Carbonation stone/ cap for cornie

[stquinto]

Greetings fellow brewers !

I've been kegging for a while now and while I'm on the whole happy with the process I am not getting consistent results. The other problem is the time it takes to carb up a keg.

I bought two carbonating stones by themselves and also a lid for a cornie with a gas connector in the lid :

Does anyone use these for fast carbing ? I saw on Youtube an American lady doing a demo of the lid, and read that some people carb up the keg with the lid over the space of one to two days, gradually increasing the pressure by 2 PSI each 30 minutes or so. After a day or so they release the gas in the head space and remove the lid, replacing it with a "normal" cornie lid.

I would have thought that you are re-introducing oxygen if you do that. 

I also wondered what would happn if I leave the carbonating stones on a silicone tube connected to the inside of the gas line. Presumably you can still do that and the gas used for serving is pushed through the stone, and the beer.

Anyone use the lids or the stones, any tips ?

Thanks !

[kmar92]

For fast carbing I do not use any extra equipment at all. I find that if I have a keg full of cold beer I can set the CO2 pressure @ 40 - 45 psi and it will be carbed up nicely in about 24+ hours, actually usually about 36 hours. Of course the beer must be cold for the CO2 to be absorbed quickly and there also must be some headspace in the keg (increases the surface area for absorbtion)..

If you are really in a hurry, the keg pressurized and then rolled method also work very quickly but it is a little hit and miss as to the amount of rolling and time needed. This method is really just exposing as much area as possible to CO2 under pressure to get the CO2 into solution.

I am not sure about the method that you have quoted and yes I would think that removing a lid from the keg after carbonation would have the potential to introduce some O2, but I guess that you could just purge the keg after the lid change. I also think that carbonation stones just acts to increase the surface area of the beer able to absorb the CO2 into solution.

[stquinto]

2 minutes ago, kmar92 said:

For fast carbing I do not use any extra equipment at all. I find that if I have a keg full of cold beer I can set the CO2 pressure @ 40 - 45 psi and it will be carbed up nicely in about 24+ hours, actually usually about 36 hours. Of course the beer must be cold for the CO2 to be absorbed quickly and there also must be some headspace in the keg (increases the surface area for absorbtion)..

If you are really in a hurry, the keg pressurized and then rolled method also work very quickly but it is a little hit and miss as to the amount of rolling and time needed. This method is really just exposing as much area as possible to CO2 under pressure to get the CO2 into solution.

I am not sure about the method that you have quoted and yes I would think that removing a lid from the keg after carbonation would have the potential to introduce some O2, but I guess that you could just purge the keg after the lid change. I also think that carbonation stones just acts to increase the surface area of the beer able to absorb the CO2 into solution.

Cheers mate ! I'll maybe try the fast carb at some point. Ideally with a second gas bottle, but then I'd have to get an extra regulator..... enven further down the rabbit hole.

I don't fancy rolling kegs as I hate it when the clarity is lost.

I'll give the lid a bash, and mybe put the stones in a length of tube in some 10 litre kegs I have. Will keep you posted.

[iBooz2]

I find a fast carb at 40 psi for 18 hours for a 2 C keg then disconnect the gas and leave it for circa 48 hours more (it will come back down to around serving pressure by then) and then connect back up to my normal serving pressure lines for the next couple of weeks.  I like to leave my kegs for about 3 - 4 weeks before drinking as they clear up so much better when they are left alone at 10 - 12 psi.  At 40 psi for 24+ they over carb given my usual practice.

[Tricky Micky]

I'm doing the same as Al. Works for me every time. Thank-you @iBooz2

[Classic Brewing Co]

I kegged a few brews now & the last few kegs I have set the psi at 30 for 24 hours & then back to 12 for 2-3 days & find it carbed up enough to enjoy. It's gets better each day but towards the end of the keg it seems to be well & truly over-carbed but it does settle & tastes great.

This time just to experiment I have set the new keg at 12psi & I will leave it there for a week (today is day 3) I will see whether that makes any difference .

Obviously, I can whack it up a bit if I need to until fully carbed.

[Aussiekraut]

10 hours ago, stquinto said:

I don't fancy rolling kegs as I hate it when the clarity is lost.

But right after filling the keg, the beer is as cloudy as it gets as all the solids are mixed in with the beer. Rolling the keg while carbing it up shouldn't be an issue. It only clears up over a couple of weeks anyway. The thing is, carbing them up in a day or two doesn't really help much IMHO, as the beer is still way too green in the first week.