Force carbing time question

[BreezyBrew]

Brewers!

I have an IIPA that's currently carbing up and I'm about to do my typical procedure. I cold crash in the keezer for two days, the turn the pressure up to 30 psi for 36 hours. I'll then purge the keg and set it to about 9 psi. This has been working really well.

What I'd like to try an eliminate from my procedure is the purging of all that delicious aroma that escapes. Lately my dry hops have been seriously lacking and I'm trying everything I know to get more aroma. This current beer will have 2 rounds of dry hop at 4 oz each.

So my question is, has anyone ever turned the gas off and let the carb absorb after say 24 hours? I'd think the rest of the gas would absorb, leaving the right equilibrium if it's done in the right time frame.

Thoughts?

 

[BigFloyd]

The main reason to vent before dropping the pressure and re-opening the valve is to keep beer from back-flowing into the reg. Before skipping the purge, you would want to install a check valve on the gas line.

 

[AndytheBeave]

the regulator should already have a check valve in place. You typically purge just to get rid of any residual oxygen that is floating on top of the beer. A couple of really short blasts should do the trick.
I have taken the beer off the gas for a day or 2 and let it absorb naturally with good results. I did this at around 30 PSI but even still, I did a couple of purges first.
On a side note, one thing I have wondered since I joined this forum is why don't more people use a carbonation stone? I got one for a gift (I think they retail for about 15 bux). I just attach it to the gas port of my keg with an 18" line, set the pressure and let it go. Carbontation is complete in less than 2 days. Once I hit a good carbonation level, I drop it down to the serving pressure.

 

[BreezyBrew]

the regulator should already have a check valve in place. You typically purge just to get rid of any residual oxygen that is floating on top of the beer. A couple of really short blasts should do the trick.
I have taken the beer off the gas for a day or 2 and let it absorb naturally with good results. I did this at around 30 PSI but even still, I did a couple of purges first.
On a side note, one thing I have wondered since I joined this forum is why don't more people use a carbonation stone? I got one for a gift (I think they retail for about 15 bux). I just attach it to the gas port of my keg with an 18" line, set the pressure and let it go. Carbontation is complete in less than 2 days. Once I hit a good carbonation level, I drop it down to the serving pressure.

For me it just seemed like another piece of equipment to mess with and have to clean. When I drop the keg temp to about 38 and force carb, it's done in 36 hours... I can live with that. I used to the think the small bubbles weren't possible this way, but I have proven this theory incorrect. Seems more to do with the malt profile and the yeast than anything else.

 

[AnOldUR]

I cold crash in the keezer for two days, then turn the pressure up to 30 psi for 36 hours. I'll then purge the keg and set it to about 9 psi. This has been working really well.

There's no reason to wait two days for the beer to chill before turning up the pressure. Set it to 30psi, purge the head space of O2 and leave it hooked up to the gas. After 24-36 hours drop to serving pressure, but don't purge. Give it a couple of day to equalize and it should be pretty close to the correct volumes. The amount of CO2 in the headspace of a full keg is not enough to change the carbonation level very much. Purging at this point just vents hop aroma and wastes CO2.

For me it just seemed like another piece of equipment to mess with and have to clean.

If a check valve is working properly beer will never get near it. You should never have to clean a check valve.



edit:
duh, you were talking about the stone, weren't you?

 

[AndytheBeave]

For me it just seemed like another piece of equipment to mess with and have to clean. When I drop the keg temp to about 38 and force carb, it's done in 36 hours... I can live with that. I used to the think the small bubbles weren't possible this way, but I have proven this theory incorrect. Seems more to do with the malt profile and the yeast than anything else.

Fair enough. I use both the stone method and set n' forget depending on which keg is available. I get good results both ways but I will admit, I love the quick turnaround and consistency with the stone.
To keep on topic I still do a quick purge only when I first connect the keg to the CO2.

 

[BreezyBrew]

There's no reason to wait two days for the beer to chill before turning up the pressure.

I agree with you, however, if I carb before I drop temp, I get carbonic bite pretty bad. Also, if I raise the psi more than a few psi after the initial force carb, I get it as well. I wish I could explain it.

 

[AndytheBeave]

I agree with you, however, if I carb before I drop temp, I get carbonic bite pretty bad. Also, if I raise the psi more than a few psi after the initial force carb, I get it as well. I wish I could explain it.

hmmm that's odd. I would expect the beer to absorb more CO2 the cooler it gets, so perhaps you are keeping the pressure too high for a bit too long?

 

[grathan]

I was thinking about keg head space the other day. If the hop oils are hydrophobic and migrate into the space above the liquid, then as the keg empties would more and more drift out of the beer? This would seem to be a good reason to bottle IPA instead of kegging.

My force carb method lately is warm carbing. Kegs sit outside the fridge and at 30 psi for a day or two. Then I turn the gas off, but intermittently open the tank once a day to 30 psi for a few days. This is just easier for me, but haven't had any carbonic bite lately.

I would give keg-hopping a shot if you haven't tried it already.

 

[BreezyBrew]

I would give keg-hopping a shot if you haven't tried it already.

I saw a post from Denny about this last week and decided to try it this time for the IIPA that's carbing up now. Maybe it's a waste of hops, but I did two rounds of 4oz dry hops. The second is in the keg.