Keg post question for force carb

[Brewhaa]

I currentley have my gas line hooked up to its normal "in" post while I'm carbonating my beer. Now I'm reading that I should have retrofitted it to connect the gas to the internal draw tube so it carbonates from the bottom up. Does it really matter? I'm doing the low & slow method using the chart.

 

[sibelman]

I've heard of this, but have always carbed using the "gas in" post. I doubt there's much benefit to the other method, but maybe a bit faster...?

 

[Cider Wraith]

Good question

 

[myndflyte]

It's supposed to carb it faster but hooking it up to 30 psi on the gas post for 2 or 3 days carbs it up quick enough. So to me, it sounds like screwing around with something to speed up a process that already happens pretty quick.

That being said, the only time I do actually carb through the out tube is for hop water because it seems like trying to carb from the gas post just will not happen, or takes way longer than I'd like to wait. So I will usually turn up the gas to 30 psi, put it on the outpost until bubbling slows down and then purge the headspace. I'll repeat this about 5 times and it seems to give it a good head start with carbonation.

 

[aceluby]

I force carb by connecting to my gas line at 40-50 psi for 24 hours, drop it to 10 psi, purge the pressure, and pour. Just don't forget about it and you're fine, no need to do any kind of retrofitting.

 

[Bobby_M]

Bubbling the CO2 up from the bottom of the keg would provide a VERY small increase in surface area and only slightly rush the carbonation process. Not worth the effort in my opinion.

 

[DuncB]

Apparently quicker if you have a tube off the gas post and a carbonation stone on the end of it.
Risky tactic though usually separate post for this ie a second gas post. This way the gas in once carbed is on normal post, otherwise each pint you drank would cause gas to stir your beer up.
It's risky as well if you don't swap over because beer could go up your gas line and cause chaos.
I set and forget.

 

[Malticulous]

When the gas is connected to the beer post you can hear the gas gulp in to the beer. Shake it and you can hear it force carbonating. When you can't hear it going in it's carbonated to the temp/pressure. This works on the gas post if you just roll it on the floor.

 

[balrog]

The ultimate I think would be to have a micro diffuser stone connected to the line of gas, sitting on the bottom of the keg, slowly increasing CO2 pressure so that the teeny tiny bubbles are absorbed before reaching the surface (so of course you need an internal camera), which requires slowly increasing the CO2 pressure as more is absorbed.

But then, I think a lot of things.

 

[Malticulous]

You could see that in a Oxebar bottle.

​

 

[SanPancho]

You could see that in a Oxebar bottle.

​

You pick up the new oxebar rig from Williams? Makes the oxebar bottle into a tiny keg?

 

[Malticulous]

Yeah I got a few. With the tap head it can be used as a keg. It's a big pop bottle.

 

[wsmith1625]

The problem with carbing off the liquid post is that you run a higher risk of beer backing into your gas line. Been there done that. It's not worthy the risk IMO.

 

[DuncB]

Helpful to have non return ball lock connector. We all say that would never happen to me and then it will.

 

[wsmith1625]

These work with your existing threaded disconnects.

 

[TheBluePhantom]

Bubbling the CO2 up from the bottom of the keg would provide a VERY small increase in surface area and only slightly rush the carbonation process. Not worth the effort in my opinion.

I don't think it is about the surface area, the bubbling provides a small stirring action. I have had some kegs in the past that just would not carbonate, usually soda or high adjuncts. These seem to have a microscopic layer on them that slows absorbtion of the CO2. The bubbles stir this and break the surface tension of the liquid.

And not really any effort if you have space on the manifold. I keep a liquid QD permanently on my gas manifold. If I am in a hurry, I can use one on the soda gas manifold.

 

[IslandLizard]

You want to carbonate your keg in record time? Burst carbonate!

Make sure your beer is cold before doing this. Lay the keg on its side, with the connected gas post pointing up, under 25-30 psi pressure. Then roll/rock it back and forth for about 5-10 minutes.
You can hear the CO2 rushing in. When that stops, it's pretty much completed. Set it straight up, release pressure to 10-15 psi and put in keezer or kegerator. You can tap it right away. The carbonation will be near perfect after a day.

 

[sibelman]

The keg rolling under high pressure certainly speeds carbonation radically. Less clear is how to achieve the right level of carbonation this way. 5 to 10 minutes is a wide range. 25 - 30 psi too. Rocking/rolling vigor surely matters somewhat.

In my admittedly limited experience, it pays to check the carb level periodically during this "burst" method, to mitigate the risk of going too far. This may help achieve the "near perfect" result that @IslandLizard mentions. But I get the idea that listening to the gas flow also offers a good clue regarding completion.

