Carbonating Homebrew January 04 2023, 0 Comments

It's the start of a new year, so let's learn something about the beermaking process. Today let's talk about how to carbonate beer! You can get carbonation into your beer a few different ways. We'll split them up into bottling and kegging.

Bottling

• Bottle Priming - If you are bottling directly from your fermenter, siphon your beer into your bottles and then add a small amount of corn sugar to each bottle, we recommend just under 1 teaspoon per 12oz bottle for "standard" carbonation levels. Cap, gently swirl the bottle to help the sugar dissolve, and let sit at room temperature for 10-14 days.
• Batch Priming - Siphon the beer into a sanitized container. Add 1 cup of corn sugar to a boiled cup of water, gently stir this solution into the beer, siphon the beer into the bottles. Cap and let sit at room temperature for 10-14 days.

• Natural Carbonation - Sanitize your keg and siphon your beer into it. Add 1/2 cup of corn sugar to a boiled 1/2 cup of water, gently stir this solution into the beer, purge the air from the keg, seal the keg and hook it up to serving pressure, and let sit at room temperature for 10-14 days.
• Forced Carbonation - Sanitize and fill your keg with beer. Purge the air from it, seal it and do one of the following:
  • Hook it up to serving pressure and store it at refrigeration temps for 2-3 weeks. Drink when ready!
  • Hook it up to 35ish psi and store it at refrigeration temperatures for 24-48 hours. Purge pressure and hook up to serving pressure. Test the carbonation level. If too low, hook back up to CO2 and leave for 8 hours. If too high, disconnect CO2 and release the pressure every 30 minutes for a couple of hours until carbonation levels are ok.
  • Cool the beer to refrigeration temperatures. Crank the pressure up to 45-50 psi. Dose the keg with pressure. Unhook the CO2 and shake the keg vigorously. Repeat the previous 2 sentences 4-5 times. Purge pressure and hook up to serving pressure. Test the carbonation level. If too low, hook back up to CO2 and repeat the shaking process once or twice. If too high, disconnect CO2 and release the pressure every 30 minutes for a couple of hours until carbonation levels are ok.

Make a Beer Engine September 01 2015, 0 Comments

Here's a neat -- and cheap! -- project: Convert a barrel that's past its prime into the ornamental part of a beer engine. It cost less than $50 in parts (RV water pump, 1/4" beverage tubing, swivel nut, MFL disconnect), and he put it together in less than an hour. There is no sparkler tip necessary, just some 3/8" gas line to reach to the bottom of the glass.

Purge CO2 from Kegs June 01 2015, 0 Comments

For those of you who keg your beer, it's a good idea to purge your keg with CO2 prior to racking/transferring so that no air comes into contact with the beer.

Here's a couple ways to do this if you're racking from a fermentor to a keg:

1) Simply connect the gas disconnect to your gas-in post and allow the gas to enter the keg for 7-10 seconds. CO2 is heavier than air, so it will settle to the bottom of the keg, displacing the air as you rack your beer in to the bottom of the keg. 

Here's a variant of this step: Fill your keg with Co2 prior to racking, than use a screw driver to press the pop it valve on the liquid side to drive out all the pressure via the liquid dip tube.

2) Try connecting the gas disconnect to your liquid-in post, allowing the gas to enter the keg via the dip tube. Then rack into the bottom of the keg. A word of caution here: The gas disconnect is not designed to fit on a liquid post, so it might take some effort to remove the disconnect from the post.

Wine on Tap August 10 2014, 0 Comments

Do you have a homebrew kegging system but also like to dabble in home winemaking? Try kegging your wine. Kegging is best for wines consumed young where freshness is key. With that in mind, wine needs to be under nitrogen gas mix (75%N,25%O2), so that your wine remains still when poured. Lastly, a Nitro regulator is a necessity. Normally Stouts and Porters are served under Nitro, try wine on your other tap! Last but not least, you will need some dedicated beverage line.