Fast Carbing a Keg

[Beerlust]

Hi guys.

 

I've been kegging for a number of years now & have tinkered with a number of methods for fast carbing beer in a 19-23 litre post-mix keg. This is the method I have settled on that produces the most consistent results that has me able to be drinking what started as a flat cold beer sitting in a fermenter, to pouring a fully carbonated cold beer from the keg in under 2 hours.

 

Note: This method is based on using a freshly cleaned & sanitised keg in conjunction with fully fermented out & pre-chilled flat beer.

1. Fill your keg to within approx. 2 centimetres of the "Gas In" dipstick of the keg & refit the keg lid.
   
2. Preset the CO2 regulator on your gas bottle to 20-30psi. Attach the "Gas In" line to the keg, & using the pressure release valve, expel any O2 from the headspace (burp the keg). I usually do this at least half a dozen times, then disconnect the "Gas In" line.
   
3. Set a timer for 2 minutes exactly, & set your CO2 tank regulator to 40psi. Attach the "Gas In" line to the keg.
   
4. Invert the keg leaning it slightly to one side so that "Gas In" line is elevated slightly & not touching the ground. Start the timer.
   
5. With a firm rocking motion, rock the keg back & forth 5 times quite vigorously & pause for approx. 3-4 seconds afterwards. After the 3-4 second pause where you will hear the bubbling inside the keg slow, re-commence the vigorous rocking back & forth 5 times. Repeat the rocking & pause method continually throughout the 2 minutes.
   
6. When the timer goes off, don't panic. Gently lower the keg down on it's side with the "Gas In" line facing upward & leaving the "Gas In" line connected. Turn the gas completely off on the regulator.
   
7. Reset your timer again to 2 minutes. Start the timer.
   
8. Comfortably seated, begin rolling the keg back & forth using your feet, all the while watching the pressure gauge on your regulator. You will notice the pressure in the keg beginning to drop, & will continue to drop.
   
9. By the end of the 2 minute timer duration the pressure stated on the regulator relating to the pressure inside the keg should be close to 10-12 psi. Continue rolling the keg for a further minute or until you notice the pressure is no longer dropping. If the pressure falls below 5psi, it is possible you have a leak in your system as it should stabilize above this level.
   
10. Ideally the pressure will have stabilized in the 10-12 psi range that is a suitable pouring pressure on most home kegged setups that use a metre to 2 metre "Beer Out" line length.
    
11. Disconnect the "Gas In" line & leave the fridged keg for one hour.
    
12. After the one hour has expired, using the pressure release valve on the keg, expel any excess pressure in the headspace of the keg.
    
13. Preset your CO2 tank regulator to 10-12 psi, & re-connect the "Gas In" line to your keg, & also attach your "Beer Out" line to the keg.
    
14. Allow 10-15mins & then pour yourself a beer!
    

Points to note: If after the rolling process your keg pressure is above 15psi, the keg will likely require de-gassing to reduce the pressure suited for pouring, so detach the "Gas In" line from the keg & continue normal pouring of the beer as best you can throughout typical drinking patterns & releasing excess pressure through the pressure release valve on the keg until the keg pressure reaches a suitable level where the beer pours well, then re-attach the "Gas In" line @ 10-12psi. In future fast carbs, look at the headpace you have left after filling, & increasing the pause length time slightly between vigorous shaking.

 

If after following the procedure the keg pressure sits slightly below the 10-12psi mark, don't fret, provided your "Gas In" line is connected @ 10-12psi, it will only take a day or two before the beer is pouring to a desired level.

 

I'm happy to answer questions as they arise around those that follow this method, as it works fairly consistently for me.

 

I hope that helps those that need a FAST carbed beer!

 

Cheers,

 

Lusty.

