Force Carbonation

[tizzler]

Do you force carbonate before or after the beer/cider is chilled?

Thanks!

[jeffsmith]

I usually chill for 24 hours and then force carb for 48-ish hours at 30psi.

[Keith]

I rack to the keg, set the psi to about 24, and rock til no more gas dissolves into the beer. Check out the brewers friend forced carb calculator.

[tizzler]

Thanks. There are obviously many ways to force carb and many processes work fine. Since I'm going to attempt my first one, how does this look? Please fill in any gaps or correct and obvious errors in this tentative process.

Thanks.

1. Rack the beverage to your keg. Apply CO to your keg to seat the lid. Probably going top be 25-30psi.
2. Purge the air sitting above the beer by opening the pressure relief valve in the lid in short bursts three times.
3. Chill the keg to your serving temperature. (12 hours or more) Do I keep the Co2 hooked up? If so, at what pressure?
4. Set to the desired serving pressure. Will be approx. 10-12psi. (serving pressure)
5. Roll the keg for 20 minutes.
6. Hook up and serve.

[Keith]

Thanks. There are obviously many ways to force carb and many processes work fine. Since I'm going to attempt my first one, how does this look? Please fill in any gaps or correct and obvious errors in this tentative process.

Thanks.

1. Rack the beverage to your keg. Apply CO to your keg to seat the lid. Probably going top be 25-30psi.
2. Purge the air sitting above the beer by opening the pressure relief valve in the lid in short bursts three times.
3. Chill the keg to your serving temperature. (12 hours or more) Do I keep the Co2 hooked up? If so, at what pressure?
4. Set to the desired serving pressure. Will be approx. 10-12psi. (serving pressure)
5. Roll the keg for 20 minutes.
6. Hook up and serve.

That looks good. I keg beer every other week, I never chill mine first as I always have a full fridge. Here is how I do it.

1. Fill tank with CO2 and Purge air from Keg.
2. start to rack beer into a glass to ensure no air in line with beer.
3. Rack beer into keg.
4. Burp keg one last time to ensure no air.
5. Determine wort temp. Goto http://www.brewersfriend.com/keg-carbon ... alculator/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and plug in the numbers, I typically aim for 2.3 volumes of CO2 in most beers.
6. Rock keg until no more co2 will be absorbed into the wort.
7. Set the keg aside until needed.

[tizzler]

Thanks. There are obviously many ways to force carb and many processes work fine. Since I'm going to attempt my first one, how does this look? Please fill in any gaps or correct and obvious errors in this tentative process.

Thanks.

1. Rack the beverage to your keg. Apply CO to your keg to seat the lid. Probably going top be 25-30psi.
2. Purge the air sitting above the beer by opening the pressure relief valve in the lid in short bursts three times.
3. Chill the keg to your serving temperature. (12 hours or more) Do I keep the Co2 hooked up? If so, at what pressure?
4. Set to the desired serving pressure. Will be approx. 10-12psi. (serving pressure)
5. Roll the keg for 20 minutes.
6. Hook up and serve.

That looks good. I keg beer every other week, I never chill mine first as I always have a full fridge. Here is how I do it.

1. Fill tank with CO2 and Purge air from Keg.
2. start to rack beer into a glass to ensure no air in line with beer.
3. Rack beer into keg.
4. Burp keg one last time to ensure no air.
5. Determine wort temp. Goto http://www.brewersfriend.com/keg-carbon ... alculator/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and plug in the numbers, I typically aim for 2.3 volumes of CO2 in most beers.
6. Rock keg until no more co2 will be absorbed into the wort.
7. Set the keg aside until needed.

Great so a few questions:

1. You are filling an empty keg with CO2?
2. What's the point of this step? Can you explain this a little more. Are you checking for leaks?
3. Rack beer into keg, apply CO2, then burp to remove air?

Thanks again.

[Keith]

Yea I purge the keg with CO2 to reduce the chance of oxidizing the beer. I don't fill it completely. But give it a good 8-10 second burst of co2.

[Halifax_Jeff]

If you're not in a rush, set to around 12psi and leave it for 7-10 days (tons of calculators online to figure out where to set it)

I used to set my psi higher and shake the hell out and leave it over night so I could drink it earlier but I found waiting it out worked best.

