Small Batch carbing

[chubbytaxman]

No pressure, it was pulled from the cube pictured below with a beer engine and sparkler. As this is a 20L cube it has a collapsible bag of co2 attached so co2 is drawn in to replace the beer as it’s dispensed.

You won’t get a head as thick and creamy as the one above with a syringe but it will be near enough.
View attachment 109817 View attachment 109818

That looks the goods S.E ... mind if I ask how you get the beer into the sprayer from the cube? ... Just gravity via a filler tube or something more sinister .. ha ha ha ..
Is there any CO2 in the sprayer prior to putting in the beer ?? .. Sorry for all the questions but I am really interested in this now ..

 

[koshari]

What pressure do you use for just co2?

If your using just co2 rather than cellermix things get a bit complicated (hence why they use a mix in the first place) . You sort of have to increase the pressure while you pour to round 20-30 psi so the sparklers work effectively then vent the headspace pressure back to say 2-4 psi so as the beer doesnt overcarb. As you can imagine you use a fair bit of co2 especially when your keg is nearing empty.

Using a pump (beer engine) on the other hand i use a bbq regulator to drop my pressure to round 2psi then feed into the keg from that. This co2 is pretty much just to fill the headspace the same way SE used a bladder to avoid oxidisation. Then the liquid goes to the engine via a demand valve. The demand is inly required becase the 2 psi would make the pump drip continually otherwise.

 

[S.E]

That looks the goods S.E ... mind if I ask how you get the beer into the sprayer from the cube? ... Just gravity via a filler tube or something more sinister .. ha ha ha ..
Is there any CO2 in the sprayer prior to putting in the beer ?? .. Sorry for all the questions but I am really interested in this now ..

No CO2 in the beer engine it’s just a pump and the cube is best vented a day or so prior to serving as a creamier head will form with less CO2. I don’t usually vent a cube at home though just serve from the tap when the cube is swollen then vent and connect to the CO2 bag and engine when the flow from the tap slows and before air starts bubbling back up through it.

If you look closely at the second picture in post #18 you can see a silicone tube attached to the cube tap.

It then runs behind the cube and you will see it appear again at the top of the cube where it runs up and out of shot through the temp controlled freezer collar. It then connects to a beer engine that pumps it through a sparkler attachment that gives it the creamy head.

The picture below shows beer engines at a recent club real ale fest. It was taken at the end of the event and everyone had left and taken most of the cubes home but you can still see one under the bar on the left. Most of the engines have plastic sparklers at the end of the swan necks. White one on the far left engine green on the far right and black on two of the others.

As you don’t have an engine/sparkler and if you use a cube for your 10L batch just pour a glass from the tap and use a syringe.

Alternatively and probably easier would be to use PET bottles for your 10L batch as you could unscrew the cap slightly and leave it for a day or so to vent excess CO2, similar to venting a cask.

You should get a tighter creamier head after venting rather than pouring straight from the bottle if there is too much co2.

 

[scomet]

https://m.ebay.com.au/itm/Keg-King-...L-LOCK-KEG-Home-Brew-/292141858559?nav=SEARCH

That looks like some more of that 'quality' Chinese welding! just what you (don't) want on the inside of your kegs.....

 

[koshari]

That looks like some more of that 'quality' Chinese welding! just what you (don't) want on the inside of your kegs.....

i hope the crappy welding is only available in the "limited edition"!

 

[scomet]

i hope the crappy welding is only available in the "limited edition"!

Unfortunately not! my dog can weld better than most crap out of China! I ended up buying the Italian kegs the welding is 1000% better, I checked all the Chinese welded kegs in the store and more than half had rust on the inside from the bloody awful welding...

 

[good4whatAlesU]

That looks like some more of that 'quality' Chinese welding! just what you (don't) want on the inside of your kegs.....

I've had a couple of these for over a year and had no problems with them.

 

[koshari]

Unfortunately not! my dog can weld better than most crap out of China! I ended up buying the Italian kegs the welding is 1000% better, I checked all the Chinese welded kegs in the store and more than half had rust on the inside from the bloody awful welding...

the rust would suggest inadequate pickling.