Force carbonating question

[WelshPaul]

First of all, apologies if this is in the wrong section.

I'm force carbonating a number of beers using my Cornie setup and although I know which temperature/pressure combination to use for the required level of carbonation, I don't know how long it takes.
Does it usually take a few days or is it simply a case of "when it's done, it's done"? Also, if the pressure and temperature are not altered, can the beer become overcarbonated over time?

 

[Sean_Mc]

Takes me about a week to get it at the carb level I like.

I keep the corny at around 5c pressured to 20psi and give it the odd little shake when passing over the week

 

[WelshPaul]

Thanks. The tables that I was using recommended 13PSI at 5°C so I'll see how they are next week. :)

 

[Sean_Mc]

Others will have different views and it takes awhile to get to grips with the kit, but that what works for me :thumb:

Oh and I drop down to 3-5psi for serving

 

[WelshPaul]

Yes, same here. I have noticed that a lot of folks on the US home brew communities serve at a much higher pressure; around 10-12 PSI. I wonder why that is?

 

[kev]

I serve and carbonate at 15 psi.

If I set my beer to 3 psi to serve it probably wouldn't push itself out the beer lines.

K

 

[Sean_Mc]

As I said others with different equipment will say different things. If I serve at 15psi it would be snow cones, I run a few feet of 3/16 beer line to improve pouring.

Guess its trial and error finding out what works for the individual setup

 

[kev]

Totally. You have to dial in your own system. 15 psi works for me so I stick to it.

K

 

[Fil]

there are carbonation tables to guide but its a case of taste in the end, what you like is what works for you. with cornys and temp control you have the ability to serve beers with as much condition as you want..

as long as your taps and feeding line are balanced against the serving pressure of the keg to minimise the final pressure drop at release so its not a high pressure drop at the tap which can stimulate co2 release leading to foam and eventually flat beer in the bottom of the glass

if you over condition a beer, its easy to vent off the excess pressure and condition over a day or so, if you under condition just give it more pressure :)

my kegs in summer warm up and i need to vent off lost condition between sessions, as my serving pressures need dropping, over a few weeks the loss of condition effects the quality/taste of the beer,, i just recarb it at a higher pressure for a few days and off i go again....

unlike pressure barrels and bottles where your delt the hand you have when you pour the beer, with cornys you can deal yourself a new hand till your happy..

 

[Glideman]

I put mine in the fridge overnight, set pressure until you hear a glugging in the keg (co2 going into solution) then roll on the floor for two mins, leave to stand until morning then let pressure out down to serving psi then it's all good.

Not had any problems with this method & because you turn up the gas until it glugs you can't really go wrong :drink:

 

[soupdragon]

Yes, same here. I have noticed that a lot of folks on the US home brew communities serve at a much higher pressure; around 10-12 PSI. I wonder why that is?

It could be that if you carb at say 15 psi then reduce to 3-5 to serve. Over time the co2 will come out of solution as you drink the beer. As the empty head space increases, the co2 will leave the beer to fill the void at the lower serving pressure.
Temperature will obviously have an influence on how quickly this happens but it will happen.....
If you leave your regulator set at your carbonation level, the beer will only absorb co2 till it's saturated/carbed to your desired level. You can then use the appropriate length of thin beer line to reduce the pressure at the tap to ballance your system and prevent foaming :thumb:
I hope I've not waffled on too much and have made that clear enough? :)

Cheers Tom