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Author Topic: carbonating corny with paintball co2 tank  (Read 2767 times)

Offline bensonowitz

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carbonating corny with paintball co2 tank
« on: May 13, 2019, 06:27:35 pm »
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!

Offline a10t2

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Re: carbonating corny with paintball co2 tank
« Reply #1 on: May 13, 2019, 06:40:32 pm »
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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Offline bensonowitz

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Re: carbonating corny with paintball co2 tank
« Reply #2 on: May 13, 2019, 07:56:43 pm »
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/

Offline goose

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Re: carbonating corny with paintball co2 tank
« Reply #3 on: May 14, 2019, 07:40:43 am »
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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Offline a10t2

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Re: carbonating corny with paintball co2 tank
« Reply #4 on: May 14, 2019, 09:44:08 am »
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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Beer is like porn. You can buy it, but it's more fun to make your own.
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Offline bensonowitz

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Re: carbonating corny with paintball co2 tank
« Reply #5 on: May 14, 2019, 11:52:23 am »
Thanks for all the input.

Appreciate the help.

cheers!!

Offline charlie

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Re: carbonating corny with paintball co2 tank
« Reply #6 on: May 15, 2019, 04:30:03 pm »
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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Offline BrewBama

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Re: carbonating corny with paintball co2 tank
« Reply #7 on: May 15, 2019, 06:09:56 pm »
Here ya go Charlie




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Offline Robert

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Re: carbonating corny with paintball co2 tank
« Reply #8 on: May 15, 2019, 06:29:13 pm »
Here ya go Charlie




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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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Offline charlie

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Re: carbonating corny with paintball co2 tank
« Reply #9 on: May 17, 2019, 08:38:51 pm »
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.
Yes officer, I know that I smell like beer. I'm not drinking it, I'm wearing it!