New to carbing kinda

[AdamLucko]

Hello all who can help and those who are in the same situation!

I am keg carbing in a pinlock corny key 19L(5gal).

I understand how to carb, but I am not sure on how much carbonation should be used for certain beers, and why for different and how to test the carb rate?

Basically I usually just put the co2 into the corny keg at around 10-11 psi for a week and the carbonation is usually pretty good. When I hook up my my carbed keg to my keezer I push it through with around 6psi (kinda slow but I think that's because I have 3 kegs through a manifold going at once).

So are there certain rates.. I am very green at perfecting carbonation. Is there a book ( I don't mind youtube videos but no one has a definitive answer, just an opinion)

Thanks all!

Adam

 

[Subdivisions]

Here is a good calculator for keg carbonating. There are beer styles at the bottom with the typical volumes of CO2

http://www.brewersfriend.com/keg-carbonation-calculator/

Also. Always serve at the pressure you carbonated at. The carbonation will come out of solution as it tries to equalize pressure and your beer will start to become flat if your serving pressure is lower. Serving at 6psi may be why your beer is pouring slow.

Use 10' lines on the beer side (3/16" Inside Diameter) to keep the flow down so it doesn't foam up when serving. There's another calculator for that somewhere but I just use 10'

 

[Ski12568]

I like this calculator for beer line length

http://www.mikesoltys.com/2012/09/17/determining-proper-hose-length-for-your-kegerator/

 

[PrinceOfThePoint]

Hey, for a given temperature and CO2 pressure, CO2 can only dissolve in the beer up to a certain equilibrium concentration. There are tables on the net that show this CO2 pressure / CO2 volumes relationship. It's hard to know the precise rate at which it is taking up CO2 because it depends on many things. There is no exact methodology to carbing. You have something that works. You could also put it under higher pressure to carb faster, but that's up to you. I go about 2-3 days at 30 psi and 7 C before evaluating a sample. All you can do is keep trying it until you're satisfied.

 

[AdamLucko]

thanks guys. I tried force carbing this batch but I am unsatisfied with the result. I wanted it for this Friday but I think quality is more important than the speed it gets done. It had kinda a bite to it, and it was foamy enough to create a head on the beer but it looked flat. tasted kina carbed, but didn't look like a nice micro bubbly beer. Im just gonna let it sit till I find my niche

 

[PrinceOfThePoint]

I hear you man, it's kind of a pain in the ass. The other thing is, even if the carb level is pretty solid after 2-3 days, I don't totally love the mouthfeel and quality of the brew at that point. After I let it sit at serving pressure for about a week is when it really starts to hit its stride, but that's just me