Cold beer carbonates faster than warmer beer?

[MikeSkril]

I just read that:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/craft-the-perfect-draft-clearing-your-beer.html

Carbonating your beer while it's still cold allows the cold crash process to continue as the beer is being carbonated. Since Co2 is more easily absorbed by cold liquids your beer will also carbonate faster than if it were carbonated warm.

Everybody said the opposite. Anyone?

 

[judsonp]

CO2 solubility increases as temperature decreases.

I couldn't tell you offhand the speed difference between a low pressure of CO2 at low temperature vs. a high pressure at higher temperature.

 

[Sammy86]

Who said the opposite?

 

[Yooper]

I don't think that is so. I mean, yes, the solubility of c02 in a colder solution is greater- but the pressure is greater in a higher temperature system, and so it should carb up at the same rate, if the corresponding pressure is maintained.

The laws of physics state that gasses seek equilibrium. Cold or warm, it's still a law of physics.

Of course, I was in the medical profession and not in physics. So I may be wrong!

 

[hucklb]

I've been wondering the same thing in terms of cold crashing and bottle carbonating. How do you carbonate a beer when it is too cold for the yeast due to the cold crashing?

 

[Yooper]

I've been wondering the same thing in terms of cold crashing and bottle carbonating. How do you carbonate a beer when it is too cold for the yeast due to the cold crashing?

Oh, that's a different story. The beer warms quickly, and it's held at 70 degrees for a while, so it will carbonate. You can bottle cold beer, and it will be at room temperature in less than a day.

 

[Skiffy]

I have to imagine he is talking about cold crashing in the keg. The CO2 tank provides constant pressure to the keg (I'm pretty sure?!), regardless of temperature, so cold liquid will absorb the CO2 more quickly.

While bottle carbing, the yeast are more active at warmer temperatures and create the carbonation more quickly. Most recommend putting your bottled beer in the fridge for a few days before consuming to maximize CO2 absorbed into the liquid.

 

[Bobby_M]

The reason I'd say carbonation happens faster while warm is that just about every chemical reaction happens quicker at warmer temps because molecules are moving around. In the case of carbonation: Fick's Law states that The net diffusion rate of a gas across a fluid membrane is proportional to the difference in partial pressure...

The more active the beer is at a molecular level, the faster CO2 will move away from the surface.

I think where people get tripped up is that the solubility of CO2 increases as temp goes down meaning that it takes less pressure to achieve the same carbonation level but it says absolutely nothing about the rate of carbonation.

 

[doug293cz]

The reason I'd say carbonation happens faster while warm is that just about every chemical reaction happens quicker at warmer temps because molecules are moving around. In the case of carbonation: Fick's Law states that The net diffusion rate of a gas across a fluid membrane is proportional to the difference in partial pressure...

The more active the beer is at a molecular level, the faster CO2 will move away from the surface.

I think where people get tripped up is that the solubility of CO2 increases as temp goes down meaning that it takes less pressure to achieve the same carbonation level but it says absolutely nothing about the rate of carbonation.

^+1^ Bobby's got it right.

Brew on

 

[MrFoodScientist]

To further illustrate what Bobby's saying.

Keg System A- 12psi at 37°F (equilibrium at 2.62 volumes)

Compared to:

Keg System B- 24psi at 58°F (equilibrium at 2.62 volumes)

System B would theoretically have a greater rate of carbonation due to warmer temperatures (meaning more molecular movement and interaction).

If you were to carbonate at the same pressure at two different temperatures, the lower temperature would reach the equilibrium point of the higher temperature sooner (even though the lower temperature would continue to carbonate). This is why it is perceived that cold temperatures carbonate faster. If I remember right, Bobby has some nice graphs of carbonation rates in This Thread that might help explain it as well.

And to echo Yooper and Skiffy: yeah, bottle condition is a different beast and depends on yeast activity, which is always faster at warmer temperatures. Which is probably what you're thinking about when you say "Everybody says the opposite."