Kegging Carbonation Method? Critique?

[mdstrobe]

So I have kegged about my third batch. This past weekend I kegged a Slovenian blonde and wanted some feedback on my carbonation method.

I don't have a kegerator and been doing the old school method. After I fill the keg with the beer, I pulse about 20-30psi and let it sit at room temperature for about 3-5 days. Then when I want to serve it I stick it in an ice bath and lower the pressure to about 12psi and let it sit for a day before I serve (surprisingly the ice doesn't melt in my tub but if it does I just refill). After that 24 hours, the carbonation looks good, but wanted to know other methods...

Any thoughts on a better way to carbonate if you don't have a kegerator. Please give me some good insight. Thanks!

 

[beerman1957]

So I have kegged about my third batch. This past weekend I kegged a Slovenian blonde and wanted some feedback on my carbonation method.

I don't have a kegerator and been doing the old school method. After I fill the keg with the beer, I pulse about 20-30psi and let it sit at room temperature for about 3-5 days. Then when I want to serve it I stick it in an ice bath and lower the pressure to about 12psi and let it sit for a day before I serve (surprisingly the ice doesn't melt in my tub but if it does I just refill). After that 24 hours, the carbonation looks good, but wanted to know other methods...

Any thoughts on a better way to carbonate if you don't have a kegerator. Please give me some good insight. Thanks!

If you have 5 gallons of beer, then it is going to take MUCH longer than a day to chill it to serving temperature of below 40F. I honestly do not think ice alone is going to do it for you.

This is due to many factors, but the most obvious is that ice water NEVER gets below 32F/0C. Now, for the heat of the beer to exchange across that steel membrane is going to take more energy than ice. Moving the keg around will help chill the beer and use as much ice as you can.

Adding salt to the ice is probably the best solution for a very fast chill but it is NOT environmentally friendly. Some muncipalities have actually outlawed sodium chloride because it kills the flora at the treatment centers.

I would suggest checking yard sales for chest or upright freezers and just building a kegerator. Add one Controller and you are set. I highly recommend freezers over refrigerators because you can easily take the beer to 31F/-1C if you want and chill the beer for carbonation. Most refrigerators
will not keep below 40F and if they do, they run constantly.

You can always just get plastic lines for drinking and not get a fancy tap... but that is nice too.

 

[mdstrobe]

I do not have the budget to invest or build a kegerator at the moment. I know that at higher temps (50F-65F) the PSI required to carbonate beer is significantly higher, like 20-30PSI at least. Do people just suggest holding that pressure in the keg until it gets chilled and then slowly purge the pressure to about 12PSI when serving?

 

[mdstrobe]

Also I wonder... If I chill my carboy with beer right before I keg it (i.e. in an ice bath).... if the carbonation will happen faster/better if I maintain the temperature of the keg in my ice bath/tub. Just thinking out loud but that could potentially keep my beer cool and the ice will just maintain that temperature (and not have to chill it all the way down)...

Thoughts?

 

[beerman1957]

Oddly enough, I never used a carboy. I used a bucket and then finally got to kegging. I would think (not by experience) that putting the carboy in ice is an excellent idea. I would think that glass would heat transfer much faster... maybe? Then pour off into the keg and get it as cold as you can. I am not sure what Co2 Volume you are shooting for, but the colder it is, the less you have to push.

I have over-carbonated several times by miscalculation. I just opened the valve and let it boil off a bit. I would RATHER under-carbonate in this case.

I am afraid I really can't answer your question honestly. I never did it the way you are.

IF you think about how much ice and water and effort you are using, then a used freezer would be something to look at.

I once got a very small (7.0 CuFt) chest freezer on CraigsList for $35. Add about $45 for a controller. So for about $100 you can save yourself a lot of time and effort. I remember putting my 5 lb CO2 canister in the freezer and still able to fit two kegs!