Over/under carbonating

I been kegging for a few months and been trying everything to get this carbonating thing right.some people suggest to put the gas on the out at a high psi and shake it and other put the gas on the in and shake it all that gets me is way over carbonated beer.I even tried the set it and forget it method but that gives my under carbonated beer.

What side is the best side to put the gas on?

What psi should I have it at?

What size and length beer line I should have?

Pretty much what I’m asking is step by step instructions on kegging that won’t give me the over/under carbonated beer.

The gas in side.

10-12 PSI for a week or more.

3/16" ID, 5ft long

As you’ve learned, there is a fine balance between under and over carbed. It is all about balance, given beer temp, PSI, length (and diameter) of beer line (resitance). If 10-12 PSI for 1 week does not carb it enough, up the pressure or give it more time.

If you want to force carb it quickly, disconnect your beer line and crank your regulator up to 30 PSI overnight. Then bleed off the pressure and set it 10-12 psi for dispensing. Or, try this procedure viewtopic.php?f=13&t=7134

The most effective thing I ever did was add a carbonation stone into the mix. I never need to use the high preasures any more, even to get the thing carbed in a few days. Results have been much more consistant as well.

If you are looking for specific carbonation levels just remember that they can be hit exactly as long as you know your preasure and temperature. The timeframe is what is hard to know for sure. Adding a stone into the mix just makes the process more efficient and quicker.

If you’re in a hurry, try one of the thousands of recommended quick carb methods (higher pressure, shaking, etc.) and assume the risk of it being over carb’d (easy to fix in a couple of days, by cutting CO2 supply and bleeding off pressure).

But, it’ll taste better* if you set it and forget it at 9-11 psi for a couple of weeks.

  • the best pint seems to be the last… smoothest… clearest… yummy-est. Mmmm. Why not add some time to the carb’ing part of the process and make the whole keg better?

[quote=“Brew Meister Smith”]The most effective thing I ever did was add a carbonation stone into the mix. I never need to use the high preasures any more, even to get the thing carbed in a few days. Results have been much more consistant as well.

If you are looking for specific carbonation levels just remember that they can be hit exactly as long as you know your preasure and temperature. The timeframe is what is hard to know for sure. Adding a stone into the mix just makes the process more efficient and quicker.[/quote]

Do you have to remove the stone after a day or so to prevent excessive carbonation?

[quote=“Dadslackey”][quote=“Brew Meister Smith”]The most effective thing I ever did was add a carbonation stone into the mix. I never need to use the high preasures any more, even to get the thing carbed in a few days. Results have been much more consistant as well.

If you are looking for specific carbonation levels just remember that they can be hit exactly as long as you know your preasure and temperature. The timeframe is what is hard to know for sure. Adding a stone into the mix just makes the process more efficient and quicker.[/quote]

Do you have to remove the stone after a day or so to prevent excessive carbonation?[/quote]

What I have is a modified keg lid with a second gas in and gas line running to the bottom of the keg with the stone on the end. I actually ended up buying a second one so that I would not have to remove it until the keg is empty but still be able to carbonate another keg. When you shut off the gass, it does not continue to carbonate.

[quote=“Dadslackey”]

Do you have to remove the stone after a day or so to prevent excessive carbonation?[/quote]

Carbonation is function of pressure and temp (and time to get there). If the beer is at 40* and the regulator is set to 12psi, the beer will only get to 2.47v. It will never get above that level no matter how long it sits. With or without a carb stone

http://www.kegerators.com/carbonation-table.php

Thanks you guys were a big help especially the first guy who posted tried your method of the 30 psi and letting it sit overnight and it came out perfect. It could b a lil bit more carbed but its better then I had before much appreciated thanks again and CHEERS!

Glad that worked for you. The old 30-PSI-overnight trick always works well for me if I don’t want to wait. :cheers:

I was thinking of doing the same thing, but so I could remove the lid after a few days and replace with a regular lid. I’d love to see pictures of yours

Anything other than fast carb or set and forget is a risk.

See if this helps… http://www.thebeerjournals.com/carbonation.html