Homebrewers Association | AHA Forum
General Category => Kegging and Bottling => Topic started by: bensonowitz on May 14, 2019, 12:27:35 AM
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Hi All,
Everything is wrong with what I am trying to do, but it's where I'm at... lol!
I'm using a 20oz paintball co2 tank to try and carbonate 2.5 gallons of beer in a 5 gallon corny with little success. Everything pressurizes great, no leaks, regulator works, beer pours fine, nice head. In summary, everything seems to be right but I can only get minimal carbonation in the beer. I've done three batches in three different kegs thinking maybe there is a small leak I couldn't detect but ended with the same results. I've ramped up the psi to over 30 and left it on gas for up to 7 days on the third batch.
A few of caveats to consider. Its 2.5 gallons in a 5 gallon keg, the beer is warm (55 f), and its a tiny paintball tank. Like i said, everything I am trying to do is wrong.
Is the warm temp of the beer making it hard for co2 to absorb? Is that size tank to small for anything but serving?
I am newer to the keg scene and any advice would be appreciated!
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At 55°F you'd need ~20 psi to get to average carbonation. If you're using head pressure alone to carbonate, 7 days probably won't be long enough - it takes 2-3 weeks IME.
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a10t2,
By head pressure, I assume you mean just gas on a static keg. If so, you are correct. Whats do you suggest to help things along? Roll the keg, shake it, wait 2 to 3 weeks?
Also, why do you hate chico/
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a10t2,
By head pressure, I assume you mean just gas on a static keg. If so, you are correct. Whats do you suggest to help things along? Roll the keg, shake it, wait 2 to 3 weeks?
Also, why do you hate chico/
If you can chill the beer you can carbonate it faster. I have done 10 psi for a week and had good results at around 34 degrees. I don't shake or roll the kegs anymore, and at 55 degrees you won't gain much. If you have to carbonate at 55 degrees, let it sit for a a few weeks.
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Whats do you suggest to help things along? Roll the keg, shake it, wait 2 to 3 weeks?
I set the regulator for 2-3 psi above serving pressure and gently shake it as often as I can for a few hours. At the higher temperature you might need to do that for more like a couple days; I've never tried.
Also, why do you hate chico/
There's nothing wrong with it, it's just so powdery that without filtering it takes forever to drop bright and there are more flocculent options that can hit the same flavor targets.
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Thanks for all the input.
Appreciate the help.
cheers!!
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At 55°F you'd need ~20 psi to get to average carbonation. If you're using head pressure alone to carbonate, 7 days probably won't be long enough - it takes 2-3 weeks IME.
+1. The cooler the liquid the more gas it will absorb. There's a temp vs pressure chart for that, but I can't seem to lay my hands on it.
I use a paintball tank to serve at events. It has absolutely no effect on the level of carbonation.
Charlie
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Here ya go Charlie
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190516/16d436804d8b33f25adc46adada7bf45.jpg)
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Here ya go Charlie
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190516/16d436804d8b33f25adc46adada7bf45.jpg)
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
A web search for "carbonation chart" will turn up a bazillion of those of varying degrees of legibility. What none of them remembers to remind you is that the figures are for sea level, and to achieve a given level of carbonation (v/v) shown, you need to add 0.5 psig for every 1000 feet of elevation. That can be pretty significant for some folks.
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Here ya go Charlie
That's it (or a reasonable facsimile). It was supposed to be in my D:\Brewing\Carbonation\ folder, but somehow it escaped.