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Author Topic: Quick, quick carbing question?  (Read 9189 times)

Offline liquidbrewing

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Re: Quick, quick carbing question?
« Reply #15 on: November 02, 2011, 06:46:34 pm »
If my serving pressure is less then my carbing pressure won't it slowly loose carbonation?


Yes, if you carb at 16 psi and serve at 8 psi, it will eventually equalize, thus, becoming carbed to 8 psi.  This will take a few days though.

I don't quick carb, but I've heard of others on here that only quick carb at their serving pressure.  Set it to 8 and shake the cold keg, then you will never have to worry about over carbing your beer.
But then it would be under carbed?

No, it won't be under carbed.  If you're serving at 8 psi, all your beers will end up at 8 no matter what. 
Quote from: a10t2
link=topic=9747.msg120281#msg120281 date=1320275062
I set it to 15psi, it pours fast but doesn't foam up if I am careful.

I'm guessing it hasn't had time to equalize yet. In 2-3 days it'll probably be over-carbed.

   +1
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Offline tschmidlin

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Re: Quick, quick carbing question?
« Reply #16 on: November 02, 2011, 08:26:07 pm »
If my serving pressure is less then my carbing pressure won't it slowly loose carbonation?


Yes, if you carb at 16 psi and serve at 8 psi, it will eventually equalize, thus, becoming carbed to 8 psi.  This will take a few days though.

I don't quick carb, but I've heard of others on here that only quick carb at their serving pressure.  Set it to 8 and shake the cold keg, then you will never have to worry about over carbing your beer.
But then it would be under carbed?

No, it won't be under carbed.  If you're serving at 8 psi, all your beers will end up at 8 no matter what.
And if he originally carbed at serving temp to 16 psi, 8 psi would be undercarbed.
Tom Schmidlin

Offline roguenationpatriot

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Re: Quick, quick carbing question?
« Reply #17 on: November 03, 2011, 10:25:16 am »
I also am going to have to quick carb a brew for a Beer For Boobs competition.  What's the best way to keep the right carbonation if you then transfer it into bottles?
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Offline dcbc

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Re: Quick, quick carbing question?
« Reply #18 on: November 03, 2011, 12:43:05 pm »
A little late, but I didn't see this mentioned.  I usually set the pressure on a cold keg to about 30 psi.  Roll the keg on its side for 4 minutes.  Set the keg upright and disconnect the gas.  Put it in the fridge for about 5--6 hours.  Relieve pressure and reattach CO2 at serving pressure.  Works like a charm. 
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Offline liquidbrewing

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Re: Quick, quick carbing question?
« Reply #19 on: November 03, 2011, 01:54:35 pm »

And if he originally carbed at serving temp to 16 psi, 8 psi would be undercarbed.
[/quote]

Yes, I'm sure all of us here will agree that 8 is less than 16.  Simple grade school math.  But a beer that's been on 8 psi long enough to equalize the pressure, will not be undercarbed.
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Offline a10t2

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Re: Quick, quick carbing question?
« Reply #20 on: November 03, 2011, 02:13:18 pm »
But a beer that's been on 8 psi long enough to equalize the pressure, will not be undercarbed.

Depending on the temperature. I keep my kegerator at 44°F, so 8 psi would be 1.95 vol.
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Offline tschmidlin

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Re: Quick, quick carbing question?
« Reply #21 on: November 03, 2011, 04:14:13 pm »
But a beer that's been on 8 psi long enough to equalize the pressure, will not be undercarbed.

Depending on the temperature. I keep my kegerator at 44°F, so 8 psi would be 1.95 vol.
Right, depending on temp, and on the brewer's desired carbonation level.  My point above is that if the brewer wants it at 16 psi to get a certain dissolved CO2 volume for a given temperature, but the CO2 is equalized at 8 psi then it will be undercarbed.

8 psi might be fine for your beers on your system, but apparently is not what the OP wants.
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Offline liquidbrewing

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Re: Quick, quick carbing question?
« Reply #22 on: November 03, 2011, 04:51:19 pm »
But a beer that's been on 8 psi long enough to equalize the pressure, will not be undercarbed.

Depending on the temperature. I keep my kegerator at 44°F, so 8 psi would be 1.95 vol.
Right, depending on temp, and on the brewer's desired carbonation level.  My point above is that if the brewer wants it at 16 psi to get a certain dissolved CO2 volume for a given temperature, but the CO2 is equalized at 8 psi then it will be undercarbed.

8 psi might be fine for your beers on your system, but apparently is not what the OP wants.

Agreed.
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Offline brontotex

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Re: Quick, quick carbing question?
« Reply #23 on: November 03, 2011, 07:28:09 pm »
A little late, but I didn't see this mentioned.  I usually set the pressure on a cold keg to about 30 psi.  Roll the keg on its side for 4 minutes.  Set the keg upright and disconnect the gas.  Put it in the fridge for about 5--6 hours.  Relieve pressure and reattach CO2 at serving pressure.  Works like a charm. 

