Stupid style/keg (force) carbing question

[binkman]

Okay, I've got my kegging stuff together, it has all been cleaned out, sanitized, checked for leaks and everything. I'm ready to roll with a scottish 80/-.

Here's the problem.

My brewing software says that to carb to style, I need to carb to 1.0 volume of CO2.

In other words, it doesn't need to carb?

What the hell is going on? Someone please explain this to me and give me an idea of how much pressure I need to put on my scottish ale. I'm sure I'm missing something. I don't want to serve it entirely flat!

 

[Hammy71]

http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/recipator/carbonation.html

Yeah, it seems that style doesn't get a lot of carbonation...I dunno....

 

[rjsnau]

That's the great part about a keg system though. Try it at the 1 volume CO and if it is not enough for your taste, kick it up!

 

[insubordinateK]

Start low - with 1 or 2 psi. You need to clear the headspace and have enough positive pressure to serve. Any pressure at all will dissolve some CO2 in your beer so it won't be completely flat. If it is too flat after a week, bump up the psi. I doubt it will be too carbonated.

 

[Yooper]

I really don't like some styles carbed "to style". I like my Scottish and oatmeal stouts carbonated!

You may want to try it at a low volume, but as was mentioned consider raising it to get to where you like it. Think of it this way- since you're drinking it flat when you're drinking it at 1 volume, you can have it ready by tomorrow!

 

[binkman]

I really don't like some styles carbed "to style". I like my Scottish and oatmeal stouts carbonated!

You may want to try it at a low volume, but as was mentioned consider raising it to get to where you like it. Think of it this way- since you're drinking it flat when you're drinking it at 1 volume, you can have it ready by tomorrow!

I actually just had a half pint.

I've got it sitting on 7 psi now at about 50F. I'll be trying it a little every day until I get it where I want it.

Thanks guys!



Woo-hoo! I've got a keg!

 

[tesilential]

I would go no higher than 1.5 volumes. IMHO with ESB's, carbing to the typical 2.5 volumes (13 psi in my setup) results in a strong carbonic acid flavor, almost like a sour off flavor.

I currently have a single stage regulator and 4 way manifold (which I got 2 stage reg and 2 way manifold, but that's another thread). 3 brews need 13psi, while the ESB needs much less. What I do is set the reg to 13psi, and turn off the ESB valve after it's carbed to 1.5. This is probably like 1 week on gas. Then every few days that I am drinking from the ESB, I will turn on the gas (13psi) for a minute to give it enough gas to push the beer and keep the 1.5 (approximate) volumes of co2.

TL;DR: I don't keep the gas on low co2 volume beers to get around not having a dedicated reg.