Speed Up Carbing?

[Flying_Fox]

Hi, So I’ve finally got myself to the Bottling stage (I’m a terrible procrastinator) and I’m just wondering if there’s a way to speed up Carbing.

I put a Teaspoon of Sugar in my bottles but that will take a few days to work and I don’t really have the time, is there a way I can still do this and speed it along? (keep in a warm room etc?) any help would be appreciated

 

[jMac]

Unfortunately not. When bottle conditioning you’re really stuck in the 2 weeks to fully carb timetable. It might even take longer. Conditioning at a higher temperature won’t make your beer carb any faster - that two weeks isn’t only about the production of CO2, it also takes time for that CO2 to properly dissolve into the liquid. Your beer may be carbed enough after about a week, but YMMV.

Really, the only way to speed up your carbonation is kegging and force carbing. Or maybe shoving your beer in a soda stream .

 

[AnimatedGIF]

I’m a terrible procrastinator
...
I don’t really have the time

Selective quoting on my part here, but could you not continue to procrastinate once bottled? When you say you don't have the time, what do you mean? While carbing up, you don't need to do anything to it - just leave it a couple of weeks.
You'd then be best leaving it to condition further for a few more weeks. What's the hurry?

 

[dwhite60]

I've read that giving the bottles a quick twist every day to keep the sugar, sweeter beer, from settling to the bottom of the bottle helps. Really though, the beer needs that time to age in, mature. Big difference in how a bottled beer tastes after a week and four weeks.

 

[pms67]

Hi, So I’ve finally got myself to the Bottling stage (I’m a terrible procrastinator) and I’m just wondering if there’s a way to speed up Carbing.

I put a Teaspoon of Sugar in my bottles but that will take a few days to work and I don’t really have the time, is there a way I can still do this and speed it along? (keep in a warm room etc?) any help would be appreciated

You have just realised the downside of homebrewing
It’s hard enough even for a patient person

 

[foxy]

I have found drinking out of a smaller glass speeds up drinking, if that helps. Wait for the beer to mature and while you are waiting keep brewing until you are well behind the brews in front of you.

 

[Pennine]

warming the bottles up will speed it up but listen to the above, they will taste better after 2 weeks and even better after 4. unless your recipe sucks of course.

 

[Baz Chaz]

The advantage of smaller batches, brew more often and build up a stock. I'm another that struggles with patience, when I bottle a brew I bottle a couple of 330ml 'testers' one after a week and the other after 10 or 11 days. Quite funny, I'm keen to test, then once I know roughly where it's going, quite happy to leave it!

I'm not a lover of highly carbonated beer and only batch prime @ 3g per litre anyway.

 

[terrym]

Hi, So I’ve finally got myself to the Bottling stage (I’m a terrible procrastinator) and I’m just wondering if there’s a way to speed up Carbing.

I put a Teaspoon of Sugar in my bottles but that will take a few days to work and I don’t really have the time, is there a way I can still do this and speed it along? (keep in a warm room etc?) any help would be appreciated

Be more patient is my advice and wait for your beer to carbonate and even more importantly condition properly before you start drinking it.

 

[AXW123]

I read somewhere that inverting the bottle everyday will speed up carbonation. I don’t know if this will do it any good though. Some beers such as Kveik are good to go as soon as carbonation is finished. Also if you are in such a hurry kegging is the answer.

 

[Justin Dean]

Yes patience is the key, think ahead and plan. Old ale condition 11 weeks, Belgian triple years etc.....

 

[pms67]

A couple of the earliest Coopers kits I done were fermented out in 5 days, fully carbed and chilling within another 7
I’m certain they have yeast additives included to kick start their yeast

 

[Edison]

Yeah, it’s definitely one of the worst things about homebrew is having to wait patiently to enjoy the fruits of your labour!

The only way to carb faster is to force carbonate, definitely consider moving to kegging, I don’t think anybody who did has ever regretted it. Alternatively I believe there is an attachment available to force carbonate individual PET bottles from a CO2 cylinder, it’s some kind of screw cap with a gas in connector. Using this you can carbonate in a matter of seconds with a bit of practice (apparently, I’ve never used this myself).

Yes, your beer will definitely improve with age, depending on your recipe (very hoppy beers are usually best drunk young), but I appreciate your need for immediate refreshment! You could do a couple of cheaper/simpler kits or basic recipes that mature quicker (wheat beers, simple pales and bitters) and rush them through the process with the knowledge they can be enjoyed as basic thirst-quenchers, then brew some higher quality more premium recipes and leave them alone to mature. When you get round to drinking them they should be much better for being left alone and you can savour these ones!
I would get straight on brewing the next batch, once you’ve built up a good selection you’ll have a constant supply that hopefully you won‘t run out of with a little planning!

 

[Edison]

Just thinking out loud, as an experiment you could try...
Yeast works faster in warm conditions, CO2 dissolves more readily in cold conditions. You could try giving one of your bottles a couple of days at the highest recommended fermentation temperature (e.g. 24c) if you haven’t already, then get it into the fridge for a couple of days as cold as you can without freezing it (1c).
Again, this would only (possibly) work for carbonation, it does nothing to help maturation of flavours.