Natural carb vs co2

[SolomonCrosby]

New to brewing and curious the benefits of natural carbonation to co2 carbonation. Thoughts?

 

[Yooper]

New to brewing and curious the benefits of natural carbonation to co2 carbonation. Thoughts?

Co2 is Co2. "Natural" carbonation comes from adding priming sugar, and forced carbonation adds c02 from adding a source of c02. I don't see a difference.

 

[SolomonCrosby]

I understand the process for both. Has anyone seen a benefit to taste or the final product using one method or another?

 

[wolves63]

The biggest differences you'll have A little yeast in the bottom of each bottle where is if you use natural CO2 you don't have that. The sugars used for natural co2 impart no flavor to the beer and only a microscopic increase in alcohol.

 

[Billy-Klubb]

if you're kegging, using a tank of CO2 will be easier (depending on how you look at it). bottling can be done from a carbonated keg. bottling from a keg is time consuming and kind of a pain, but will usually leave the sediment out of the bottles. I have not noticed any real taste difference from any method of carbonating. you can have more control over carbonation using a tank & keg. the downside is that when you keg, it's way too easy to pull a handle and get beer. I hear that leads to headaches and an empty wallet.

 

[SolomonCrosby]

Thank y'all for the feedback. If you're bottling from a keg do you need to increase the carb level?

 

[Billy-Klubb]

no.

 

[Billy-Klubb]

sorry for the short. you'll need to turn your dispensing pressure when bottling from a keg. most anyone I know that bottles from a keg does it for competitions or to bring places. I bottle and keg. it depends on my mood, what I have available at the time, ABV%, and how much time I have on my hands. I have a set up for bottling from the keg but rarely use it.

 

[SolomonCrosby]

Gotcha no worries. I'm trying to get a system together. I have a standard quart keg rt now and typical bottles. First time I did priming sugars I was way off and it didn't carbonate for ****.

 

[Billy-Klubb]

are you using brewing software? mine has made me lazy and I hate math so it works out for me.

 

[Mexibilly]

http://www.northernbrewer.com/priming-sugar-calculator/

Measure by weight.
I had an imperial stout take a month to get itself right but the carb and head were perfect.
I use this one but a Google search will lead to this and many others

 

[SolomonCrosby]

Nah I haven't dove into it yet. Are they all about the same or is there a specific one?

 

[Subdivisions]

They're the same. Make sure you put in the highest temperature your beer was at while in the fermenter. Most calculators have a temperature field. If you put in too low a temperature it will call for less sugar since there should be more CO2 in suspension due to the colder temperature.

EDIT: I'm talking about bottle conditioning

 

[dkennedy]

I'd say that the biggest difference is cost of entry, for a beginner. A bit of corn sugar and patience is easy, cheap, and relatively foolproof (mixing your priming solution might be a bit tricky the first time). Kegging is equipment intensive, by comparison. Both result in carbonated beer for your enjoyment.

I keg because I built a bar and love having a few beers on tap. I built a bottling rig to store certain beers and share.

 

[SolomonCrosby]

Excellent thanks for the info. I have the eq for a keg right now so that's not an issue. I wasn't sure if there was any difference in your final product.

 

[Billy-Klubb]

Excellent thanks for the info. I have the eq for a keg right now so that's not an issue. I wasn't sure if there was any difference in your final product.

not really, except for controlling your carbonation more closely. which can lead to perceived flavor contributions/deficits. just aim for the style guidelines and you'll be fine. there's a ton of great info in the kegging/bottling section.