Like most people who keg and force carbonate, I used to force carbonate my kegs by attaching the ball lock gas connector and laying the keg on its side, turn the co2 tank to 30 psi and roll said keg back and forth for a few minutes or longer. Next, stand the keg up leaving it to sit overnight at the 30 psi. Not too much of a PITA but thought there is a better way.
I had an epiphany, leave the keg upright, attach a liquid connector to a gas hose and attach that to the liquid out post. The co2 now travels down the dip tube and, in my opinion, carbonates the beer more efficiently. While at the same time attaching the original gas in hose to its proper ball lock. Turn the co2 tank to now 10psi instead of 30 and carbonate from both directions. No lifting, no rolling. Keg stays in place and is ready to tap sooner.
I use the set-it-and-forget-it method… just hook the gas up to the gas post with the regulator set at serving pressure and walk away. It only takes 5 to 7 days and I don’t do any of those other steps.
I’ve done it a couple ways. I set it to the PSI necessary for the C02 volumes I’m looking for (usually 12) and let it go 10-14 days when I’m patient and don’t need the beer in a hurry. I’ve also used a burst carbonation method where I will put the keg on 40-50 psi for 8-12 hours and then bring it down to serving pressure, again 12 psi. It most times isn’t quite 100% carbonated but it is usually close. It will be 100% after a day or two. I’ve had good results with both. I pressurize my fermenter around 5 PSI when cold crashing so I’m starting with some carbonation already too.
