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Carbonation
- Thread starter domanah
- Start date
Generally 5-7 days if using set/forget method. If you want it 2-3 days quicker, set your pressure like usual and gently shake to expose all the beer to co2. Shake for a short period of time, let it rest. Repeat again....rest. After a few cycles of this, you'll notice that you will hear less co2 entering the keg when shaking signalling that you are getting close to your intended volumes of CO2. If you want it quicker still, some increase head pressure anywhere from 20-40 PSI. You need to be careful doing this as there's a chance the beer will over carbonate in which case, you'll need to de-gas (shake, vent, repeat) and carbonate again.
Cheers,
Mark
Cheers,
Mark
Oginme
Grandmaster Brewer
There are several ways to carbonate a keg and if you check on YouTube you will find many videos on the different alternatives.
The BeerSmith recommendations on psi are based on a 'set-it-and-forget-it' carbonation technique. This means setting up your keg someplace where the temperature is consistent, attaching and opening up your CO2 supply, and then leaving it for a period of time to allow the carbonation to be fully absorbed into the beer. This starts out reasonably fast, but slows down as your carbonation nears the desired end point. I have found that it seems to take me around 2 to 3 weeks to reach an equilibrium where the carbonation is at target.
I have also tried the quick carbonation method of setting the CO2 pressure higher than I want (by at least 10 to 20 psi) and then gently rolling the keg to get the CO2 to absorb into the beer through forced mixing with the gas. Once you have a reasonable amount of carbonation in the beer, you dial the pressure back to where you want and allow the last bit to be absorbed. This for me shortens the time to around 5 to 8 days. Some people state they get a much quicker carbonation and maybe I have not worked hard enough to speed up the process to be that fast for fear of over carbonation.
About 6 weeks ago, I purchased a Blichmann Quick-Carb and have tried that on my last five batches. This gets me to the carbonation target in about 3 to 4 days. I keg the beer, place it in my refrigerator for a day or two, carbonate it using the quick carb and set it back into the refrigerator for a day. I have had very good pours right off of the initial carbonation, but have found that leaving it a day after carbonating it makes for a much finer head and better consistency in carbonation.
The BeerSmith recommendations on psi are based on a 'set-it-and-forget-it' carbonation technique. This means setting up your keg someplace where the temperature is consistent, attaching and opening up your CO2 supply, and then leaving it for a period of time to allow the carbonation to be fully absorbed into the beer. This starts out reasonably fast, but slows down as your carbonation nears the desired end point. I have found that it seems to take me around 2 to 3 weeks to reach an equilibrium where the carbonation is at target.
I have also tried the quick carbonation method of setting the CO2 pressure higher than I want (by at least 10 to 20 psi) and then gently rolling the keg to get the CO2 to absorb into the beer through forced mixing with the gas. Once you have a reasonable amount of carbonation in the beer, you dial the pressure back to where you want and allow the last bit to be absorbed. This for me shortens the time to around 5 to 8 days. Some people state they get a much quicker carbonation and maybe I have not worked hard enough to speed up the process to be that fast for fear of over carbonation.
About 6 weeks ago, I purchased a Blichmann Quick-Carb and have tried that on my last five batches. This gets me to the carbonation target in about 3 to 4 days. I keg the beer, place it in my refrigerator for a day or two, carbonate it using the quick carb and set it back into the refrigerator for a day. I have had very good pours right off of the initial carbonation, but have found that leaving it a day after carbonating it makes for a much finer head and better consistency in carbonation.