new to kegging - carbonation time

[ruscodenio]

Hi Guys,

I've recently embarked on the journey of kegging home brew, put down my first brew into the keg this week. I'm looking for some advice as I've made a few rookie errors already. I've started to carbonate my keg at room temp at 28psi for an American Larger. I didn't roll the keg to force carbonate and it's been on the gas for 24hours.

1) is it to late to roll the keg to force carbonate at it now?

2)How long roughly should I give it on the gas?

Cheers.

 

[hairydog]

Gday ruscodenio,

There are a few methods to carbonate a keg and different levels depending on the style of beer,my method is to chill the keg and pressure to 30 PSI for 2 days
then leave at serving pressure for 2-3 days and its done.I have never forced carbed by rolling the keg as I am not in that much of a hurry and it seems to be a bit hit and miss.
Many brewers just leave the keg (chilled) at serving pressure 10-12 PSI for 1-2weeks and the keg is ready to go.

 

[Grott]

It is best to carb will the keg is cold at your serving temperature. Above is fine but if you want a controlled force carbonation then chill keg to serving temp, take out of fridge and attach gas line to gas in at 30psi. Lay keg on its side and with a stop watch roll keg back and forth for 103 seconds, turn gas off at bottle and continue to rock until psi is zero on hp side of gauge and low pressure drops to 20psi. Upright keg and disconnect and return to fridge. After an hour or so ( shaken beer has settled) release pressure in keg, attach gas at serving pressure and all will be ready in 24hours. You will not over carb.

 

[Rocker1986]

I've tried that shaking/rolling method before and I can't be ****** with it now. It is a bit hit and miss, and I think with the very short amount of time involved in it, there is more chance of ******* it up and over carbonating the keg. 5-10 seconds too long of shaking it could over carbonate it. With my method below, an extra hour or whatever isn't likely to cause any problems, so there's less need to worry about exact times.

I just put the kegs in the fridge, set the gas to 45PSI and gas them for about 22-24 hours, then remove the gas and let the kegs sit for another 6-7 hours then bleed whatever pressure is left and re-connect gas at normal serving pressure. At this point they're a tad under carbed but good enough to enjoy a glass, by the next day they're done. It's simple and it works with no shaking and no over carbonating. Fully carbed in a couple of days.

If I wanted to wait a week or two for it to carb up on serving pressure I might as well just bottle the bloody beer :lol:.

 

[Grott]

I've tried that shaking/rolling method before and I can't be ****** with it now. It is a bit hit and miss, and I think with the very short amount of time involved in it, there is more chance of ******* it up and over carbonating the keg. 5-10 seconds too long of shaking it could over carbonate it.

This is why I say "with a stop watch". You don't go over, it's the same ever time, it's simple. I used this method extensively ( ever keg ) it works every time if you follow the parameters. Kegs chilled to fridge temp which doesn't get changed, stop watch and it's done. The time set was through testing initially to just under carbonate the keg to my liking. It does work.

 

[Chap]

12psi at 4oC for a week. Never had an issue. I tried to roll and shake once and overcarbed it, haven't tried it again. Just set and forget

 

[good4whatAlesU]

Set and forget for me (about 12-14psi) with a twist. For the first couple days when I walk past the fridge I give the keg a good shake - it seems to speed up the process a bit.

After 3-4 days you can drink it, but after about 10 days it's at a good carbonation level.

I would like to buy one of these days a carbonation stone/keg lid combos which is supposed to speed things up and get better carbonation..

https://www.ibrew.com.au/collections/regulators/products/keg-carbonation-lid

 

[Rocker1986]

I'd probably use the shake method if I really needed a keg carbonated quickly straight after filling it for some reason, but otherwise I have no need to do it that quickly. My kegs all sit at room temp while they await their turn on tap anyway, so with the time it takes to chill them down in the kegerator to serving temp, it'd take just as long to have them carbonated using the shake method as it does simply leaving them sitting on high pressure gas during that period, i.e. about 30-32 hours after they're put in the fridge. And then it stirs up the sediment that has neatly settled out while they're in storage on top of it. More effort for no gain in my case, but obviously others situations vary.

