Blichmann QuickCarb (New from HomebrewCon 2016)

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Update... I carbed 10 gallons or Christmas ale yesterday and discovered what I did wrong the first time...this time everything worked great. The first time I made the mistake of having cos pressure in the keg BEFORE using the quickcarb because the keg had been filled a couple days prior. this time I just used co2 to purge the air and then ran the carb setup and the 10 gallon keg was at 12.5psi in one hour... this gave me a long lasting head and lace in the glass... I still believe the taste changes in the first day or two after carbing this way since my pilsner had a sharper flavor the second day.

I also could see the bubbles in the line after the airstone up until the last 15 minutes or so even though it was still adding co2 since the co2 expelled from the stone fairly well once I turned off the pump. I believe it was because this beer had more color to it than the bohemian pilsner making it easy to see them.

Anyway this works very well and it was well worth the $65-70 or so it took to build the DIY route.

I even put 1/4" auto shut off quick disconnects on my co2 line so I can swap it from this and my beergun easily... now I just need to find some bigger disconnects to swap between my ball and pin lock keg connectors... the LUER fitting are a bit to small afterall I think.
 
I use the 1/4" QDs on most of my lines, so I can quickly recarbonate, change to a beverage connector from a gas one, or hook up a bottling jig. They don't seem to hinder performance in any way. It was an investment, but paid off big time in convenience.
 
augiedoggy said:
Understood, wasnt sure if thats what you meant...

I just bought one myself along with all the hardware to make my own quickcarb for $70... Then I said what the hell I might as well add a filter to see what all the hype is about... sometimes I get impatient waiting for the beer to clear on its own and if this helps speed it along well Ill give it a shot.
Click to expand...

What pump did you use?
 
ElChangoGuero said:
what power adapter did you use? ive always seen pumps work in amps not in watts, cheers!

*update: scratch that, i found my answer lol!
Click to expand...

I was temporarily using a motorcycle battery and charger but I have a handful of old pc powersupplies which I can easily turn into a 20a 12v power supply by wiring a switch between the green and a ground wire.
 
ElChangoGuero said:
damn, now im not sure, was looking to use this, what do you think?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/252229338452
Click to expand...

I would go bigger... having a supply that delivers a bit more amps will always be better than hoping the supply is enough to power the pump reliably... I know the .800ma pumps I use run far better off of a 2 amp supply than a 1 amp so..
 
summerofgeorge said:
This looks a little more powerful than the Blickmann pump (5 L/M vs 2-4 L/M). Does more equal better in this application? Also, what micron stone is everyone using for this? Blickmann indicates that they use 10 micron. I've only seen 0.5 or 2.
Click to expand...
I use a 5 micron... Ive seen no issues with the faster pump thus far. Ive done 3 different beers with it now.
 
summerofgeorge said:
I finally got through this entire thread: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=375904

Any reason one of these pumps wouldn't work?
Click to expand...

Why would you use one of those? I have 7 of them and they work well for brewing but not for this... the self priming food grade one I linked for $30 is very similiar to the one blichmann uses and you can get it in different voltages and colors from many ebay sellers.
 
BrunDog said:
I don't understand the need for this type of device. I think a few days while the keg carbs is a good thing for yeast to settle and some aging to take place... no?
Click to expand...

Theres no NEED for most of the home brewing devices we make like right?

I justified it to myself this way, I dont have the space to leave extra co2 tanks in my keg cooler or kegerator with the pressure set up to 30psi for days then im playing the guesswork game to get it to the right carb level. Plus I'm impatient, if a beer is done besides being carbonated I can run this and leave it overnight and its totally carbonated to the correct level I set it to. I also built a filter that I can run in tandem of before connecting the airstone. still working on a cost effect quick disconnect method to swap between one and the other though.

All this stuff adds up in going from grain to glass in a shorter time. While thats not always my goal I have been in a situation more than once, before a holiday or event where im frustrated that my beer isnt carbonated enough and people are sampling my almost flat beer.
 
augiedoggy said:
Theres no NEED for most of the home brewing devices we make like right?

I justified it to myself this way, I dont have the space to leave extra co2 tanks in my keg cooler or kegerator with the pressure set up to 30psi for days then im playing the guesswork game to get it to the right carb level. Plus I'm impatient, if a beer is done besides being carbonated I can run this and leave it overnight and its totally carbonated to the correct level I set it to. I also built a filter that I can run in tandem of before connecting the airstone. still working on a cost effect quick disconnect method to swap between one and the other though.

All this stuff adds up in going from grain to glass in a shorter time. While thats not always my goal I have been in a situation more than once, before a holiday or event where im frustrated that my beer isnt carbonated enough and people are sampling my almost flat beer.
Click to expand...

You leave the thing quick-carbing overnight? Are you seeing issues with this?
 
