Force Carbonating Your Homebrew Keg
This week I kegged a recent brew of mine, and gave force carbing a go. This resulted in a fully conditioned beer available 24 hours after racking it into a keg.
There are many who disapprove of this conditioning process, but if you’re out of homebrew, it’s good to know that you have this option if you want some beer to drink tomorrow.
Some arguments agains this process are that you may not achieve as consistent of a carbonation level as if you set the pressure to 12psi and left it for 2 weeks, or that you run the risk of over-carbonating, and consequently need to bleed off pressure. As long as you are aware of what you are getting into, I don’t see any harm in trying.
In order to pull this off, follow these easy steps:
- Turn your regulator up to 30 psi.
- Hold your keg sideways in your lap, and gently rock it forward and back.
- Continue rocking your keg until it reaches equilibrium (it took me about 20 minutes).
- Disconnect your hose, or turn off the gas.
- Wait 24 hours, then hook your gas back up, setting the pressure where you want it for consumption and maintenance (I like 12psi).
- Pour a pint, and enjoy!
