Question about carbing

[Yontsey]

So I have a two port CO2 regulator that I use one for a serving that goes to a manifold and then one for carbing when I force carb. I force carbed a keg and then switched it to the other line. I forgot to shut of the other line and it drained my tank. Prior to that I noticed the forced keg was initially carbed very well then it was meh. When I go get a new tank, can I re-force carb it for maybe 12 hours?

 

[Yontsey]

 

[Minbari]

Do you have a leak? I never turn any of my gas line off.

Yes you can force carb at any time. Technically having your kegs on gas is force carbing.

 

[Yontsey]

I’ll have to double check my lines but I didn’t see anywhere there was one…….(obviously there was one somewhere).

 

[Yontsey]

Hmmmmm....just went and looked over everything and I thought I had added another gas line to my main serving manifold but I did not. Nothing really changed. I'm going to swap out the tank today and then I'll hook everything back up and spray the connections to see if there's a leak anywhere. I have 2 cornys hooked up (that were hooked up the same before) and then a sankey coupler that's unhooked but I have that valve on the manifold shut off.

 

[Yontsey]

No leaks anywhere. Got to thinking and I might’ve just kicked the CO2 tank empty on its own. 4-5 1/6bls. Like 3 were forced carbed and had a couple CO2 issues early on. That makes more sense to me.

Re-carbing my Spotted Cow clone. It was great last week after force carbing for 24hrs then it was flat-ish 2 days later. Then at some point the CO2 kicked. Turned it back up and rolled it for 5 minutes. Gonna let it go for like 12 hours then turn it back down.

 

[Minbari]

No leaks anywhere. Got to thinking and I might’ve just kicked the CO2 tank empty on its own. 4-5 1/6bls. Like 3 were forced carbed and had a couple CO2 issues early on. That makes more sense to me.

Re-carbing my Spotted Cow clone. It was great last week after force carbing for 24hrs then it was flat-ish 2 days later. Then at some point the CO2 kicked. Turned it back up and rolled it for 5 minutes. Gonna let it go for like 12 hours then turn it back down.

Ya if the co2 went away they will go flat

 

[Yontsey]

Ya if the co2 went away they will go flat

Is 12hr force carb ok or should I go more? Since it was already forced once.

 

[Minbari]

Is 12hr force carb ok or should I go more? Since it was already forced once.

depends how flat it is. from dead flat, I force carb @ 35PSI for 2 days(38°F), then turn down to serve pressure.

 

[Yontsey]

Not sure tbh. Tried to pour last night and there was no CO2

 

[Minbari]

Not sure tbh. Tried to pour last night and there was no CO2

I would get your new co2 tank and then evaluate. I am betting that 12 hours wont cut it if it is flat. it really depends on what pressure and if you use agitation.

I dont agitate, cant be bothered. so high pressure for 2 days does it. if you set it at serving pressure, then it can take a week, but it will get there.

 

[Yontsey]

I would get your new co2 tank and then evaluate. I am betting that 12 hours wont cut it if it is flat. it really depends on what pressure and if you use agitation.

I dont agitate, cant be bothered. so high pressure for 2 days does it. if you set it at serving pressure, then it can take a week, but it will get there.

Already snagged a refill this AM and hooked it up. It's around 32psi. Ran back to work but it's been at that setting for about 2hrs. I rolled it for about 5 minutes when I hooked it up. I'll give it another roll later. I know when I did it last week, 24 hours was beautiful at first but then it tapered off and was not totally flat but wasn't getting any head.

 

[Minbari]

Already snagged a refill this AM and hooked it up. It's around 32psi. Ran back to work but it's been at that setting for about 2hrs. I rolled it for about 5 minutes when I hooked it up. I'll give it another roll later. I know when I did it last week, 24 hours was beautiful at first but then it tapered off and was not totally flat but wasn't getting any head.

just a stupid question, you are leaving it on gas once carbed, correct? just at a lower serving pressure.

 

[Yontsey]

just a stupid question, you are leaving it on gas once carbed, correct? just at a lower serving pressure.

Oh yeah, 100%. Turn it down to about 10psi. I have a two setting regulator on my kegerator. One is for forced carb and the other goes to a 3-way manifold serving at 10psi.

 

[Bigbre04]

Oh yeah, 100%. Turn it down to about 10psi. I have a two setting regulator on my kegerator. One is for forced carb and the other goes to a 3-way manifold serving at 10psi.

generally, 12psi would be better for a serving pressure. It wont change the carb up or down, but this really depends on how your draft system is setup.

 

[Minbari]

Oh yeah, 100%. Turn it down to about 10psi. I have a two setting regulator on my kegerator. One is for forced carb and the other goes to a 3-way manifold serving at 10psi.

ok, just be aware, 10 PSI will allow the beer to decarb to a volume of co2 for 10 PSI. (about 2.4 vol)

 

[Yontsey]

generally, 12psi would be better for a serving pressure. It wont change the carb up or down, but this really depends on how your draft system is setup.

Thanks for the tip. I'll adjust it once I get this one carbed up. I have an event with my wife tomorrow in the AM/early afternoon so maybe I'll wait and adjust the PSI when I get back. That'll give it roughly 16-17hrs at 30-35psi

 

[Bigbre04]

Thanks for the tip. I'll adjust it once I get this one carbed up. I have an event with my wife tomorrow in the AM/early afternoon so maybe I'll wait and adjust the PSI when I get back. That'll give it roughly 16-17hrs at 30-35psi

Figure out your average temp in your cooler box and then pull a carbonation chart up and pick your carb level(most commercial beers are close to 2.4vols w/ Soda sitting >3vols). Find that pressure temp carb point and set the gas to that and it should be fine and wont over or under carb.

 

[Yontsey]

I keep my kegerator around 40-41˚ so 12psi, according to the chart puts me at 2.44-2.48.

 

[Bigbre04]

I carbonate by mouthfeel(dont have the volume to waste or bucks to buy a zahm and nagle). My carbonations are pretty on point. i carbonate until the beer sparkles/tingles on my tongue when i first taste it. Generally this would be over carbonated if i went to pour it right off the tank, but i know that i will loose some carb to kegging the beer and we use beer gas(20psi) to push through a long draw system(>80ft) so some of it will be lost there as well as to the tap.

I know this is sort of a vague thing that is hard without doing it, but if you crack open a domestic can and immediately take a sip, you want it to be slightly more sparkly then that on your tongue.

random over sharings!