I read the recent blog post by the Mad Fermentationist and he mentioned shake carving with a carb cab and a bottle. Has anyone tried this? I’d love to carb my one gallon batches faster than 2 weeks in a bottle.
I assume you are talking about a carbonator cap that screws onto a soda bottle. I do use use a carbonator cap occasionally when I find that my batch of beer exceeds 5-gal or as a growler. It works well but it is somewhat inconvenient to use as your main method of carbonation because every time you open the bottle, you have to push out the air and then put more CO2 on top (if you aren’t going to finish it in one sitting). The price is not too unreasonable to buy two of them for a 1-gal batch.
I shake carb a 1/2 liter like this every time I keg. However, Kramerog is correct that it might not really be a solution to replace bottling.
It’s great for a quick turnaround, though. I tapped a mini-keg last weekend that was flat so I juiced it up with CO2, shook it, and 1/2 hour later it was good to go.
When I shake carb a sample or extra beer, it’s always at 30 psi in a pint or 2 liter plastic bottle. I wouldn’t ever try that with glass.
Anyone have a link for a preferred brand? So it uses a CO2 cartridge? Would I still be using priming sugar?
I built my own from a tire valve and a two liter cap.
I just go ahead and use my CO2 tank, but you certainly could use a cartridge although it’s hard to control the PSI and would be particularly concerning with glass.
No need for priming sugar. The beer is carbed and ready to drink after about 30 minutes in the freezer.
I also built my own initially like that^^^ but found the carbonator cap perfect. I’ve already worn out two. Lesson: don’t crank down on the cap. Gently go to finger tight. Tighten a bit more if needed. Otherwise the cap will crack sooner than later and become nearly useless at $20 a pop.
Whenever racking to keg I try for a couple+ litres just to carb up and enjoy, critique etc…
They used to have some kind of warranty against cracking - have you checked into it?
Speaking from experience, don’t invert the beer when shaking it. Even with the gas pressure, beer can go back up the lines and then you have to tear every thing apart and clean it. I used a carbonation cap that fits on my gas line. I made my own out of Aluminum and threaded it so a keg post screws on.
Pressurize. Disconnect. Shake. Repeat. No worries.
Recently threw the two away. I had tried to repair them with a hot nail to weld the cracks close- and it did work for a short while. At that point it seemed a little dubious to try and get them to honor their warranty. But in the future if it happens again I’ll RMA the cap.
Would you mind posting any pics? I’ve often thought that this was the best route but lack the tools/expertise to make it happen.
I do it for every batch. When I need a hydrometer reading, I take a 12 oz. sample and pour it into a 20 oz. PET bottle when I’m done. Hit it wuth 30 psi, put it in the freezer, and 45 min. later I’ve got a cold, carbed sample. It would only take a bit longer for a gal.
ABSOLUTELY!
There is a stainless steel carbonator cap now isn’t there?
Looks like I’d have to have a CO2 tank and regulator. At that point, I might as well keg.
Yes, you might as well. 
I say that every batch. Well, it’s done. I might as well keg it. And so I do.
Does anyone use a carbonator cap and PET bottle to fine tune carbonation for competition submissions? Seems like a quick way to chill the beer, hit it with gas at the desired PSI, shake, bleed, and repeat a couple times before transferring into chilled bottles and capping. I’ve gotten to a point of feeling comfortable enough to enter my beer into some competitions but not comfortable with picking a random bottle and hoping it carbed correctly. Have noticed some inconsistencies with bottle conditioning, so I’ve switched to kegging.
I think you’d oxygenate the beer transferring to chilled bottles, unless you have a device that would do that for you. Determine the PSI you need to achieve the volumes of CO2 at the temperature of your refrigeration. Apply the co2 to the liquid post, using the proper disconnect, of course. And give it 3 or 4 days and you’ll be golden. I overcarbonate slightly for competition because you will lose some bottling. A poorman’s Beer Gun is a picnic tap and a piece of gas line that fits into the faucet.
I have found I can stick a bottling wand into the end of my picnic faucet so I could probably turn the psi down really low and bottle that way. Just afraid that the carbonation might not be as good as hitting a smaller amount of beer with gas and moving it that way. Only one way to find out I guess. I could experiment with both methods.