Force Carbonation: Good Idea or Waste of Time?

You’ve brewed your beer, waited 14 days for fermentation to complete, cold crashed for 48 hrs and waited for the beer to clear with gelatin for another 48 hrs. It’s been almost 3 weeks since you brewed and you are ready for the taste of success. The only problem is, you still have to carbonate your brew. That can take up to two weeks with the standard carbonation methods (bottle conditioning or leaving in keg at serving pressure). New brewing methods and technology have come a long way, so unlike carbonating beer in bottles, you can carbonate beer that’s in a keg at a much faster rate.

There is the old tried and true shake method. This is where you attach the gas supply to the keg and turn the gas supply up to 30 PSI. Then, gently shake the keg to stir up the beer inside. You should immediately hear bubbling within the keg. Agitating the keg increases the contact area between CO2 and beer even further, promoting faster diffusion of CO2 into the beer.

Then, the new technology comes into play. Blichmann has created the patent-pending QuickCarb. This is a revolutionary new way to carbonate a 5 gallon keg in less than one hour. Using a simple circulating pump and unique stainless steel diffusion stone, the QuickCarb carbonates your beer precisely and quickly without a chance of accidentally overcarbonating.

Either method you decide to choose will work, but is it worth the effort?

Some say that your beer needs that extra time to mature and have the flavors settle. Others say that if you brewed a good beer, it doesn’t matter. What are your thoughts? Let us know. Either way, always remaber: Don’t Worry Have a Home Brew. Cheers!