Venting after initial burst carb...is it neccesary?

[Hannabrew]

I've read that many people have had good success with burst carbing a keg with 30PSI at serving temp for 36 hours and then venting and reducing the PSI to serving pressure.

What is the reasoning for venting before reducing the pressure? Since it's not fully carbed wouldn't it eventually just equalize out eventually anyway?

Ultimately, I don't want to vent but do want to burst carb so trying to figure out the best method. Maybe instead of venting and immediately hooking up to gas I just unhook the gas until the initial pressure equalizes and then put it on serving pressure?

 

[Smellyglove]

I would say it is to not overcarb it. The "excess" co2 in the headspace will be taken up in the beer. Vent and set it to desired pressure to be safe if the beer isn't overcarbed already. But otoh if the headspace is very small, there's not much excess co2 to get absorbed. You might get a pretty aggressive first pour out of it though.

 

[BigJoeBrew]

Like smellyglove said, I think it is to avoid a few really aggressive pours. Many that are burst carbing, want the beer "right now" to drink. You could do the non-vent method if you don't plan to take a pull off of it for a couple of days.

 

[doug293cz]

The reason I vent after burst carb is that my regulators don't dial down nicely with the back pressure. So, in order to set the storage/serving pressure, I have to dial the regulator way down, vent, and then raise the pressure to where I want it. So, it's just an operational requirement with my system.

As already said, if you just shut off the CO2 valve, the head pressure will eventually equilibrate with the beer, and you shouldn't need to vent. If headspace volume is a large fraction of the beer volume, then you could end up over carbed by not venting.

Brew on

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

Like doug said...Without purging to drop the pressure the regulator bounces around for awhile. Why don't you want to purge? It takes 2 seconds and when you set the pressure it stays there and you can forget about it. If you don't purge youll need to keep checking it....totally not worth it for such a simple thing

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

FWIW 40 psi for 20 to 24 hours works great and is my new method. Keg and the next day I'm drinking

 

[Hannabrew]

Like doug said...Without purging to drop the pressure the regulator bounces around for awhile. Why don't you want to purge? It takes 2 seconds and when you set the pressure it stays there and you can forget about it. If you don't purge youll need to keep checking it....totally not worth it for such a simple thing

I can't stand knowing that beautiful smell I get when venting is now gone from my beer.

 

[Smellyglove]

I can't stand knowing that beautiful smell I get when venting is now gone from my beer.

Haha. I wanted to edit my post with accurate this, but I didnt.. But yeah.. Great IPA, vent.. oh well..

I don't overcarb anymore, I've learnt. I do use the quick-carb method by rolling the keg for IPA's though, so I can bottle samples immideately for friends. If I let it sit overnight it's hard to dissolve the yeast and stuff and get a "proper bottle" the next day.