First timer force-carb Cornie question

[MTW]

I only have one brew fridge, which will double as my cool storage for two cornies when it's not in use for fermenting. One brew is ready to come out of secondary and into one of my two cornies, but I will be brewing again on Sunday and need the fridge for that. What's the best plan to force carb the first one, ahead of it being moved out of any sort of temperature control on Sunday? There's no rush for it as such (though it's currently sat on the dry hops so needs to move into the corny).

[Wonkydonkey]

Just a qiuck answer, you can force carb at room temp, at a higher psi, then shaking /rolling the keg. Once you think you have the right amount of co2 in the beer you can leave It to stand for a while. Check the online force carb charts and the temps/psi and vols of co2
But if your keg is colder than room temp co2 is absorbed quicker. Which you will see from the charts

Edit: added this link....https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/ ... How-To.pdf

There's a chart near the bottom

[MTW]

Ok, thanks. Probably a daft question, but do I just charge the keg up to pressure once, and leave it to carbonate, or does it need to stay connected to the gas?

[jmc]

Ok, thanks. Probably a daft question, but do I just charge the keg up to pressure once, and leave it to carbonate, or does it need to stay connected to the gas?

If you can I'd leave it connected to the gas at the target pressure for the temp you're storing it at.
Eg if you are carbonating at 18C (65F) and want 2.2 vols CO2 then set carbonating pressure to 24psi

If you disconnect CO2 will dissolve in beer and pressure will reduce.

Carbonation Pressure Chart on Jims as a sticky

[MTW]

Ok, thanks. Probably a daft question, but do I just charge the keg up to pressure once, and leave it to carbonate, or does it need to stay connected to the gas?

If you can I'd leave it connected to the gas at the target pressure for the temp you're storing it at.
Eg if you are carbonating at 18C (65F) and want 2.2 vols CO2 then set carbonating pressure to 24psi

If you disconnect CO2 will dissolve in beer and pressure will reduce.

Carbonation Pressure Chart on Jims as a sticky

Cheers: I get the thing about pressure vs a consistent temperature. My problem is that after the first 4 or 5 days, I won't be able to keep the temperature stable - it's likely to vary between 12 to 25C depending what the weather does! It will be back in the fridge before I need to serve it, but in the meantime I'm not sure whether it may become over gassed as the temperature swings, without me constantly changing the pressure to balance, if you see what I mean. Am I safer to just purge it and leave it until the fridge is free, or am I safe to get it going a bit?

[jmc]

Ok, thanks. Probably a daft question, but do I just charge the keg up to pressure once, and leave it to carbonate, or does it need to stay connected to the gas?

If you can I'd leave it connected to the gas at the target pressure for the temp you're storing it at.
Eg if you are carbonating at 18C (65F) and want 2.2 vols CO2 then set carbonating pressure to 24psi

If you disconnect CO2 will dissolve in beer and pressure will reduce.

Carbonation Pressure Chart on Jims as a sticky

Cheers: I get the thing about pressure vs a consistent temperature. My problem is that after the first 4 or 5 days, I won't be able to keep the temperature stable - it's likely to vary between 12 to 25C depending what the weather does! It will be back in the fridge before I need to serve it, but in the meantime I'm not sure whether it may become over gassed as the temperature swings, without me constantly changing the pressure to balance, if you see what I mean. Am I safer to just purge it and leave it until the fridge is free, or am I safe to get it going a bit?

If it was me, if temp is varying a lot I'd just put it on the carbonation pressure setting for lowest temp, eg 16psi for 12C & 2.2 vol, then keep it on that when you put it in cellar / keggorator at 12C for a couple of days, then reduce to dispense pressure.
There's less chance of over-carbing that way.

[MTW]

Excelllent, cheers.