Guide To Keg Forced Carbonation.

[oldbugman]

oh yeah... should stop answering questions when drinking..was thinking along the line of the reg wont show the pressure in the keg when venting from the regulator

 

[phil4124]

For anyone intersted...............

I did shorten my lines to 1.2m after reading the thread about balancing your system..............but made no difference.

I did turn off the CO2 and vented the keg for 12 hours. Put 10 psi back and poured the perfect beer!! Obviously I had over carbonated.

As a newbie to kegging but a veteran of brewing of 15 years :blink: my main problem was wasting the precious drop while trying to get the system right. All new gear and no idea - makes for a headache to get it right. (As does the last 8 schooners..) As we all know we will eventually get it right, but makes for a very frustrating time.

The method of carbonating I use of 32psi for 72 hrs with a cold keg (without shaking) is obviously too much. Next keg going into the fridge this week will be gased for only 48 and we will see how that goes....

 

[QldKev]

If your ok to wait a few days; to gas just put it in the serving fridge and set the gas on serving pressure (14psi) and leave it for a few days. Your beer will be clearer, and perfect gassing.

QldKev

 

[matti]

I've read the thread through about thrice and none the wiser.
There are a few Q's regarding carbonation level I like to pose to the more knowledgeable keggers.

On heavier beers I tend to bulkprime with 6g/L, about 7-8g/L for the medium carbed beers and 9-10 for higher carbonation beer.

What serving pressure would you use for an ESB, APA or lager?

I have been looking for a guide as I am about to start kegging soonish.

 

[Ross]

Hi Matti,

I serve my ales at 60/70kpa & lagers/wheats at 110/120kpa.

Cheers Ross

 

[matti]

Cheers Ross.

 

[drsmurto]

I read this thread a few times before getting my kegs and it only hit me last night when i noticed the instructions scrawled onto a post it note on top of the keg fridge.

All this time i have been turning the pressure off at the reg after reaching 45psi and then rocking it wondering why the pressure drops so quickly and back to 0 so i just repeated this process 3-4 times.

I also use the gas in line rather than swapping and dont roll the keg as my hoses aren't long enough.

Enlightened now.

 

[matti]

Almost emptied my 1st keg of crappy beer.
I force carbed it last w/end. I left the serving pressure at 90 kPa.
I turn the gas off at night as then pour the 1st without gas on and then put the gas on again until I go to bed.

This arvo I poured my 1st glass at the pressure on 70kPa then put the gas on and the regulator got to 130kPa.

The keg can't have more then 7-8 litres left.
I turned the gas off. and my next glass was slightly heady lol.

I swear I haven't touched the regulator since.

What is the best practice for you guys,
I know every system different just need a guide
cheers
Matti

 

[pokolbinguy]

Almost emptied my 1st keg of crappy beer.
I force carbed it last w/end. I left the serving pressure at 90 kPa.
I turn the gas off at night as then pour the 1st without gas on and then put the gas on again until I go to bed.

This arvo I poured my 1st glass at the pressure on 70kPa then put the gas on and the regulator got to 130kPa.

The keg can't have more then 7-8 litres left.
I turned the gas off. and my next glass was slightly heady lol.

I swear I haven't touched the regulator since.

What is the best practice for you guys,
I know every system different just need a guide
cheers
Matti

I don't know about anyone else buy I'm a little lost....you force carbed and you say your serving pressure is 90 Kpa? Why did you put it up to 130??? that would be why your got more head.

I have only naturally carbed my beer but have forced carbed softdrinks. Anyway I carbonate them (either way) and serve at 18 psi (Approx 130kPa). From then on I dont touch my reg unless it has crept down for some reason. Haven't had any problems for a long while doing this.

Pok

 

[lagers44]

After years of dispensing at 1-2psi from 500mm of hose i bit the bullet & investigated a balanced system , and how easy life has become.
I can carbonate ate 300kpa for 24hrs , vent the pressue then adjust to dispensing pressure of 10psi or I can just leave at 10psi for few days if i'm lazy. It works a treat , I can even dispense at 8psi for ales ( jut pours slower ).

I've now got 5 or 6 metres ( pre cut roll from Bunnings ) of 4mm ID tubing coiled in the fridge & all's apples.

Thanks for those who took the time to dispense with the information.

Lagers

 

[Sparky]

Interesting reading and lagers44 has some good advice. I've run a balanced system for a few years now. 12-13 psi (just under 100kPa). The reg is left as is and newly filled kegs are connected and left for a week or there abouts at dispensing pressure and temperature. No shaking and increase in pressure etc. Haven't had a baddie yet. The lines are approx 1.5 - 1.8 metres after considering the font taps (approx 450mm above the keg outlets) and the lengths along with the internal diameter of the line. Temperature also needs consideration.

All works good for me. IMHO Patience is the key. If you can wait for your handiwork to ferment, take another week out and wait for it to carbonate.

Cheers

WayneO

 

[stevenk]

hey sparky after you force carb at 100kpa for a week and all is good do you turn your CO2 off or do you just keep it sitting at serving pressure how ever much kpa that is you like to use.

cheers.

 

[Sparky]

hey sparky after you force carb at 100kpa for a week and all is good do you turn your CO2 off or do you just keep it sitting at serving pressure how ever much kpa that is you like to use.

cheers.

Hi stevenk, I leave the CO2 on the system at 100kPa (closer to 90kPa) all the time and serve at that pressure too. Run 3 kegs on tap and up to 5 conditioning/sitting with gas on.

Cheers

 

[SJW]

I don't know if Screwy has posted on this topic yet but I do pretty much what he does. I put the empty keg in the freezer (to save the old back) and fill from primary straight to keg with gelatine. Hit with 300 or 350 kpa, vent, and leave for 12 hours and turn off the gas and within the next 12 hours she drops down to serve pressue and away we go. If its still a bit under done I just wake anther 350kpa in and turn off again. Don't like the idea of rolling kegs around and could not be bothered gassing through the beer post.