 

[bracconiere]

Less clear is how to achieve the right level of carbonation this way. 5 to 10 minutes is a wide range. 25 - 30 psi too. Rocking/rolling vigor surely matters somewhat.

 

[Broken Crow]

Don't many people use the Blichmann Quick Carb or DIY equivalent?

 

[Bobby_M]

Don't many people use the Blichmann Quick Carb or DIY equivalent?

It seems so counterproductive. Being in a hurry to carb the beer to drink it faster but then giving yourself another piece of gear to setup, clean up and tear down. It's a means to an end, but so is cranking the pressure to 40psi and rolling the keg around for 5 minutes.

 

[Broken Crow]

It seems so counterproductive. Being in a hurry to carb the beer to drink it faster but then giving yourself another piece of gear to setup, clean up and tear down. It's a means to an end, but so is cranking the pressure to 40psi and rolling the keg around for 5 minutes.

Thanks! It takes me a long time to get context sometimes and I feel like I've been excessively mentioning quick-carb units in posts... The lightwieght extra work is worth it for me owing to disability..as it is my girlfriend has to carry the full kegs around for me. I'll save my proselytizing the unit for the next time someone asks what can be done to ease back pain in brewing

 

[rancocas]

It's supposed to carb it faster but hooking it up to 30 psi on the gas post for 2 or 3 days carbs it up quick enough. So to me, it sounds like screwing around with something to speed up a process that already happens pretty quick.

That being said, the only time I do actually carb through the out tube is for hop water because it seems like trying to carb from the gas post just will not happen, or takes way longer than I'd like to wait. So I will usually turn up the gas to 30 psi, put it on the outpost until bubbling slows down and then purge the headspace. I'll repeat this about 5 times and it seems to give it a good head start with carbonation.

I burst carbonate at 40 PSI for 26 hours through the liquid post, simultaneously cold crashing and clarifying with gelatin. I have to never forget to depressurize before switching disconnects.

Really good results.

 

[Toblerone]

It seems so counterproductive. Being in a hurry to carb the beer to drink it faster but then giving yourself another piece of gear to setup, clean up and tear down. It's a means to an end, but so is cranking the pressure to 40psi and rolling the keg around for 5 minutes.

My QuickCarb sat unused on a shelf for almost 2 years... I recently needed a beer carbed-to-serve within a few hours, so I broke it out for the first time...
My reaction was: "where have you been all of my life!".
I have rocked-and-rolled, and "set it and forget it" charged hundreds of kegs over the years. The quick carb is now my main method.
If your brew processes already use pumps, and you are used to connecting and disconnecting hoses, using the quick carb is dead simple. The cleanup only takes a slight bit more time (you need a small container of pbw handy, in addition to your sanitizer.)
I pull mine out right when I am transferring from the fermenter to the keg. I normally have a pail of sanitizer at the ready anyways, so the additional amount of cleaning setup might take an additional minute.
Overall - it is a tiny amount of additional work. Way less energy (and bs) than rocking and rolling full kegs. And the really nice thing - way less chance of a keg-full-o-foam from accidentally over-carbing.
Both methods work. I am absolutely sold on using the quick carb, for the majority of my kegs.

 

[seilenos]

I burst carbonate at 40 PSI for 26 hours through the liquid post, simultaneously cold crashing and clarifying with gelatin. I have to never forget to depressurize before switching disconnects.

Really good results.

You could simplify your process by not worrying about using the dip tube for CO2 injection. Using the liquid post has little perceptible impact in the process, especially relative to the other factors at play.

A gross simplification is that the amount of CO2 absorbed from a bubble rising from the bottom of a keg is directly proportional to the surface area of the bubble. But what determines if a bubble “survives” the trip to the head space is the volume.

A bubble from a diffusion stone is incredibly small and the volume is small enough that the bubble can be absorbed before reaching the surface.

A bubble from the end of a dip tube is comparatively so much larger that even though there is more surface area there is way too much CO2 in the bubble for it to be absorbed. Almost all of it will end up in the head space anyway.

 

[Cider Wraith]

These work with your existing threaded disconnects.

Nice

 

[aceluby]

You could simplify your process by not worrying about using the dip tube for CO2 injection. Using the liquid post has little perceptible impact in the process, especially relative to the other factors at play.

A gross simplification is that the amount of CO2 absorbed from a bubble rising from the bottom of a keg is directly proportional to the surface area of the bubble. But what determines if a bubble “survives” the trip to the head space is the volume.

A bubble from a diffusion stone is incredibly small and the volume is small enough that the bubble can be absorbed before reaching the surface.

A bubble from the end of a dip tube is comparatively so much larger that even though there is more surface area there is way too much CO2 in the bubble for it to be absorbed. Almost all of it will end up in the head space anyway.

I’ve had great results just carbing at 40-45 for 24ish hours. No need to get complicated