force carbonating Scotch Ale

[farmer brown]

Hey All
Im about to force carbonate my scotch ale in my corny and as I'm new to this I was wondering what pressure do I carb it at? I did a pale ale a few weeks ago and carbonated at 20psi for 3 days and then brought it down to 5 psi to serve.. Im guessing Scotch Ale wont need as much?

 

[Hawks]

It will depend on your temps as well ( as this impacts how much CO2 the beer absorbs ).

Your best bet is to seal the keg with around 20 psi and then set the final pressure required in order to force carb ( mine is around 2.5 psi ) depending on the vols of CO2 you want

There is a calculator here which also has some guidelines on the ideal vols -- http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/carbonation.html

 

[farmer brown]

Thanks Hawks,
Also.. Ive just been reading about conditioning first but I can work out if I should carb it for a few days and then leave in the fridge for a few weeks to condition or leave it now and carb later?

 

[Hawks]

Thanks Hawks,
Also.. Ive just been reading about conditioning first but I can work out if I should carb it for a few days and then leave in the fridge for a few weeks to condition or leave it now and carb later?

I assume you can't leave it connected to the gas in the fridge ? ( I drilled holes into mine )

For when I can't keep kegs connected there is my plan B - I purge and seal the keg at 20psi and then disconnect and tuck it away to condition. If the keg was full I find that it drops to about the right pressure in a few weeks and then I move it to the kegerator and connect it up for a few days prior to serving. Its not as exact but in my experience the keg will have under 5psi and be pretty close

 

[farmer brown]

I dont have a kegerator but I hope to make one at some point! Ill leave it at 20psi and give it a quick purge and leave it in the shed for a few weeks. Its pretty cold out so it should be fine.. Ill try it at Christmas

Many thanks Hawks!