Gustatorian said:
You leave the thing quick-carbing overnight? Are you seeing issues with this?
Click to expand...

no I only run it for 30 mins to an hr depending on keg size but the bubbles and carbonation doesnt seem to be quite right until I leave the keg sit in my fridge overnight to stabilize on its own....
 
BrunDog said:
At some point the beer cannot dissolve any more CO2.
Click to expand...
Yes your correct... Say I set the pressure to say 12.5 psi the co2 flow through the stone slows as it stabilizes in the 30 mins or so im running the unit for a 5 gallon keg. and of course a cold keg of beer can absorb more co2 faster..
 
For cleaning the quickcarb, the last step says to remove the hoses and carb stone and hang to dry. How do you guys dry the carb stone? Is it safe being open to the elements just hanging like that?
 
Gustatorian said:
For cleaning the quickcarb, the last step says to remove the hoses and carb stone and hang to dry. How do you guys dry the carb stone? Is it safe being open to the elements just hanging like that?
Click to expand...

Yes, i just dry it out like any other part but be careful not to break the stone and i usually boil it 10 min every time before using it to open all the pores and sanitize.
 
ElChangoGuero said:
Yes, i just dry it out like any other part but be careful not to break the stone and i usually boil it 10 min every time before using it to open all the pores and sanitize.
Click to expand...

I hang all of my tubing. It's ok to be hung to dry like that?
 
I leave it overnight and Blichmann said you can leave it on for a day for full carbonation

From Blichmann Engineering

"90% carbonated and ready to drink in less than an hour with no risk of overcarbonation! Let it sit for a day for dialing in that final few percent."

I find that when I do I get the carbonation I am looking for but it will equalize out with pressures. I think that may be what they meant by it won't over carbonate




Gustatorian said:
You leave the thing quick-carbing overnight? Are you seeing issues with this?
Click to expand...
 
ElChangoGuero said:
Yes, i just dry it out like any other part but be careful not to break the stone and i usually boil it 10 min every time before using it to open all the pores and sanitize.
Click to expand...

I hang mine up in my brew area overnight and it is dry in the morning. I always make sure to "backflush" the stone. I have not had any issues with it doing it that way.
 
Gustatorian said:
For cleaning the quickcarb, the last step says to remove the hoses and carb stone and hang to dry. How do you guys dry the carb stone? Is it safe being open to the elements just hanging like that?
Click to expand...

Its made of stainless... hanging out to dry should be fine.. it is for me. I just soak mine in staran for a couple minutes before use.
 
Afaict nobody responded to this person's question from back in October:

kanno said:
Has anyone tried using this to recirculate dry hops in a keg with a filter on the diptube? Or used it to clean their tap lines?
Click to expand...

and this evening for whatever reason I had a similar thought:
seems to me this rig screams for an accessory Randall loaded with whole leaf.
Anyone try something like that yet?

I strive to have a replacement cold-conditioned keg ready to go for each of the six on tap, so the "quick-carb" wouldn't offer much, per se.
Otoh, if I could hook up a keg about to go in the keezer and run the beer through a purged Randall before tapping it, that might hold an attraction.
I think it'd be an easy way to jazz up a keg as the result would be fully blended.

What I do now is drop a weighted sanitized muslin bag o' cones in, then seal, purge and tap.
Works great over the long term but takes a day or so for things to start happening...

Cheers!
 
day_trippr said:
Afaict nobody responded to this person's question from back in October:



and this evening for whatever reason I had a similar thought:
seems to me this rig screams for an accessory Randall loaded with whole leaf.
Anyone try something like that yet?

I strive to have a replacement cold-conditioned keg ready to go for each of the six on tap, so the "quick-carb" wouldn't offer much, per se.
Otoh, if I could hook up a keg about to go in the keezer and run the beer through a purged Randall before tapping it, that might hold an attraction.
I think it'd be an easy way to jazz up a keg as the result would be fully blended.

What I do now is drop a weighted sanitized muslin bag o' cones in, then seal, purge and tap.
Works great over the long term but takes a day or so for things to start happening...

Cheers!
Click to expand...

I used it to filter some beer myself last week for the superbowl so yeah I think it could work very well for this.
 
Or maybe even keep the dry hops completely out of the fermenter using filters to just push beer through the dry hop container. IIRC, Sierra Nevada does something like this with their Torpedo system... could get all that hoppy goodness in a much shorter timeframe and if you use some valves, you could probably change out dry hop 'containers' without any oxygen exposure too... food for thought.
 
I thought a Randall was typically used during serving? But either way, I guess it's a similar process except with the dry hopping you're recirculating back to the fermenter.
 
I believe it was indeed originally used at a GABF in a dispensing configuration, but mechanically it's the same element, just with 100% feedback ;)

Cheers!
 

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