Carbonating In Brite Tank

[Luke7e]

I saw a post on this yesterday and have a different but similar question as we are consistently having issues dialing in our carbonation levels when keg carbing. We will now be carbing in our 4bbl unitanks with a 12" ss carb stone. I guess my question is this...Without having to spend large dollars on a tank controller is there a type of valve PRV we can buy that can be set to a timer to release all pressure at a certain point or will we always be forced to manually do this? I am wondering if something exists that acts almost like a solenoid would and opens up at certain points and than allows repressurization? Am I correct in assuming that we need to do this and cant just do a "set it and forget it" for 24 hours for proper carb levels?
Luke Sevigney
Theory Brewing Company

[mmussen]

You can certainly set it and forget it if you set it up right. You don't ever have to vent CO2 to carbonate beer.
Search on here for other threads regarding carbonation - the information has been covered multiple times.

[jebzter]

There are lots of threads on this, and as was said before, if you have to vent you are doing it wrong. Get your beer cold, 32F cold, and then control the flow rate of CO2 going in. What is probably happening is that you are flowing so much CO2 through the stone, most of it doesn't even get a chance to dissolve, it goes straight to the headspace. We used to do it by slowly stepping up the pressure on the regulator to control the flow. I put a couple of adjustable rotameters in line and now we just dial it in to 4 SCFH for our tanks and let it go. I come back in the morning, 10 and 20 bbl tanks are ready to go.

[mswebb]

There are lots of threads on this, and as was said before, if you have to vent you are doing it wrong. Get your beer cold, 32F cold, and then control the flow rate of CO2 going in. What is probably happening is that you are flowing so much CO2 through the stone, most of it doesn't even get a chance to dissolve, it goes straight to the headspace. We used to do it by slowly stepping up the pressure on the regulator to control the flow. I put a couple of adjustable rotameters in line and now we just dial it in to 4 SCFH for our tanks and let it go. I come back in the morning, 10 and 20 bbl tanks are ready to go.

Anyone have a link to a good source for the adjustable rotameters?

Thanks

[Luke7e]

Can you show me where i can get some roto-meters and how you put them in line? We have a 3 stage dryhop that we use on most of our beers and I do NOT want to scrib out an of those incredible aromatics!

[3guysandabeerd]

afternoon guys and gals when I first started to use our bright tanks we had a ton of issues till I found this tread.Its an oldie but its what work for me. I still use it years later and iv never had an issue. Also I recommend you buy a zohm nagle co2 tester it will save you and the beer a lot of headaches trust me spend the money and get one. Take it from some one who had a headache for almost a year. Any way they have all the part on the thread you need and where and how to get and use them.http://discussions.probrewer.com/sho...l-to-2-volumes
hope this helps guy cheers matt

[beerme]

for rotameters, try:

http://www.omega.ca/pptst_eng/FL4200_4600.html

typically you would use 1/4 npt fittings, and be sure to use a check valve to prevent beer flowing back in if the CO2 tank is empty.

[jebzter]

http://www.dwyer-inst.com/Product/Flow/Flowmeters/VariableArea/SeriesRM#ordering

These are examples, fairly cheap. We lucked out and got a bunch from a tech company that closed and auctioned off a bunch of them. We have our main CO2 supply go into a manifold of meters, then each meter goes to the carbonation stone on each tank, put a check valve in line at the carb stone if you don't already have one. When carbonating, just open up the stone and start opening the flow meter until the indicator is at whatever setting you find gets you to the carbonation levels you need in a timely fashion. And make sure your regulator is adjusted to a pressure that is the highest you need in the tank, plus the wetting and hydrostatic pressures.

[DrumconrathBrew]

I just pressurize my bbt head pressure to about 8psi and set my stone to ~15 psi and let it go for about 6-8 hrs...

That's on a 6bbl batch in a 7bbl tank


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[theomuller]

Taprite. Or a sounding valve that you hook on he arm.

[mswebb]

for rotameters, try:

http://www.omega.ca/pptst_eng/FL4200_4600.html

typically you would use 1/4 npt fittings, and be sure to use a check valve to prevent beer flowing back in if the CO2 tank is empty.

Thanks for the link to the Omega rotameters. Anyone using these and can point out which model on the linked page is best?

[MikeyB]

I like this one

5079K65

Works like a dream on my 30BBL bright. I used 2 90 degree MPT-barb fittings, and mounted it near the reg. I also installed a three way valve to bypass the rota for pushing, purging, etc.

[idylldon]

Any way they have all the part on the thread you need and where and how to get and use them.http://discussions.probrewer.com/sho...l-to-2-volumes
hope this helps guy cheers matt

This. Period. It works perfectly every time.

Cheers,
--
Don

[TGTimm]

Another cause of excess head pressure when carbing is a damaged and/or over-sized stone. A 12" stone seems huge for a 4 bbl bright! You should be able to get it cut down to the proper size, if it's in good condition to start with.

The best way to find out if your stone is working is to mount it horizontally in a clear-sided vessel--and aquarium would be ideal. Put enough pressure on the stone to get it started bubbling (this will be your "wetting pressure"). Take a look--is the stone producing a uniform curtain of very tiny bubbles--barely visible. If it's producing any large bubbles, they won't dissolve in the beer and will drive the headspace pressure up.

Buying a stone that is properly sized for the tank you're using is always a good idea. Zahm & Nagel will be glad to help you with this, and more than happy to lighten your wallet a bit--but it's an investment that will last for many years.

[bdalik]

There are lots of threads on this, and as was said before, if you have to vent you are doing it wrong. Get your beer cold, 32F cold, and then control the flow rate of CO2 going in. What is probably happening is that you are flowing so much CO2 through the stone, most of it doesn't even get a chance to dissolve, it goes straight to the headspace. We used to do it by slowly stepping up the pressure on the regulator to control the flow. I put a couple of adjustable rotameters in line and now we just dial it in to 4 SCFH for our tanks and let it go. I come back in the morning, 10 and 20 bbl tanks are ready to go.

Can you explain a bit of step by step for this once the beer is in the brite? I am having a terribly difficult time carbonating without bleeding off co2 from the CIP arm on our brite tank. We have a 7BBL brite and often are trying to carb 5 BBL of beer. We have small co2 canisters and a co2 regulator, no flowmeter. Any help is appreciated.