I am currently trying to push the carbonation of a Scottish Ale, and was going over in my head the various methods of doing so.
Then it occurred to me to simply hook the gas to the beverage out post. Then as the gas is absorbed and pressure allows, a gas bubble would travel from the bottom of the beer to the top, exposing much more beer to the gas, hence carbonating rapidly.
Has anyone tried this? It would be an interesting timed experiment.
I’ve heard of folks doing that, and I remember some saying it didn’t do any good. I’ve never tried. Let us know how it works. (I assume your still using a beer ball lock plumbed to your gas line, right?)
only thing i know is its all about solubility and relates to surface area, temp and pressure variants that drive c02 absorption.
i’m not sure that entering the bottom of keg makes any difference…smarter peeps than i out there so lets see what is said.
I know that this is actually a method used by some to degas an over carbonated keg as it forces the excess co2 out of solution faster somehow, there’s a dude with a YouTube video showing how it’s done and having tried it once I can say it works. Can’t find the link but you can search YouTube, I remember the guy being somewhat drunk during the video and belching a lot!
Thinking about an in-carbonated keg I would assume it might provide faster carbonation for the reasons you stated but I’m not that smart with these things:D
I’ve tried it a number of times. It made no difference. Yeah, it seems like it should, but it doesn’t.
Ah. Well, back to the drawing board. In addition I think it would keep the beer stirred up rather than settling out when combined with cold crashing like I am.
I wonder if the sintered stones they sell for this make any difference. Smaller bubbles and all that.
Probably not. But that’s how they market them.
I don’t think there are any great cheats. Unless it’s filtered you still have to wait for it to settle clear.
What about laying the keg on it’s side to expose more surface area to the CO2?
So if force carbing is really what you are trying to achieve, I do this:
Set gas to serving pressure. Connect gas and when you hear it stop flowing in, disconnect, roll keg on floor for 5-10 minutes, reconnect and repeat process two to three times and then connect gas and put in kegerator.
There is no chance to over carb because you are only at serving pressure the whole time. Give the keg a day to settle in and it should be just about ready to serve
I like to chill the beer, then hit it with ~ 30psi for 2 days , vent slowly, then serve @ 12psi ( leave @ 12 psi. ) I do this when time is a factor, otherwise I use the old fashioned temp/pressure chart.
I found that the gas QD didn’t like like fitting on the out post. But I was able to force it on there easily. Getting it off is another matter. Lube would help. Anyway I didn’t experiment too long with this approach. However, I believe I have seen a bright-tank for sale with a co2 diffuser at the end of a long gas tube- much like an O2 stone.
i used to do this but every now and then I’d get over carbonated and then have to mess with it to get it back down and it was a PITA
I was thinking about just plugging a beverage QD to the gas line. I do that when I purge my kegs with CO2 prior to filling.
I think it will be close to carbed by Sunday anyway. It will be 5+ days sitting at 33* and 18 psi.
Yeah it takes a little dialing in. I keep my kegerator at ~ 45F for most beers, and usually 28-30F at that temp for 48 hours has it where I want it. But styles come into play - I definitely wouldn’t carb a British style beer that way. I"m not a fan of overcarbonated beers for sure. But when I have the time (which is usually) I like the temp/pressure chart.
That might work.
Seems like a geometry thing. Wouldn’t the surface area be the same no matter what angle it was at, unless it was only half full?
Negative. The cool thing about liquid is that it takes the shape of the vessel it fills. Take a bottle of water and take a drink out of it. This will give you the head space to mimic a full keg. Take notice of the surface area… Now turn it on its side and the surface area is at least tripled.
Volume, yes - surface area, no
Makes sense but the closer to full the less a difference, yes?