A little quicker carbonation

I was rushed getting a Pale Ale ready for my daughter & son-in-law’s business holiday party.  I kegged it Wednesday at 9:30 PM.

I hooked the CO2 to the beverage out post and pressurized the keg.  It didn’t seal as quickly as when I use the CO2 in post - lots of bubbling - but it did seal when I ramped the pressure up to about 15 psi.  I began cold conditioning it at that time at 32* and 10 psi.

I tapped the keg today at 3:00 PM, so 42 hours later.  It was sufficiently carbonated.  Actually I’d say it was very close to where it should be - close enough that I don’t think anyone will notice.

My conclusion is that it did carb up more quickly than the usual gas-in post method.

Also, I didn’t want to do the roll-it-around method because I wanted to precipitate out the hop particles as much as possible in the same time frame.

I like it. I’m anti shake and roll myself.

My last two kegs were lagered for a couple weeks waiting their turn for the tap. I’ve recently been teed off by a tiny leak that drained my carbonating bottle. So this time after racking to the kegs I hit them each with 30psi once a day for 5 days. On day five I noticed it didn’t take long for the pressure to equalize so I didn’t do it day 6 and on. When I tapped them they were spot on. I’ll be doing that method from now on. Its a great way to discover a leak other than finding an empty bottle

Interesting…any ideas as to why it carbed faster…because the gas entered the vessel via the diptube?

Pretty cool dad that brings a keg to the holiday party! 8)

The reason I tried it is that I thought that the CO2 bubbling up through all of the beer would cause it to be absorbed faster.  It presents a greater surface area essentially.

I’ve used that method before and it does indeed carb faster since you force the CO2 to bubble up through the beer.  However, if you ever get a sticky keg poppet, and they all seem to stick eventually, it gets really interesting when you disconnect the CO2!

Yup. Have the tap line ready to snap on.

yep spot on. i’ve done this before and it works. its like a mini bright tank w/ a carb stone since the co2 is passing through the beer instead of just pushing down w/ head pressure.

I have seen some people clamping a small tube to the in post of their keg (make sure the in post is metal and not plastic) and put a carb stone on the other end that hangs down about 1/2 into the beer and carb it that way. works wonders but requires more tools and cleaning etc… but can carb your beer in 24-48 hours if its around 34 or 35 F w/ a submersed carb stone.