44 replies to this topic

[SchwanzBrewer]

I should have done this a week ago, but I procrastinated. The beer I brewed for the charity golf tournament is ready to be kegged. Only problem is that I only have one keg and no regulator and gas. So I bought the equipment I need from Kegconnection.com. Only problem is that it won't be at the house until Tuesday. So I will have tuesday night, all of wednesday and thursday to get the kegs carbonated. The tournament is on Friday.Any suggestions for getting the best carbonation possible? I'm just worried that the beer won't be as good as I had hoped. This is actually pretty nerve wracking, my dad has hyped up my homebrew to his friends and I traded a spot in a foursome for donating the homebrew (especially since it has cost me quite a bit to be able to serve draft beer at the tournament like they wanted.)Cheers,Rich

[CarlosM]

I should have done this a week ago, but I procrastinated. The beer I brewed for the charity golf tournament is ready to be kegged. Only problem is that I only have one keg and no regulator and gas. So I bought the equipment I need from Kegconnection.com. Only problem is that it won't be at the house until Tuesday. So I will have tuesday night, all of wednesday and thursday to get the kegs carbonated. The tournament is on Friday.Any suggestions for getting the best carbonation possible? I'm just worried that the beer won't be as good as I had hoped. This is actually pretty nerve wracking, my dad has hyped up my homebrew to his friends and I traded a spot in a foursome for donating the homebrew (especially since it has cost me quite a bit to be able to serve draft beer at the tournament like they wanted.)Cheers,Rich

get the regulator and gas and force carb it but be careful.

[CaptRon]

What I have been doing is cranking the pressure up to about 30psi for about 36 hours, then release pressure and put it on serving psi (about 8psi). I have been getting really nice carbonation this way, however I notice that for a couple of days the beer has this flavor to it. I'd say gassy, but I know people will say that Co2 is tasteless. But I can swear that it is from the gas. It diminishes quickly over the course of a couple of days.

[MtnBrewer]

get the regulator and gas and force carb it but be careful.

Well, clearly he doesn't have time to prime it and let it naturally carbonate.

What I have been doing is cranking the pressure up to about 30psi for about 36 hours, then release pressure and put it on serving psi (about 8psi). I have been getting really nice carbonation this way, however I notice that for a couple of days the beer has this flavor to it. I'd say gassy, but I know people will say that Co2 is tasteless. But I can swear that it is from the gas. It diminishes quickly over the course of a couple of days.

I'd bet Humdum's paycheck that you're tasting carbonic acid. It's like a sharp acidic bite right? That's typical of beers just after they've been carbonated and it seems more prevalent when using high pressure (30-ish psi). I don't usually recommend this approach because it's too difficult to control the carbonation. However, in this case, it's probably the best way for Rich to go. If you quick carb it now, there will be time for the carbonic bite to subside.

[Deerslyr]

You can hook up the gas, set the pressure and then "rock" the keg back and forth on your legs while you are sitting down. I did it once on my first keg. It's not ideal, but it could work. Can't remember where I saw the instructions for it though... probably on the old Verde Board.

[CaptRon]

I'd bet Humdum's paycheck that you're tasting carbonic acid. It's like a sharp acidic bite right?

Yep, exactly right. I've described it as a bite. The guys at my LHBS said it was probably the Chloramines in our local water that I was tasting, but I wouldn't expect that to dissipate over time like it does.

[Humperdink]

The easiest way to not over carbonate is to chill the keg to serving temps, set the regulator to serving pressure (10 PSI or so) and shake the hell out of the cold keg. It'll take about 5 minutes or so but you will get a lot of the volumes in without the risk of over carbing. Do this Tuesday night and let the keg settle until Thursday, check the carbonation and you're set.

[MakeMeHoppy]

The easiest way to not over carbonate is to chill the keg to serving temps, set the regulator to serving pressure (10 PSI or so) and shake the hell out of the cold keg. It'll take about 5 minutes or so but you will get a lot of the volumes in without the risk of over carbing. Do this Tuesday night and let the keg settle until Thursday, check the carbonation and you're set.

Yep this is my standard process. Start by getting the beer as cold as possible to aid absorption. Then I usually hit it with about 20 PSI to seal the keg well. I give it a couple of good shakes (you'll see the regulator drop and recover when you do this). I then lower to about 10 PSI and shake until I don't see the regulator guage respoond. Then I let it sit over night at 10PSI and it's usually carbonated by the next morning.

[MtnBrewer]

You can hook up the gas, set the pressure and then "rock" the keg back and forth on your legs while you are sitting down. I did it once on my first keg. It's not ideal, but it could work. Can't remember where I saw the instructions for it though... probably on the old Verde Board.

The easiest way to not over carbonate is to chill the keg to serving temps, set the regulator to serving pressure (10 PSI or so) and shake the hell out of the cold keg. It'll take about 5 minutes or so but you will get a lot of the volumes in without the risk of over carbing. Do this Tuesday night and let the keg settle until Thursday, check the carbonation and you're set.

I forgot about rocking the keg. Good idea here guys. I'mma switch my vote to this method.

[BarelyBrews]

I forgot about rocking the keg. Good idea here guys. I'mma switch my vote to this method.

