Newb question about Carbonation

[Panther1911]

What are the alternatives to carbonation in the bottle?

My kit right now consists of a Fermentation bucket and bottling bucket.

 

[davesrose]

Eh....are you thinking of serving flat beer from your bottling bucket? The only options for serving beer are from bottle or from keg (well homebrew at least....breweries also have canneries). So I'd recommend getting some bottles (and caps and capper) to naturally carb from your bottling bucket.

 

[Panther1911]

I have a capper and caps. I was just wondering if there was a way to carbonate the beer before bottling.

 

[woollybugger2]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/revvys-tips-bottler-first-time-otherwise-94812/

 

[eschatz]

you can carbonate in soda bottles (2 liters or whatever). However, if you do you need to drink all of the bottle pretty quickly or it'll go flat. You cannot carbonate in a bottling bucket or anything like that. your other option is to start kegging if that's your motive. there are literally hundreds of threads on this forum on starting that up. other than that, just going with the traditional bottles is your best bet.

 

[ChshreCat]

I have a TAP-A-DRAFT and really like it. That said, if you have room to keg, I'd recommend that instead.

 

[davesrose]

I have a TAP-A-DRAFT and really like it. That said, if you have room to keg, I'd recommend that instead.

+1 on that. I did try a tap a draft system right before kegging...and I found it to be more expensive then just diving into kegging. Part of it could have been the system I bought into: they supplied the "Tap-A-Draft" valve system, and then a few stainless mini-kegs. I found that automatic valve would sometimes dent the kegs (because of the pressure differences), and I'd have to go through a lot of the seltzer cartridges. But maybe it was due to the mini-kegs I was using. I notice the containers that come with the system are more like soda bottles. Maybe they hold carbination better then those mini-kegs...and maybe the automatic valves work better with them.

 

[ChshreCat]

Yeah, if I had the room, I'd have gone right into kegging. I'm in a little apartment, so that wasn't an option for me yet so the TAD system is great for what I need right now. I got three 6-liter bottles with mine. I fill one from each batch and bottle the rest. So, I have the big 6-liter to put in the fridge once it's ready and have a little over a case of bottles for giving to friends and for aging. Plus it cuts down my bottling sessions now.

 

[Panther1911]

When kegging do you prime it like bottles and let it sit for a while, just on a bigger scale?

 

[TipsyDragon]

Panther1911 ... carbonation works by dissolving co2 into the beer. those nice bubbles and head you like on your beer. that is the co2 coming out of suspension. the gas is coming out of suspension because the outside air pressure is less than the pressure the co2 is exerting on the liquid. if there is nothing holding it in, like a bottle, its just going to bubble away.

so the less sarcastic answer is. unless your going to keg you can not carbonate outside the bottle.

 

[Baloo]

PV =nRT
It's not just a good idea it's the Law
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideal_gas_law

To carbonate beer you need CO2 and pressure.
Yeast + sugar in a capped bottle and CO2 from a tank into a sealed keg are the two most common ways to do it at home.

Are you in a hurry or just don't want to bottle all of your beer?

 

[Panther1911]

I understand that serving beer from a keg requires co2.

Let me rephrase my question: Is the co2 system carbonating the beer or just pressurizing the keg to serve the beer? Do you still need to carbonate the beer in a keg before serving, as you would in a bottle by putting sugar in in it?

So, If kegging my beer, would I prime the keg and let the keg sit while the beer becomes carbonated? And then hook a co2 system up to it to serve?

 

[Yooper]

I understand that serving beer from a keg requires co2.

Let me rephrase my question: Is the co2 system carbonating the beer or just pressurizing the keg to serve the beer? Do you still need to carbonate the beer in a keg before serving, as you would in a bottle by putting sugar in in it?

So, If kegging my beer, would I prime the keg and let the keg sit while the beer becomes carbonated? And then hook a co2 system up to it to serve?

You can do that. Or, you can force carbonate by pushing co2 into the keg (with the same gear you use to serve the beer) to carbonate it.

Think of a keg as a great big bottle, but with an "in" and an "out". You can add priming sugar to carbonate in the keg (just like in bottling) or you can push co2 through the "in". Since it has no where to go, it goes into the beer and that = carbonation.