My first try on forced mead carbonation

[bolepa]

Hi everyone! It's been 3.5 month since I started my first Traditional mead and I am ready to buttle it but.... I would like to force carbonate it first just because I like to get cold, sparkling buttle of mead out of my fridge and enjoy it this way.... I got everything I needed for force carbonation - 5 gallon CO2 tank, 2.5 gallon keg (will get 5 gallons keg later), CO2 controller, all the tubing's, etc. Cleaned all equipment with PBW, then sanitized using Star San. Connected all tubing's with keg, CO2 tanks and the controller. Ran Star San solution out from the keg using CO2 pressure. Got the mead from carboys into keg using siphoning method. Closed the lid, turned CO2 tank and controller into "on" position, set pressure to 30 PSI, checked all parts for leakage and all goes in my new mini fridge. I guess I didn't forget of anything.... This is first time I'm trying force carbonation and was trying to be more precise on the process in case if you find something strange and let me know/correct me... Now to my question: how long should I carbonate mead in order top get it really crispy? Closer to level of sparkling wine? 3 days? 10 days? Longer? I don't really want to over carbonate the mead.... Thank you!

 

[Kickass]

https://www.kegoutlet.com/keg-carbonation-chart.html
This might help. Carbonation is mainly a factor of pressure and temperature. The set it and forget it method is the easiest to repeat but takes 10-14 days.

For a quick burst carbonation, I follow the chart on this brulosophy link. I find its fairly consistent. Mind you, this is for beer. In my experience cider, seltzers and non beer drinks require a little more pressure in order to be perceived as carbonated.

https://brulosophy.com/methods/carbonation-methods/

 

[day_trippr]

"Sparkling wine" is a nebulous benchmark for describing a carbonation level as they vary wrt CO2 volumes from quite low (below 2) to champagne high (5+) and just a brief look around shows some folks have cranked their meads up to the 5 volume level. While I am an advocate for simply using "chart pressure" in the classic "set and forget" carbonation method, that requires an attendant amount of time (ime, 2 weeks plus a few days) to reach equilibrium at 2.5 volumes, for really high levels I'd use the high pressure "burst" carbonation method and reference the table Marshall included in his article...

Cheers!

 

[bolepa]

This might help. Carbonation is mainly a factor of pressure and temperature. The set it and forget it method is the easiest to repeat but takes 10-14 days.

For a quick burst carbonation, I follow the chart on this brulosophy link. I find its fairly consistent. Mind you, this is for beer. In my experience cider, seltzers and non beer drinks require a little more pressure in order to be perceived as carbonated.

"Sparkling wine" is a nebulous benchmark for describing a carbonation level as they vary wrt CO2 volumes from quite low (below 2) to champagne high (5+) and just a brief look around shows some folks have cranked their meads up to the 5 volume level. While I am an advocate for simply using "chart pressure" in the classic "set and forget" carbonation method, that requires an attendant amount of time (ime, 2 weeks plus a few days) to reach equilibrium at 2.5 volumes, for really high levels I'd use the high pressure "burst" carbonation method and reference the table Marshall included in his article...

Thank you, Kickass and day_trippr! Your respond and suggestions much appreciated...
I do have carbonation chart bookmarked but unfortunately I am not sure if I can read it properly: I understand the "temperature" column but am not sure what that horizontal (black background) line means.... PSI? Then what those digits in color field mean?
I am sorry for such a foggy description of "sparkling wine" - I meant more like champagne level of carbonation....
Also, I am not sure I quite understand what "volume" means in carbonation. I understand the "temperature" & "PSI" but not really understand the "volume" characteristic in carbonation process.... Thank you again!

 

[day_trippr]

The table entries correspond to "Volumes of CO2", meaning how much gas the beer has absorbed, and with 2.4~2.5 volumes being the typical carbonation level for the average ale. A "volume" is just that: for a gallon of beer there's a gallon of CO2 (at STP) dissolved therein to reach 1 volume of CO2. For two volumes, you need 2x the beer volume in CO2. And so on.

The chart two axis range the two component values that define the carbonation level. And as one can see by following the diagonals, one can achieve a specific carbonation level with multiple different temperature/CO2 pressure settings.

SO...for your desired "champagne" level carbonation - up around 5 volumes - the referenced table isn't all that helpful. Better is this simple "keg carbonation calculator". Plug in your carbonation level and temperature and it will spit out the pressure needed to eventually result in the desired volumes of CO2.

Cheers!

 

[bolepa]

The table entries correspond to "Volumes of CO2", meaning how much gas the beer has absorbed, and with 2.4~2.5 volumes being the typical carbonation level for the average ale. A "volume" is just that: for a gallon of beer there's a gallon of CO2 (at STP) dissolved therein to reach 1 volume of CO2. For two volumes, you need 2x the beer volume in CO2. And so on.

The chart two axis range the two component values that define the carbonation level. And as one can see by following the diagonals, one can achieve a specific carbonation level with multiple different temperature/CO2 pressure settings.

SO...for your desired "champagne" level carbonation - up around 5 volumes - the referenced table isn't all that helpful. Better is this simple "keg carbonation calculator". Plug in your carbonation level and temperature and it will spit out the pressure needed to eventually result in the desired volumes of CO2.

Great explanation, day_trippr! Thank you very much!