force carbonation

[ColinKeb]

hi, i had racked my stout off into a corny over a week ago and had patiently waited until christmas day to try it. when i did it was flat ! despite having been under pressure for all that time. there is no leak as new pressure added seems to stay there so ive added more co2 as far as i dare and every day have given it another blast. ive also put a cable tie round the s30 valve pressure release to increase the pressure further.
is this the right way of doing it? how long should it take for the beer to absorb the co2? im tempted to go back to using the corny for secondary and natural carbonation for the next brew.
there also seems to be a slight tinny taste although i thoroughly cleaned the corny out first , this may just be my brew being a bit thin and lacking body but ive done this one before in a budget barrel and it was fine.
any tips?
cheers
colin

[Seveneer]

Hi Colin,

what temperature is the beer? It will absorb CO2 easily at low temperature but to force carb at room temperature will take a fairly high pressure (20psi?).

Have a look here for details of what pressure to use at what temperature.

/Phil.

[Road Runner]

To force carbonate my cornies, I set the gas pressure to around 20-25psi & leave the gas permanently connected.

A couple of times a day, or when I think of it when passing by them, I give them a bit of a shake or roll about. If you are able to leave the gas connected when doing this, you can hear more gas going through the regulator, so you know it's being absorbed into the beer.

From my experience, this takes a few days. Try the beer every now & then until you reach the level of carbonation you like, then lower the pressure to around 5-6psi for serving pressure & leave at around 10psi to maintain the carbonation.

I have a flow control tap and am able to leave my gas set to around 10psi for serving, as the flow control stops the beer hitting the bottom of the glass & bouncing back into my face.

[Vossy1]

I keep my filled cornies in a kegerator. I carbonate as follows:-

40 psi for the 1st 2 days, 20psi for the next 2.

If I'm short I'll drop it to 10psi and get tucking in.

If not I'll leave the corny untouched, checking the pressure every couple of days and topping to 10 psi as ness.

I never shake my corny's to dissolve c02.

The above method suits me as I don't like heavily carbonated beer

[ColinKeb]

cheers, i have just checked it and it certainly has absorbed some co2 now, ive put it outside so that it can absorb a bit more before i attack it properly. still tastes a bit tinny and watery though must be my recipe i reckon , i expected it to be a bit heavier and stronger than the lot i made before as it had a touch more grain and a bit of sugar added. i obviously didnt get the extraction as good this time though, you live and learn eh.
like most mistakes im sure after the third pint it will taste fine
im drinking some EKU at the moment which has plenty of body 11% of it

[Seveneer]

Adding sugar will make it thinner than if the sugars all came from the malt. I use sugar when I make high gravity beers just to lower the FG and make the beer drier.

As you say, it'll taste fine after a few pints.

/Phil.

[ColinKeb]

i tried bravely to make it to the third pint last night but just couldnt do it , it tastes rank ! its going down the drain im afraid , good job ive got another barrel in reserve at least it was a good lesson in force carbing .

[Andy]

I had to ditch a stout recently which was also rank! Kept convincing myself that it would mature and improve but it didn't...

[iowalad]

I hope to be going to kegging in 07'. My wife surprised me with four kegs but I don't have a regulator or tank yet or space to set the gear up!

My knowledge about gas dispense is virtually nil. I checked out the forced carbonation procedure link provided by Seveneer (thanks) but wonder how dispense works with low carbed beers like British Ales. Can the beer be effectively dispensed at such low pressure? Or do you have to crank up the pressure to dispense and then lower it after the session?

[iowalad]

Thanks setting me in the right direction Daab - found some stuff online about tubing resistance and length. Not sure how I got turned around on dispense pressure.