Steve

 

[Mark_blower]

HELP!!!!!!!!

I followed the instructions on the first page and having some issues. I set up my kegs last week (2 cornies with about 150cm of 6mm tube on each to the taps).

My problem is when I pour from the tap I get about 90% head. I obviously thought that I had over carbonated but the actual beer is almost flat.

I have tried decreasing my serving pressure right down to 50 kPa with only a slight improvement.

I am hoping to have these ready for the AFL grand final so any help would be really really appreciated.



Cheers

Mark

 

[razz]

G'day Mark. You will need a lot more than 1.5 mtrs of 6 mm tube for a good pour. I run 5 mm tube at 3.3 mtrs for a balanced system of 100kpa.

 

[Mark_blower]

G'day Mark. You will need a lot more than 1.5 mtrs of 6 mm tube for a good pour. I run 5 mm tube at 3.3 mtrs for a balanced system of 100kpa.

Cheers Razz, Here I thought cutting it shorter was making things easier for me. I will get some longer tube tomorrow

Any other tips

 

[razz]

There is a ready reckoner on here somewhere. It will tell you what length beer line and diametre for a given pressure and temp. it might be in one of the Wiki's. I think you will need a minimum of 4.5 mtrs in 6mm beer line.

 

[KHB]

I was thinking of trying the idea of using a beer in to gas up my only thing is how do you stop beer returning up the line once you turn the gas off??

 

[gap]

I was thinking of trying the idea of using a beer in to gas up my only thing is how do you stop beer returning up the line once you turn the gas off??

Maybe remove the disconnect before you shut off the gas?

 

[KHB]

Maybe remove the disconnect before you shut off the gas?

Nah they say they leave it connected and rock to let pressure on gauge drop

 

[quantocks]

just used this method, shook for 50 seconds. realised I wasn't rocking it right, or did it too hard and there was little pressure when i hit the pressure relief valve. thought I did it wrong, so released all pressure and tried again, this time rocking better and slower. bubbles stopped? turned off gas bottle but not reg and beer foam shot up the line, **** I thought I had stuffed the reg but got to it just in time, no beer in there thank christ.

vented and left for 20 minutes, still overcarbed it but better and quicker than my last effort. As soon as I pour a glass though, the bubbles in my Headmaster energy glass are absolutely whirlwinding around in my glass, after about 2 minutes the bubbles settle down and go to normal.

tad overcarbed, but at least I have something to drink tonight that's nice and cold, I'll vent it in the morning once and I should be sweet. so cheers al

 

[raven19]

Just used this method for the first time tonight also.
Very helpful indeed, with the Celli taps its all nice and easy.
Thanks Al & Ross for this method.
Cheers!

 

[raven19]

Rehashing an old thread here, keen to hear thoughts on the following "semi forced" carbonation method my mate uses:

1. Beer into keg from fermentor
2. Increases pressure on regulator to 150 - 200 kPa and leaves for 48 hours (use gas in post still)
3. After 48 hours, drop back to serving pressure (50kPa on his system)
4. Burp keg to reduce headspace pressure
5. Drink!

I am giving this a go with my 3rd keg of beer to see how it goes. Will report back after Saturday...

 

[Cocko]

I have kegged about 6 batches now all force carbed... Great method and when you understand and get it nailed it is great to have carbed beer within an hour or so...

Report:
Last batch [double] went into to 2 kegs, 19L, and were left in keg fridge for 3 weeks - Holidays! NB: Always leave a double batch ageing if you are of on leave!! anyway....

BUT in my so far experience I have kegged and still bottled a dozen or so beers out of each batch. The forced carbed beer out the keg has had a similar underlying flavour, even after 3 weeks in keg, through it for the first 2 weeks or so but if I crack a stubbie of the same brew it does not have this taste and is much more what I planned the brew to taste like.... So if I force carb does it need to age still for the flavours to really develop and blend?

So what I am getting at is: Does force carbing flavour the beer?

Hmm...

Cocko.

 

[KHB]

Ive got a new regulator coming and was thinking of putting a t piece with a line coming off with a liquid dissconnect on it and a tap after the t piece. As i havnt tried this method of gassing through the outpost. What stops beer flowing pack in line once you turn the gas off at the bottle??I have a non return valve built in on the new reg but just want to be sure before i try it.

Cheers KHB

 

[KHB]

Ive got a new regulator coming and was thinking of putting a t piece with a line coming off with a liquid dissconnect on it and a tap after the t piece. As i havnt tried this method of gassing through the outpost. What stops beer flowing pack in line once you turn the gas off at the bottle??I have a non return valve built in on the new reg but just want to be sure before i try it.

Cheers KHB

BUMP!!!

 

[samhighley]

I have a non return valve built in on the new reg but just want to be sure before i try it.

The non-return valve will stop the liquid flowing back into the regulator. That is its purpose.

Sam

 

[bradsbrew]

Tried this method twice now good results the first time, slightly overcarbed but settled ok, better results the second time nice carbonation and nice head. But with this keg after I pour the beer the beer starts to foam in the line and heads back to the keg with th result being that about 200mm before the tap and 200mm after the disconnect is empty which results in the next pour being slow and a bit foamy in places but I still get a nicely poured beer. I only use a bronco and using a soda stream cylinder which I am thinking is almost empty, would the cylinder being almost empty cause this??

Cheers Brad

 

[KHB]

Hi i just bought a new regultor an ebay and teh pressure realese vale kicks in at 300pka. :angry: I am going to try carbing at 250kpa for 55 seconds instead of the usual 45 i do. Hopefully it works ok.


KHB