[Mark D Pirate]

Thanks Lusty , will come in handy in very near future

My taps should be here any day and already replaced all the o rings on the well used kegs I scored ....mmm my beer on tap at home

[Waylon]

I fast carb my kegs too, similar to Lusty

 

Simply fill to the weld line or to an inch or so below the lid... then burp the air out with a tiny bit of C02 releasing any trapped air...

before cranking up pressure 40-60 PSI (yes as high as 60 in the start to speed process before gradualy backing off as I go) rocking back n forth for a few minuts then release PSI valve down... until keg hold gas required pressure

 

Simply repeat gassing and releasing pressure valve until keg holds 12 PSI then its done...

 

can be drunk strait away but I then cold crash kegs in my KEEZER another 2-4 weeks before moving on tap in keggerater

 

This is the fasted way to prime a keg in my book!

[Otto Von Blotto]

It's definitely the fastest way but there is a school of thought that bubbling CO2 up through the beer scrubs some of the hop flavor and aroma from it. I don't know whether or not that's true, but it is the reason why I stopped using my variation of this method (pretty much the same except the gas line was attached to a liquid disconnect which went on the out post so I didn't have to invert the keg).

 

With my current method, I keg the beer about lunchtime one day and by dinner time the next day they're pretty well carbed and ready to drink. I'm not that desperate to tap a keg that it needs to be ready in two hours . I can deal with buying a six pack to tie me over while I wait for the kegs to carbonate.

[Gag Halfrunt]

 

 

No offence Lusty but I reckon a list of instructions like that is over complicating things.

I just turn on gas at highest pressure that regulator will produce, lie keg on side and rock and roll for 5 minutes,job done.

Return to serving pressure.

[Greenyinthewestofsydney]

Only new to the kegging game but was told something similar to Kelsey about the rock and roll method. Was given three options by my LHBS guy.

 

1. Best method - Not in a hurry method. Just leave at serving psi for 8-10 or so days. He reckoned that left the beer at its best. Let it settle out too.

2. The 48 hour method - 32 psi for 48 hours then back down to serving psi

3. The I need to drink now method which was the rock and roll method.

 

I have settled on the 48 hour method so far but am getting a keg rotation going. My Kegerator only has two taps and fits 3 kegs so I aim to do the 8-10 day method and see if its any better than the 48 hour one.

[Quokka]

Carbonating strips hop flavour? That's a new one!

 

I guess every weird idea has spread on the internet by now...

 

I will actually try Lusty's method later this week if it warms up by the time my latest brew is ready. The beer in my keg at the moment is a bit high in alcohol and keeps messing me around. I haven't had any success with other fast priming methods I've seen yet. I know the beer won't really be at it's best and probably cloudy, but I'm always impatient to try a new beer.

 

I don't think I'll try the "highest pressure I can get out of my regulator" method thanks - too much of a guess as to the carbonation level and chance of blowing a seal (or an o-ring, or a hose, or a penguin...)

 

can be drunk strait away

- I like the way you think. If my ex had thought like you she'd probably still be around.

 

[Otto Von Blotto]

Not "carbonating" strips hop flavor, bubbling CO2 up through the beer from the bottom strips hop flavor. There is a difference. Like I said, I don't know if it's true or not and I'm not claiming it one way or the other although it's not unlike the theory that the CO2 produced during fermentation drives off hop aroma if the dry hop is done too early. If it is true, then I'd rather avoid it.

 

However, everyone has their methods that work for them. I have used that method in the past, but I prefer just sitting the kegs in there on high pressure for a day and then dropping it back to serving pressure.

[Quokka]

I think the idea of loss of hop aroma by dry-hopping too early is that it will be carried out of the brew with the bubbles. Not that I subscribe to it, but there is a little loss from the hops floating on top of the trub in my opinion.

 

Like many such ideas, there may be a tiny kernel of truth but the actual influence in the real world is undetectable. So far I have found that the improvement in flavour retention over natural carbonation is covering any such effects if they exist, but the main reason I force carb is that when I drink too much and ingest all the yeast it sets off my IBS these days. I don't have enough room in my keezer to do a slow carbonation all the time.

[Otto Von Blotto]

I think the idea of loss of hop aroma by dry-hopping too early is that it will be carried out of the brew with the bubbles.

