Slow Gas Versus Rapid Gassing

[stowaway]

Im upto my second brew now.. First brew was crap. I was very impatient, it was very immature and i think i didnt leave to ferment for long enough.

now im just wondering about gassing. The guy at my brew shop said to rapid gas it i should just put the gas onto 340kpa and roll the bottle for 6minutes then sit for an hour..

i did this but i had pretty quick deflating head (i know this can be a sign of young beer?)

To slow gas do i just leave the gas on for a 24 hour (or 48 hour?) Period. but what psi/kpa?

And is slow gassing much better than rapid gassing?

 

[remi]

have a look in the 'gear and equipment' section for the airlocked 'guide to forced carbonation' section- this explains very nicely how to carbonate a keg the fast way (once it's cold). alternatively, you can set the keg to pouring pressure (say 10-14psi or so) and leave it for a week- at which stage it will be carbonated and also a bit more conditioned. both methods work well- and there are many other methods in between these 2 time extremes, depends how much of a hurry you are in to tuck in...

remi

 

[Kleiny]

To slow gas do i just leave the gas on for a 24 hour (or 48 hour?) Period. but what psi/kpa?

I do 200kpa for 2 - 3 days taste after day 2 and adjust if necessary
do a search for carbonation or keg as ther are alot of threads on the topic of setup and carbonation

goodluck
kleiny

 

[mfdes]

Hi Stowaway,

Just getting back to basics, you say you're on your second brew. What ingredients did you use and what temperature did you ferment at?
Ingredients and fermentation have a major role to play in the consistency of the head, and in my opinion more so than whether you carbonate slowly or fast. Especially using sugar will make for thinner beer that doesn;t keep a head for long, as does a warm fermentation (warmer than about 20 degrees).
In any case in many beers the head soon collapses to a nice lace... it all depends on the style and how it's been treated. One thing you'll not see are those big creamy heads of Guinness and Kilkenny unless you use nitrogen.

MFS.

 

[andrewg1978]

I have tried most of the methods, 1 week, 2 days, 2 hrs. All work but I would have to note that the 350Kpa for a minute is the go. Initially the head like a bubble bath but settles down to a nice head after a day or 2 in the keg, but you can drink almost immediately Sometimes I give it a second shot if it has not improved. I was thinking I might try slightly overgas the next batch by rocking for 90sec rather then 60sec and see what happens.

 

[SJW]

To slow gas do i just leave the gas on for a 24 hour (or 48 hour?) Period. but what psi/kpa?

I do 350 kpa for 12-24 hours and that gets it close.

Steve

 

[OSF]

It's all about "set and forget" for me.

If you take your time to balance your system (see other threads as recommeded) and plan your brews (and don't drink em too fast) there is always a beer on tap ready to go.

For my standard Ales I carbonate and serve all at 100kpa (using a balanced system). Takes about a week to carbonate, but that's never a problem for me as there is pretty much always another beer already on tap.

As soon as a new beer is in the keg, I just wack it in the fridge, hook it up to the gas and leave it alone till it's time for it to be hooked up to the tap. No need to muck around with the reg and no issues with pressure when there are different levels of beer in the keg, or when you forget to re-adjust the gas after a session.

Works for me, but each to their own.

Cheers

 

[pint of lager]

New keggers often manage to overgas when using the forced carbonation method. The beer pours heady and flat and they think it is due to lack of carbonation. They then keep trying to carbonate it rather than de carbonating the brew and spend ages trying to get it right.

After spending lots of money on the keg setup, they want perfect results straight away in the glass.

Use the slow method till you have your kegging "feet" then go for the forced carbonation.

I prefer the slow method.

Read and follow MFDES's excellent post about getting back to basics. You want to brew the best possible beer and then keg it.

 

[Sammus]

Theres also a few useful articles in the wiki.

and FWIW 'balancing' the system in all its glory (ie adjusting line lengths and diameters) isnt really worth doing it all. I did it in my last setup, but for the new one I just set the pressure to ideal pouring pressure (about 60kpa for me) and leave it there (like remi said in the first reply). So you might be 0.1 volume of CO2 out from the ideal for the style, but with so many different styles in the fridge you cant have them all spot on anyway.

 

[pint of lager]

Sammus is right, your system will be balanced for one style only, but it does stop the neatness freaks from chopping the dispense line back to the minimum. Also, if your system is not balanced, and the beer stays on tap for a long time, then it will end up flat.

 

[mfdes]

Everyone is giving really good answers on the gassing but have you stopped to consider he may be using kit & kilo or other adjuncts that affect head retention?
We need to know a bit more don't we?

MFS.

 

[SJW]

Sammus is right, your system will be balanced for one style only, but it does stop the neatness freaks from chopping the dispense line back to the minimum. Also, if your system is not balanced, and the beer stays on tap for a long time, then it will end up flat.

Or u could just use Celli taps and have no probs with balacing at all

 

[Sammus]

Thats pretty much my point, I don't do any of that balancing nonsense, except I got all stainless taps without flow restriction and they cost a lot less than $170ea

Another thing about the quick dissipating head, I've noticed that the longer the beer is carbed for, the tighter and finer and longer lasting the head seems to be. Could be a result of this force carbing business...