*heads down to ManCave to back off gas from 30 psi*

[SchwanzBrewer]

Ok, I have my dual regulator and I need to attach the lines. I bought 10 feet of gas cord. How many feet should I use for each reg? 5 ft each sound good? Keep in mind I'm going to be transporting this to the event on Friday and using the cylinder/reg to push the beer.cylinerAlso, I was unable to get a cylinder today. Is there any special needs for beer or will any CO2 from a reputable place work? (I noticed on the airgas site there was medical and industrial CO2.)I gotta get up extra early to go get some gas tomorrow before work, so any help would be appreciated.Cheers,Rich

[SchwanzBrewer]

Alright, I bought a cylinder of gas. 5lbs was $100, but I can return it and get a new one filled for $15. Easy enough for me. I carbonated my beer this morning and here is how I did it.

[*]Cleared out the air[*]Set the pressure to 30psi and filled the keg till it stopped.[*]Shook the keg for 45 seconds.[*]Refilled back to 30 psi.[*]Shook the keg again for 30 seconds.[*]Backed off the gas and slowly filled to 12 psi.[/list]I did this for both kegs (having the dual reg is a must).Since I backed off the reg all the way, I screwed the screw in until the pressure read 12 psi (You can hear the gas start filling again at a certain point and thats how you know what the pressure dropped to, in this case about 8psi.) So anything else I should do? The kegs are in the fridge nice and cold. Thanks,Rich

[CaptRon]

How did it turn out?

[SchwanzBrewer]

How did it turn out?

I'm not gonna try it until tomorrow night. I'm guessing it will be carbonated, I was just looking for confirmation on my process. I'm worrying a lot since this is for charity and I want it to be good.Cheers,Rich

[CaptRon]

I'm not gonna try it until tomorrow night. I'm guessing it will be carbonated, I was just looking for confirmation on my process. I'm worrying a lot since this is for charity and I want it to be good.Cheers,Rich

I've never done the shaking thing myself so I'm interested to see how this turns out.

[MtnBrewer]

Alright, I bought a cylinder of gas. 5lbs was $100, but I can return it and get a new one filled for $15. Easy enough for me. I carbonated my beer this morning and here is how I did it.

[*]Cleared out the air[*]Set the pressure to 30psi and filled the keg till it stopped.[*]Shook the keg for 45 seconds.[*]Refilled back to 30 psi.[*]Shook the keg again for 30 seconds.[*]Backed off the gas and slowly filled to 12 psi.[/list]I did this for both kegs (having the dual reg is a must).Since I backed off the reg all the way, I screwed the screw in until the pressure read 12 psi (You can hear the gas start filling again at a certain point and thats how you know what the pressure dropped to, in this case about 8psi.) So anything else I should do? The kegs are in the fridge nice and cold. Thanks,Rich

Rather than over-pressuring and shaking, I'd recommend one or the other. I don't think you overcarbed in this case but it's easy to do if you do both. I'd suggest just setting the pressure to whatever the chart recommends and then shaking or rocking until it doesn't take any more CO₂. The rocking helps it reach equilibrium faster.

[stellarbrew]

I carbonated my beer this morning and here is how I did it.

[*]Cleared out the air[*]Set the pressure to 30psi and filled the keg till it stopped.[*]Shook the keg for 45 seconds.[*]Refilled back to 30 psi.[*]Shook the keg again for 30 seconds.[*]Backed off the gas and slowly filled to 12 psi.[/list]

Using this method, I have found that it takes more than twice to get it fully carbed - usually around ten times. I just keep doing it until it settles back to my desired serving pressure, and it takes more and more shaking each time to get it to settle out. Also, you should have it completely chilled before you carb it, or else you will need to get it it to settle out to a higher pressure, and it will take longer. Check the charts for the required pressure and temperature combination for your desired volumes.

[SchwanzBrewer]

Rather than over-pressuring and shaking, I'd recommend one or the other. I don't think you overcarbed in this case but it's easy to do if you do both. I'd suggest just setting the pressure to whatever the chart recommends and then shaking or rocking until it doesn't take any more CO₂. The rocking helps it reach equilibrium faster.

Using this method, I have found that it takes more than twice to get it fully carbed - usually around ten times. I just keep doing it until it settles back to my desired serving pressure, and it takes more and more shaking each time to get it to settle out. Also, you should have it completely chilled before you carb it, or else you will need to get it it to settle out to a higher pressure, and it will take longer. Check the charts for the required pressure and temperature combination for your desired volumes.

Chart? Both kegs settled around 8 psi after the second shaking (down from 30).Also, they were already chilled, two nights in carboy, and one night in the keg in the fridge.Cheers,Rich

[MtnBrewer]

Chart?

https://www.kegerato...ation-table.php

[SchwanzBrewer]

https://www.kegerato...ation-table.php

So if they went to 8psi after the shake and the beer was around 42 deg F then its a little under carbed according to the chart.I set the pressure to 12 psi after I put the kegs back in the fridge, so should I just leave it and let some more soak in, or should I shake it a little more?Also, is there a better way to check the pressure in the keg, if I dont have a spare gauge? My method:I unscrewed the adjustment screw on the regulator after I shook (valve already set to off) purged the reg so it read zero and then opened the valve on the reg and screwed the adjuster back in until i heard it start to fill again and thats how I figured it was 8 psi in the keg.Cheers,Rich