That's exactly the same as the idea of bubbling CO2 up from the bottom to carbonate it resulting in the loss of hop aroma/flavor. Whether it's true I don't know but it's easily avoided with my ~30 hour carb method which doesn't involve upending kegs and bubbling gas up through the beer etc.

 

I do prefer the flavour from my force carbed kegs over naturally carbed bottles (I haven't done a naturally carbed keg) and I don't have the patience to wait a week or two for it to slowly force carbonate at serving pressure, but I don't need the beer ready two hours after kegging it either, so sitting them on 45 PSI for 22-24 hours followed by a 6-7 hour settling period works well.

[Quokka]

I beg to differ. In force carbonation the gas has nowhere else to go - it either dissolves in the beer, or it sits on top and dissolves later. I really can't see how force carbonation would allow any aromatics to escape a steel keg!

[Otto Von Blotto]

Well whichever way you use the CO2 cylinder to put gas in the beer you're force carbonating, whether it be instant, over a day or over a week or two. Just because it's not done in a matter of a few minutes doesn't make it not forced.

 

If the aromatics end up in the headspace of the keg from bubbling CO2 up through the beer, I don't think there's any reason to suppose that they'll automatically all end up back in the beer just because the keg is sealed and pressurised. Not all the gas in the headspace ends up in the beer, otherwise there would be no pressure inside the keg. There could well be aromatics in this gas in the headspace that are not getting back into the beer. Obviously they won't escape the keg but if they're not in the beer either, they aren't doing much.

 

I'm not knocking Lusty's method, I just find it easier to leave the kegs on higher pressure gas in the fridge for a day and have other beer while I wait for them. It's only an extra day after all...

[Waylon]

Quickest way is to crank the keg pressure 40-60 psi rock keg for five 5 minutes

 

Job done once backed down to hold @ 10-12 PSI... don't over carb beer and you cant go wrong

 

No fuss No rocket science

[Otto Von Blotto]

I think the issue people have with this method is that they do over carb it because it's a lot easier to do so. I over carbed it the first time I tried this method but the next couple were ok. They did take longer than an hour or two to be properly ready to pour and drink though which is one reason I dispensed with it in favour of just leaving it on high pressure for a day. Not once have I overcarbed a keg with that method. They usually are slightly undercarbed by the time the process is finished and then get topped up over the next day or two while they sit on serving pressure.

[Scottie]

Everything is slower in Tasmania, the Internet, the Rush Hour, the Deliveries from Craft Brewer and Artificial Carbonation of a keg. Connect gas to keg, put in fridge and set temp to 8 degrees and pressure to 65kPa and close fridge. Some time later when other kegs in kegerator are empty transfer kegs from conditioning fridge to kegerator also set at 8 degrees and 65kPa.

 

Life in the Slow Lane

Scottie

Valley Brew

[Beerlust]

You slow carbonating keggers, find another thread, as you have no business here!

 

This thread was setup for those wishing to carbonate a keg fast, not slowly over a few days or weeks. Take that chat to a thread with a built in sleeping bag!

 

Fast carbing!

 

As for the talk of hop flavour & aroma being lost or diminished through the fast carbing method, bollocks it does. It's trapped in a pressurized keg for God's sake!

 

I primarily brew hoppy beers, & if the process scrubbed hop character in a noticeable way, I wouldn't use the technique. Period.

 

The only place it can go is out through the beer out line into the glass.

 

The fast carbing method is simply a way of tumble "mixing" the CO2 through the entire liquid volume more rapidly than allowing the CO2 to be absorbed under stagnant conditions.

 

Fresh tasting hoppy beer done fast. I love it!

 

Cheers,

 

Lusty.

[Mark D Pirate]

I do prefer the flavour from my force carbed kegs over naturally carbed bottles (I haven't done a naturally carbed keg) and I don't have the patience to wait a week or two for it to slowly force carbonate at serving pressure' date=' but I don't need the beer ready two hours after kegging it either, so sitting them on 45 PSI for 22-24 hours followed by a 6-7 hour settling period works well.[/quote']

 

A further question on this method Otto

I just started chilling a batch for transfer tonight , will need it carbed and ready to go mobile on friday

After the 24 hours on 45 PSI do you burp the excess pressure off the keg and give it serving pressure ?

