Hey guys/gals. I looked through the last 10 pages regarding my question and wasn’t finding an answer even though I know it has been discussed before. So, I need to serve some kegged brews at a party this saturday. I’m kegging a saison. It was put in the keg on Tuesday. I cooled to 34 overnight and turned the psi up to 25 wednesday evening. I checked it today and there really is not much carbonation. I rocked it a bit at about 28 psi today (thursday). I’m worried this beer will not be ready on saturday evening. Any thoughts?
Turn it to serving pressure. If you’re going to keep it at 34F, that’s about 14 psi on the high side. Leave the gas connected and don’t rock it, shake it vigorously for about 10 minutes total, take as many breaks as you need. It will be pretty well carbed after that, but you can check it and do it some more as needed.
If you leave it at 28psi you’ll probably end up with over carbonated beer. If you leave it at serving pressure you can eliminate that worry.
What’s the difference between rock or shake? 
Maybe nothing ;D
I just picture rocking as a gentle back and forth motion, but when I’m force carbing in a hurry I hold the keg at around 45 degrees with the bottom on the floor, crouched over it and shake the top up and down really fast and hard until I either stop hearing gas flowing through the regulator or I need to rest. Repeat until I no longer hear gas flowing when I shake it.
My “not in a hurry” method of force carbing is to pressurize at 34F and 35psi for 2 days, then turn back down to serving pressure and vent.
My “in a hurry” is about the same but to shake it for 5 minutes, then let it sit for at least 6 hours before venting an serving.
Both these methods assume the beer in already at 34F.
I crouch with the keg in front of me and rock it back and forth vigorously with the pressure set at max on the regulator. It’s a pretty violent maneuver. Works better when there is more headspace in the keg.
Shaking is when one picks up the keg and actually shakes it. Extremely effective but probably not a great idea (spine-wise) and something I abandoned years ago. It’s done by holding the keg horizontal to the floor and swung side to side.
Yeah, more splashing if you have more headspace. Your rocking sounds like my shaking euge, except for the max on the regulator.
I prefer the shake at serving pressure method. It’s much more fool-proof. Drew Beechum has a nice article on turning beers around quickly (including carbing) in the latest issue of Zymurgy, or eZymurgy for those electronically-inclined folks.
Can I just say that I think 34f is WAY to cold for a saison? 34 to me is coor light temps. I generally keep my ales at pretty close to ferm temp (55-60) but that is, I guess, a matter of taste.
I do the 4 minute “shake” at 25–30 psi with a 5–6 hour rest with gas disconnected, then bleed pressure, reconnect gas and set to serving temp.
My “shake” is to lay the keg on its side with the gas hooked up to the liquid tube and roll the keg back and forth on a carpet with my feet on the rubber bits of the keg while I’m sitting in a chair.
Much easier on the back.
I used DB’s method on my last 2 kegs and it works great.