Help With First Attempt At Forced Carbonating

[Wadey]

Hey All.

My first kegging attempt occured tonight and I force carbed my beer (Quickbrew Aussie Blonde) using a method similier to the "ross method" however it seems a little flat.

So being the impatient Son of a B that i am I thought rather than sift through the mountains of info on this topic I would throw you some quick questions and hopefully some quick answers. What I am wondering is:

1. Is there a quick way to boost up the carbonation, ie put back to 300kpa and rock again etc etc
2. Or, just leave it at 70 Kpa (not sure if the gas should be left on or not, so please advise) and see how it is tomorrow night

I think thats about all for now, I poured my first ever beer and everythign was perfect, head and all but a little too flat, so I have proceeded to drink my stock of homebrew bottles in the interim.

Thanks in advance.

Shaun

 

[kelbygreen]

put back on at 300kpa rock for 10 sec then leave 15-20 mins release the pressure hook lines up and try again. With force carb I found you never get a good head unless you leave for a few days it will be carbed but head wont hold. put pouring upto 80kpa as you want to set your pouring pressure to the carbing pressure or over time you will loose carbonation also how long are your lines? maybe they are to long? but I wouldnt balance a keg setup off a force carbed keg as the results vary to much.

Edit: have a read of THIS!

 

[Wadey]

Hey Kelby

Thanks for the reply mate

Yeah pretty much did what you said but didnt make a huge difference. Lines to my taps are 1meter which is how they came with the font

I wound the reg up to 80 kpa as you said, this is where I get a bit lost do I now turn the gas off? Or leave it on so the beer continues to observe co2

 

[under]

You may have overcarbed.

 

[kelbygreen]

leave the gas on all the time unless you have a leak then you are not using any gas. leaving the gas on when pouring is a must as the gas has to fill the headspace as the beer is drawn out. Leaving the gas on all the time balances your setup also will keep gassing under gassed kegs. you cannot over gas a keg if the gas is left on as it will only reach say 80psi and it cannot put anymore co2 into the beer unless you up the regulator settings.

In a Ideal world the reg never changes its left at serving pressure and you have kegs drinking and kegs carbing a keg will carb up in a week at serving pressure but 4 days if you connect it to the beer out not gas in as the gas is forced from the bottom and has to go threw the beer to reach the top making it carb quicker. but you would need at least 4 kegs (depending on drinking habbits) and serve 2 at a time while 2 is carbing but means you have to keep fermenters full to lol

 

[Wadey]

Thanks Kelby

Appreciate the advice mate. Turned the gas back on and will leave it. Just poured another beer and the carbonation seems pretty good. I have set up a tee piece so when my next keg is ready can I just hook it it up without touching the reg and let it sit at 80kpa until it's carbed that would be so much easier

 

[kelbygreen]

yes thats the best way to do it. if you still have to force carb dont do it with the already carbed keg connected, take it off at the non return valve (if you got one and its a jg fitting) and put a new hose on with a beer out d/c onto it. otherwise yes gas one when you pour one is ideal dont change the reg settings. sounds like you have bottle beer so the keg blows then just drink that for a few days if you have to. you could always still make 23lt batches and keg 19lt bottle the rest

 

[Mattese]

I just read this thread and remembered I was force carbing a keg - for three days.

Alas, she is over carbed.. Lucky its only a 9 litre...

 

[bjay]

I just leave mine at serving pressure for about a week,,, to much mucking around trying to force carb

I take it you do have it in the fridge already when carbing ,
It has to be under a certain temp for max co2 to be absorbed ,Think around 3 or 4 celcius from memory

bjay

 

[Wadey]

Hi Bjay.

Yes mate, was chilled overnight. Going to see how she goes tonight and report back the results.

Thanks Shaun

 

[Bubba]

Yeah, I find the same thing when I force carb a keg at high pressure, it will be drinkable quickly, but wont have that tight head and seems a little flat to the palate.

I always then leave the gas on at serving pressure and within a couple of days it is perfect.

So if you want to drink quickly, force carb but it will be a little flat so leave at serving pressure and leave the gas on and you will be fine as long as no leaks.

 

[Wadey]

Thanks Guys.

Gave the first keg a fair work out yesterday with my neighbour. Seems pretty good, only issue is I kegged after being in the fermenter for a week and every pour is cloudy.

Do you guys leave the brew in the fermenter for a couple of weeks so that it is relatively clear before kegging. I assume that the way I have done my first one is that it wont clear unless I stop drinking it for a week.

Thoughts ?

 

[Brewjohno]

Ideally you would rack it off to a secondary fermenter or cube for it to clear.

I use 23l water jerry cans for this. I siphon from the fermenter to leave as much behind as possible and then leave the cube in a cool place.

I can leave cubes for 3-6 months depnding on what is in it.

When I am ready to use it I put that cube in the fridge and drop the temp down as low as possible 1-2 degrees. I can leave it in the fridge for 2-3 days. This drops anything else left in suspension and also helps to harden the sludge that has dopped to the bottom.

I then siphon off again into the keg, force carbonate and drink.

Even if you filter it you might still end up with hazy beer if you haven't racked it off as a lot of particles such as yeast can still remain in suspension.

These only react when cold. ie your beer could be crystal clear when hot, but cloudy when cold. This is referred to as chill haze.

The reason I make double batches is so that I can drink one and condition one. After a while I get a collection of cubes that contains conditioned beer and I can start drinking them. The idea is to not stop making beer, otherwise you will be drinking green/unconditioned beer in no time again.

Brewjohno.

 

[Wadey]

Thanks Brewjohno, thats make sense now.

Have to buy some cubes from LHBS and get a good stock up ready for kegging.

Cheers,

Wadey