Brite tank carbonation

[timtoos]

I have a SS Brewtech brite tank that I always struggle with carbonation levels.

I have a beer sat in at the moment, at 3.5C. I want about 2.3 volumes of CO2 so using the carbonation stone fed in CO2 until I reached about 9psi, doing this slowly over 2 days. I achieved 9psi on 10/5. Today I have checked, 12/5, and the pressure is 8psi.

Is this drop due to the beer absorbing some of the CO2 held above it?

What do I do now? Leave it or add more CO2 until 9psi is reached again?

Regarding storage. Do I leave a top pressure of the carbonation level I want for the batch or reduce down to say 3-5psi?

PS, I can feed CO2 into the top of the brite tank or through the carbonation stone.

Thanks

 

[AnimatedGIF]

I must admit to two things:

1. I had to google SS Brewtech Brite Tank
2. I don't know anything about carbonation stones

However, are you keeping the CO2 hooked up? If not, why not?
If 9PSI is the required pressure for that level of carbonation at that temperature, then I would have thought you need to keep it at 9PSI, rather than drop it. Not sure though (see points 1 and 2)

 

[timtoos]

Hi ,

Thanks for your reply.

Ah, so I keep gas attached? Lots of people seem to carb up then talk about dropping to serving pressures. I removed the CO2 as I thought that once the carbonation level was achieved I am just wasting co2.

Am I wrong on my thought train here?

Thanks

 

[AnimatedGIF]

That's cool.
It's really a matter of preference to be honest.
What I do is once kegged, I use set and forget, as in, I set the required pressure per the carbonation chart/calculation, and do not change it until the keg is empty and I put the next one on.
I do this for the following reasons:

1. Consistent carbonation
2. Ease (I don't have to keep adjusting my regulator)
3. I'm quite forgetful, so I'd easily lose track of what pressure it should be at, or I'd forget to adjust it after a session.
4. Quite honestly, I'd find it tedious if every session I had to mess around with a regulator. I just want to pour my beer.

Admittedly there are downsides, which to me are not a problem. They are:

• Balanced lines or flow control are required
• I guess a little more CO2 is used (but leaving it connected itself won't use any more)

Not a comprehensive list of pros and cons, but it's what I perceive, and it's the way I prefer to do it, and I happily acknowledge that others do things differently for their own reasons.

 

[GeorgieV]

Hi ,

Thanks for your reply.

Ah, so I keep gas attached? Lots of people seem to carb up then talk about dropping to serving pressures. I removed the CO2 as I thought that once the carbonation level was achieved I am just wasting co2.

Am I wrong on my thought train here?

Thanks

I'll add some clarifications here.
- I believe most home brewers don't use a brite tank with a carbonation stone. If you carbonate directly in the keg, like I do, you can (optionally) set the pressure high like 30 or even 40 psi. The purpose of this is to get the solution (beer) to the desired level of CO2 saturation (the volumes) quickly, then after a day or two reduce the pressure to the desired level according to the carbonation chart.
- With the brite tank, you do the saturation directly at the desired saturation level, though it may take a while. If your pressure drops (given same temperature) when CO2 is disconnected, that means the saturation was not achieved and you need to pump in more CO2. Obviously, no need to worry about that if the CO2 is always on.
- If there are no leaks, you don't waste CO2. The solution will take only as much as it needs to stay in equilibrium. If you have leaks, better fix them first.
- The serving pressure depends on your particular serving system. It represents the balance between the desired flow speed (to avoid excessive foaming) and the liquid temperature - again check the carbonation chart to make sure you stay at the right saturation level. There are some guidance formulae linking the serving pressure to the line length and the temperature but they aren't universal, usually you need to adjust until you find the right balance.

Hope that was helpful.

 

[timtoos]

That was really useful. I intend to bottle from the brite tank next week, just allow it to clear a bit more than anything.
I have just added more CO2 through the stone and now its sat at 9psi.
When I bottle should I set the co2 on the top of the tank to maintain the 9psi throughout the bottling task?
Thanks

 

[GeorgieV]

That was really useful. I intend to bottle from the brite tank next week, just allow it to clear a bit more than anything.
I have just added more CO2 through the stone and now its sat at 9psi.
When I bottle should I set the co2 on the top of the tank to maintain the 9psi throughout the bottling task?
Thanks

I assume it will be counter pressure bottling, so yes - keep the pressure constant and the temperature as low as you can to avoid gas loss.

 

[timtoos]

Yes, I am counter pressure bottling.
I presume when I pressure the bottle and purge that will also be at the same pressure and then slowly release whilst filling. Thats how I have done it in the past.

 

[Dutto]

Looks to be a brilliant bit of kit but why are you bottling it and not using kegs?

Surely, kegs would make it much simpler?
:hat:

 

[timtoos]

Good question.

There are two reasons.

1. Because I cant give kegs to the lads at work
2. If I keg, I cant serve chilled as I dont have a kegerator (strange how I have a glycol chiller though)

But yes, kegging, or serving from brite tank (which I can chill) is loads easier and less to go wrong.