you have to baby sit each pour. I've even lowered my serving/storing psi down to 2-3 psi in the hopes of reducing the carbonation level. It didn't seem to work that well. I'm sure it would if you had a week or two till you wanted to drink it but this was not the case.

Next time I want fairly quick carbonation I may just do 30 for a day then drop to 10 for a week. Shaking the keg at 10-12 psi actually would be a little more foolproof but may take forever.

 

[kappclark]

I'll be brief and just suggest not shaking the keg at 30psi. Set at the chart temp and wait 2 weeks. Overcarbing is a crappy way to start your kegging adventures.

Let nature take it course == I have tried force carbing, but never got the results I wanted (too foamy) --not consistent.. slow and steady carbing for 5 days will do the trick...I think your beer may need some more time to age anyway..force-carbed green beer is still green beer..