+1

Offline davidgzach

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Re: Quick, quick carbing question?
« Reply #24 on: November 04, 2011, 07:03:56 am »
OK, good timing here.  This is what I am doing as I need a Pale Ale carbed for a party tomorrow.  It was warm so I put it in my beer fridge at 25psi last night and shook it a couple of times.  It's down to 40F now so I shook it this morning, plan to shake again this afternoon, test this evening, shake a few more times if necessary and then take down to serving psi tonight and let it get to volume.  Looking at 12psi for ~2.4 volumes.  Good plan?
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Offline tschmidlin

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Re: Quick, quick carbing question?
« Reply #25 on: November 04, 2011, 11:21:09 am »
OK, good timing here.  This is what I am doing as I need a Pale Ale carbed for a party tomorrow.  It was warm so I put it in my beer fridge at 25psi last night and shook it a couple of times.  It's down to 40F now so I shook it this morning, plan to shake again this afternoon, test this evening, shake a few more times if necessary and then take down to serving psi tonight and let it get to volume.  Looking at 12psi for ~2.4 volumes.  Good plan?
Terrible plan, if the beer gets over carbed you're screwed.  Set the pressure to the appropriate level for the current temp and desired volumes of CO2, then shake it as much as you like and it cant get over carbed.
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Offline davidgzach

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Re: Quick, quick carbing question?
« Reply #26 on: November 04, 2011, 01:12:34 pm »
OK, good timing here.  This is what I am doing as I need a Pale Ale carbed for a party tomorrow.  It was warm so I put it in my beer fridge at 25psi last night and shook it a couple of times.  It's down to 40F now so I shook it this morning, plan to shake again this afternoon, test this evening, shake a few more times if necessary and then take down to serving psi tonight and let it get to volume.  Looking at 12psi for ~2.4 volumes.  Good plan?
Terrible plan, if the beer gets over carbed you're screwed.  Set the pressure to the appropriate level for the current temp and desired volumes of CO2, then shake it as much as you like and it cant get over carbed.
I see your point and the flaw in the plan.  I typically crank up to 25psi and let it sit for 2 days when in a rush-no shaking (but plenty of testing ;)).  The shaking variable changes everything and I was not accounting for it.  Glad I posted and thanks for pointing it out Tom!  
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Offline dzlater

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Re: Quick, quick carbing question?
« Reply #27 on: November 05, 2011, 07:28:08 am »
OK this is confusing  ???
To carb a beer to 2.5 vol @ 45º I need to set the psi 15psi
I have 5' of 3/16" vinyl tubing, which has a resistance of 3 psi per ft.
length = psi / 3
5 = psi/3,   or psi=15
yet  a10t2 says it will wind up being over carbed, which does seem to be happening, and at15 it really pours too fast.
I set it to 15psi, it pours fast but doesn't foam up if I am careful.

I'm guessing it hasn't had time to equalize yet. In 2-3 days it'll probably be over-carbed.
I have a dual regulator and I have another beer I want to keg today
This one I want carbed to 1.5 volumes which means I have to carb it at 3 psi yet serve it @ 15??
Certainly can't serve it at 3?
Or serve it at 3 psi with 1' of beer line?  3/3=1 ?
That's what I was getting at back when I said about changing line length for different carb levels.



« Last Edit: November 05, 2011, 07:31:48 am by dzlater »
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Offline Mark G

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Re: Quick, quick carbing question?
« Reply #28 on: November 05, 2011, 07:59:38 am »
OK this is confusing  ???
To carb a beer to 2.5 vol @ 45º I need to set the psi 15psi
I have 5' of 3/16" vinyl tubing, which has a resistance of 3 psi per ft.
length = psi / 3
5 = psi/3,   or psi=15
yet  a10t2 says it will wind up being over carbed, which does seem to be happening, and at15 it really pours too fast.
I set it to 15psi, it pours fast but doesn't foam up if I am careful.

I'm guessing it hasn't had time to equalize yet. In 2-3 days it'll probably be over-carbed.
I have a dual regulator and I have another beer I want to keg today
This one I want carbed to 1.5 volumes which means I have to carb it at 3 psi yet serve it @ 15??
Certainly can't serve it at 3?
Or serve it at 3 psi with 1' of beer line?  3/3=1 ?
That's what I was getting at back when I said about changing line length for different carb levels.




You can serve/carbonate at 3 psi if you're looking for 1.5 volumes. You've got the pressures correct for the carb levels you're looking for, and those would be the serving pressures as well. Now you just have to balance the pressure with the correct line length to keep your pour at a reasonable speed. So yes, you need several different line lengths for several different carb levels/pressure settings. I think where you're going wrong is assuming that the line resistance is 3 psi/ft, In my experience the resistance of most line is 2 psi/ft or less. So at 15 psi, you're looking at a 7.5 ft line. I always start too long and cut it back until I get the pour I like. So maybe start with 9-10 ft and go from there.

Edit: I also recommend buying line in bulk. They sell it by the 100 ft at many places. Plenty of room for error then. Trust me, I learned the hard way.  ;)
« Last Edit: November 05, 2011, 08:02:51 am by Mark G »
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Offline Gribble

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Re: Quick, quick carbing question?
« Reply #29 on: November 05, 2011, 03:43:45 pm »
I also am going to have to quick carb a brew for a Beer For Boobs competition.  What's the best way to keep the right carbonation if you then transfer it into bottles?

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