 

[Grott]

Yes, different methods for different reasons/set ups. In the end it's what works for you best so no rights or wrongs. I'm just saying if you choose to force carb by the rocking method you don't risk over carbonation if you do it right.

 

[Rocker1986]

That's true. I think the issue with it isn't so much the method itself but when noob keggers do it because they want to pour that first beer ASAP and in their eagerness to get it happening they rush through it and stuff it up. I stuffed my first attempt at it, other attempts did work better but the method I use now has been the best for me. I always put three full kegs in at once, and wait until the last of them has emptied before the next three go in. I use the serving pressure set and forget on the rear keg in the kegerator though, helps to ensure it's the last of the three to be emptied, which makes life easier.

 

[Gloveski]

It is best to carb will the keg is cold at your serving temperature. Above is fine but if you want a controlled force carbonation then chill keg to serving temp, take out of fridge and attach gas line to gas in at 30psi. Lay keg on its side and with a stop watch roll keg back and forth for 103 seconds, turn gas off at bottle and continue to rock until psi is zero on hp side of gauge and low pressure drops to 20psi. Upright keg and disconnect and return to fridge. After an hour or so ( shaken beer has settled) release pressure in keg, attach gas at serving pressure and all will be ready in 24hours. You will not over carb.

It takes a little trial an error , Grott technique is a great starting point to try . I have slightly changed it now after a few kegs . I use my foot to roll back and forwards gently but for a little longer usually about 2 minutes 30 seconds to 3 minutes. Leave for a couple of hours and bleed of excess pressure . Then back on the gas to 12psi . I usually have two kegs on the go with another sitting on this 12psi waiting its turn. If I am running low on beers I have found its right to go after about 6 to 12 hours. I then serve on 12psi and lower serving pressure to about 8 to 10 psi about half way through the keg.

Here is a great video from Gash Slugg basically doing exactly what I do https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g07Yj6-Ykw

There is no real right or wrong way it just takes a few kegs to get a feel for your system

 

[ruscodenio]

Cheers thanks for all the info guys.

 

[HaveFun]

Good Morning,
today is my first attempt to carbonate a freshly fermented beer. It's sitting in a keg at 4 degrees.
After reading through the posts I like to try the gentle method around 12psi for a week.
I got a harris regulator. And after checking my gauges im confused... And need help to understand my regulator :-(

I hope the left gauge shows me the bottle pressure and the right one the pressure which i can adjust..

The black numbers are BAR and the red ones PSI ?

Thanks

Cheers
Stefan

 

[mattyh77]

No, it's the right gauge showing bottle pressure (800 psi) and left gauge shows adjustable pressure (20 psi). Wind back the regulator and release pressure from the line. It will drop to zero then adjust up to your desired pressure.

 

[Matplat]

Other way round my friend, I have the exact same reg, bottle pressure on the right, outlet pressure on the left.. adjusting th knob should adjust the left hand gauge.

 

[HaveFun]

great, thanks... i never had to adjust the outlet pressure lol now i understand it works hehe

 

[Grott]

Do you know if your regulator has a non return valve fitted? Matplat would know. If not, fit one to the gas line or use a non return gas disconnect as beer going into the regulator isn’t good.

 

[HaveFun]

Do you know if your regulator has a non return valve fitted? Matplat would know. If not, fit one to the gas line or use a non return gas disconnect as beer going into the regulator isn’t good.

not sure if i got a non return valve but i just ordered one only to be on the safe side

 

[Matplat]

They don't.... been meaning to get one. It hasn't made it to the reg yet but have definitely had beer in the gas lines when relieving pressure.

 

[Grott]

If just using a non return valve rather than the disconnect type put it close to your disconnect as if beer does go up the line to the valve it is easier to clean/wash out.