Taking one of these along too to maintain pour

Don't want to have flat beer now do i

[Otto Von Blotto]

Pretty much yeah, just be sure to give it a few hours between turning off the gas and burping it. The reason I give it the 6 or 7 hours to sit there after the 22-24 hours at 45 PSI is so that the beer absorbs the majority of that gas still in the headspace, rather than it just being burped off and wasted.

[Mark D Pirate]

Thanks Otto , I had thought as much but wanted to confirm , don't want over carbed beer or flat beer

[Waylon]

Fast carbing is the easiest and does not take 24 hours @45PSI- that could have over carbed beer if non monitored...

 

By the way if you have never had over carbed beer! you havnt lived to learn what not to do...

and theres quick ways to degas over carbed beer too! but that's another thread

 

 

 

Simply rock the keg @40 PSI for 5 min

 

You can rock it back down to 10 PSI after 5 min... I personaly only do it this way

 

Then leave @12PSI over night or as long as you like job done...

[Waylon]

All kegged beer is still best after 2 weeks in any case...

 

Once carbed and chilled and left for minimum of 2 weeks she is good to go

[Otto Von Blotto]

I didn't say I haven't had an over carbed keg, I said I've never had an over carbed keg by leaving it overnight on high pressure. As long as the gas is turned off at the right time, they won't over carbonate, and often times they are still slightly under carbed, which is far better than being over carbed, although I did find an easy way to still be able to pour and drink over carbed kegs until they returned to normal. All I did was burp all the pressure then give it a hit of gas for about a second, just enough pressure to push the beer out the tap but not have it foam up everywhere, so I could still drink them but de-carb them at the same time. I did this each time I poured a glass from the offending keg(s). Once I noticed the carbonation dropping a bit low, they just went back on serving pressure like normal.

 

Given they improve with time, and that I generally leave them sit for a while at ambient before carbonating, I see no real point in carbonating it in 5 minutes because 1, it stirs up all the settled yeast, and 2, I have to wait a day or more for them to chill down anyway, so they may as well just sit in the fridge on high pressure while they chill down because it's gonna take pretty much the same amount of time as it would by just chilling them then doing the shake carb method.

 

I also think it's much easier to muck that up and end up with an over carbed keg than it is by just leaving it sit still and turning the gas off after a pre-determined amount of time. If you're silly enough to forget to turn the gas off then that's on you, not the method itself. I don't like waiting a week or two at serving pressure either, so I use that as a middle ground method and have found it to work the best for my needs.

[Morrie]

All kegged beer is still best after 2 weeks in any case...

 

Once carbed and chilled and left for minimum of 2 weeks she is good to go

 

That's what I find, 2 weeks chilled and on gas and it is drinking nicely.

[Otto Von Blotto]

All kegged beer is still best after 2 weeks in any case...

 

Once carbed and chilled and left for minimum of 2 weeks she is good to go

 

That's what I find' date=' 2 weeks chilled and on gas and it is drinking nicely.[/quote']I find the same for kegs that go in straight after being filled. If they sit around for a while first though, they're generally good to go as soon as they're chilled and carbonated, which is one reason why I run with my schedule of putting three full kegs in the fridge at once, then getting the next three ready while I drink them, and repeating the process once the last of the previous three is emptied. It allows the kegs time to condition while I drink other batches. I generally run with a lager as the first keg to give it maximum time, ESB/red ale as the second to give it a little conditioning time, and a pale ale as the third so it goes on tap as fresh as possible.

[Mark D Pirate]

All kegged beer is still best after 2 weeks in any case...

 

Once carbed and chilled and left for minimum of 2 weeks she is good to go

If your kegs are left sit for 2 weeks anyway why bother fast carbing ? Seems like extra effort for nil gains

My kegorator will hold 4 kegs but yet to fit both taps , 2 for drinking and 2 chilling and carbing should keep me and friends from getting thirsty anytime soon

Oh and my stupid fat fingers hit report instead of quote , sorry admins