[tizzler]

I've considered waiting as well. It seems easy to chill, set psi to 12 and wait. Seeing that this is my first in the keezer I'm a bit anxious. What advantages did you find with waiting?

[Halifax_Jeff]

I just found the carbonation was smoother with smaller bubbles. I also found that letting it chill for a week before drinking let everything settle down in the keg and it poured clearer than it had before. Might have been a coincidence but I'll be doing that way from now on.

You can also take small samples to see how its doing every few days.

[evanisnor]

I'm too impatient. Need beer now. 30 psi, shake, rest for a day. Drink beer.

[GuingesRock]

I'm too impatient. Need beer now. 30 psi, shake, rest for a day. Drink beer.

I have the same problem and different solution. Hook up to 12 PSI, leave the CO2 setting alone but start drinking the beer right away. You get to experience the beer at low carb all the way up to where you want it. Also you can see how it changes day by day. Can be really nice right away ...you'd be surprized. Don't sit on a chair by the keezer waiting with an empty glass in hand.

[tizzler]

Question: I chilled the beer over night inside the keg. In the morning I force carbonated by setting the CO2 to 12 psi and gently rocked it for 20 mins. After 20 mins I could still hear the CO2. I stopped anyway and hooked it up and poured a bit. Looks good but still not carbonated fully.

So my question is, should I continue to shake it at 12 psi until I hear no more carbonation, or should I keep it hooked up to 12psi and leave it in the keezer and wait?

Thanks again,

[Keith]

What's the temp of the beer? Plug it into the calculator I linked earlier. Will tell you what pressure is needed.

[tizzler]

The temp of the keezer is 1 degree, so I assume the beer is close to that. That should give me 2.8 volumes of CO2.

After the carbonation do I have to release the pressure with one short burst? Or is that only when you force carb at high psi for a short duration?

Also should you rock the keg until you stop hearing it gurgle?

[tizzler]

Hey folks,

I need a little input. Carbonation can be done in various ways for different duration. I want to get your opinion on my current carbonation method and if I should expect to see a carbonated beverage.
I currently have a cider carbonating. The cider is in a corny inside the keezer and is currently at 1-2 degrees. I have the CO2 connected at 30psi and I am not agitating the keg at all. So a set-and-forget method. I have only had the CO2 connected for going on the second day now.

Yesterday, after one-day of carbonation I purged the keg of the 30 psi, set the CO2 to 12psi pressure for serving and poured a bit to try. It is indeed carbonating but it is not at a level that I want.
For a set-and-forget at 30psi what kind of time am I looking at for a properly carbonated cider?

Will this exact method work for beer as well (which I have in the carboy now).

Thanks!

[LiverDance]

probably 3 days @ 30 psi for a cider

[jtmwhyte]

Yes, It will work for beer. I do ~30 PSI for 24 hours with chilled beer or 36 if I'm just putting it in the fridge. No issues here.

[Keith]

[Keith]

Kegs are room temp. 8 minutes aggressive rocking.

[jacinthebox]

keith...hows that carb level (25psi/8 min/room temp)? I've only ever done cold kegs...and its a crap shoot

[Keith]

keith...hows that carb level (25psi/8 min/room temp)? I've only ever done cold kegs...and its a crap shoot

Typically it's good to get it back on tap for the following day. However this will carb the beer to about 2.4 volumes of CO2. Normally will settle down to about 2.2-2.3 volumes in the end.

http://www.brewersfriend.com/keg-carbon ... alculator/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[jacinthebox]

keith...hows that carb level (25psi/8 min/room temp)? I've only ever done cold kegs...and its a crap shoot

Typically it's good to get it back on tap for the following day. However this will carb the beer to about 2.4 volumes of CO2. Normally will settle down to about 2.2-2.3 volumes in the end.

http://www.brewersfriend.com/keg-carbon ... alculator/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

awesome...I'll try it. I have set the reg to 25psi on room temp kegs for 2 weeks and worked out great. Just never did the shake method on a warm keg.

I brewed up a lower gravity Mosaic American Wheat on Saturday for my buddys bday party on the 17th. needless to say I don't have a shit ton of time to ready it.

I will ferment for 10 days, keg and carb. has to be in his keg fridge Friday night so that its cold for sat the 17th.

[Keith]

Ferment it for 7, let it finish in the keg carbonated.

[jacinthebox]

don't think that would leave enuf time for it to fully carb