About to keg my first beer and looking for help on steps. I’d like to drink my beer within 2-3 days rather than setting the PSI and leaving it for 10-14 days and drinking, so I’ve stumbled upon the burst/force carbonation techniques
From my understanding, for burst/force carbonation, I’d set the PSI to 30 and let it sit for 24 hours. Then I come back to my beer and lower the PSI to 10 (assuming 38 degree serving temp). Now can I serve beer right away after setting to 10 or do I wait another day? Also, do I purge any CO2? If so, how much or how do I tell how much I should burp the keg? Finally, after setting to 30, should I rock it back and forth or just leave it as is?
My SOP is to set it at 30 psi for 24-36 hours, then drop to 20 psi for another 2-5 days. At that point I start testing the carb. Once I’ve put the gas on, I never release the pressure or bleed CO2 off but I do have flow control taps so I can turn down the flow for the first few pours until it normalizes to my serving pressure which is around 8-9 psi on my kegerator. The disadvantage to pushing for faster is yes it can be carbed that quickly but if will absorb better and more smoothly if you give it a few more days. I know there are some people who will roll/shake the keg to force CO2 in faster but other than doing that, I’d be very suprised if setting it at 30 for 24 hours only will get you a fully carbed beer.
I can’t say enough about allowing the brew to absorb the CO2… You can rush it and have a very watery brew… mediocre at best… Be able to allow your brew to relax… maybe put it into 2 kegs, if able… Drink one now and let the other relax… Sneezles61
Just like bottling it’s hard to wait but comes out better if you do. It really helps to be able to have multiple kegs so hopefully one is ready with set and forget. I have rushed a lot of them and they don’t turn out as well.
It’s tough if you only have one regulator. Especially if you only have one connection. It helps if you don’t mind priming kegs. I sometimes have one on CO2 forcing it and three more with sugar. Still have the wait with priming of course. The primed kegs don’t need to be refrigerated like forced.
I use to put the keg in a fridge, set it to 20lbs and shake it twice a day for a couple of days then try it.
I’ve tried all kinds of “quick” force carb methods, rolling, shaking, gas through the liquid post,etc…LIke @sneezles61 saiys…the beer will be better after a few weeks on gas because the liquid will absorb or hydrolyze the gas.
Having said that…sometimes we just want to get one in the glass right? Setting it at 30 for 24-48 hours won’t get you fully carbed beer even if you roll it a few times along the way but it will get some gas into solution and you can start drinking it. I personlly don’t ever lower the pressure on a keg without purging it first. I do have check valves in my lines but am still concerned about getting liquid back up the gas lines which can happen if the pressure in the keg is greater than that of the lines. So I turn the gas off, burp it until I don’t hear any more gas escaping, reset the pressure and turn the gas back on. Maybe overly anal but I’m ok with that.
Quick carbing can get it drinkable but you’ll notice after a few weeks, if there’s any left, that your beer has improved.
