I usually pressurize my 5 gal cornies for 3 days at 30 PSI before hooking them up to the kegerator at 9 PSI for dispensing. Is there a more scientific way to initially carbonate the brew?
Yes, the set it and forget it method. Set it to your serving pressure and forget it for a week. The results will be the same every time, but it does require patience.
Have to agree with the set it and wait method, but I'm very new to this. I kegged my first two about a week ago. Tried to rush one by using the high pressure with a bit of shaking method. After many attempts to bleed off the pressure, I am still getting tons of foam with every pour. With the second keg, I set it at 10 lbs and left it. It's now nicely carbonated with lots of tiny bubbles.
Question: Does the set it and forget it method count as one week of conditioning? For example, if I usually keep my beer in the secondary for two weeks, can I keep in the carboy for one week and then transfer it to the keg and carbonate it for a week, and call that two weeks of conditioning?
well, the secondary is really to get the yeast to fall out of suspension for a clearer beer.
but aging is also happening at that point.
so technically, yet it counts. if you had a really flocculent yeast, a week in secondary might be clear enough. less flocculent, you might secondary 3-6 weeks.
when kegging its hard to be patient since you can force carb green beer in an hour once its chilled, instead of 7 days in the bottle
For about 2.5 volumes of CO2, I set my regulator to 20 psi and set the room/cellar temperature kegs in the 40 degree fridge. After two days, I dial the regulator back to 10 psi and wait another day or two for everything to normalize.