Carbonation of beer (well anything)

[JonnyD]

Can somebody please explain to me the methods of carbonation. I only use bottle/keg conditioning at the moment. I am really interested in forced carbonation particularly in bottles but also kegs.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

John

 

[PaulCa]

Force carbonating can mean "not bottle/keg conditioning" or it can mean using high pressure and agitation to force CO2 into beer in a keg faster.

So bottle or keg:
* Add sugar, seal and wait until the yeast produces enough CO2 to make the beer fizzy.

Keg:
* Add CO2 from a pressure cylinder at 6-10PSI and leave the beer to sit for 7 to 10 days before serving at 6-10PSI.

OR

* Add CO2 from a pressure cylinder at 30PSI, shake, rattle and roll the keg around the floor until it stops bubbling CO2 through it. Cool in fridge for 24 hours with gas off. Drop pressure to 8-10PSI, wait another 24 hours (gas off) and serve at whatever pressure you can get without foaming. This way gets you beer fizzy and cold in 1-3 days. As opposed to waiting for a week with the usual method, but it comes at a cost, in that it is very easy to over (or under) carbonate and you have to drop or add more pressure and wait another 24 hours for the beer to stabilise.

 

[JonnyD]

Does bottle conditioning alter the taste at all?

 

[NickW]

Does bottle conditioning alter the taste at all?

Not in my experience. The yeast usually compacts down into a neat little layer. In some beers (wheat beers) it is beneficial to the style to have yeast in the glass :thumb: