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I'm still new to this, but recently got a new 12" carb stone for our 5hL bright tank.
The stone works very well, but it didn't come with instructions.
I read "carbonation demystified" for advice on learning the wetting pressure for my stone, and what PSI to set my regulator to, and can hit 12 PSI in my headspace in about 5 hours by starting at wetting pressure and slowly bumping it up.
However, when I'm ready to take a sample and/or package, I have the following troubles. If taking a sample of trying to fill bottles with 12 PSI in the headspace, I get mostly foam out of the valve, and flat beer underneath the head. I usually release the pressure in the headspace and drop it to 6 PSI or so which balances minimal foam and maximum flow. However, today my purge valve started foaming out and I immediately pictured opening a bottle of soda, and how that sudden pressure drop causes the soda in the bottle to foam up. I imagine the same thing is happening inside the bright tank when I purge the headspace. I took a sample at 6 PSI and sure enough I get a nice creamy head, but no effervescent activity in the beer underneath the head. The beer has reasonable lacing and mouthfeel, but I really want some activity in the glass. I've tested growlers after they are packaged, and often get no effervescence and weak head.
What am I doing wrong? Should I be counterpressure filling my growlers and not purging the headspace in the tank before packaging? Should I slow down the carbonation process? Is my stone oversized? I'm quite puzzled but my real end goal is quick packaging and beautiful activity in the glass.
Cheers
The stone works very well, but it didn't come with instructions.
I read "carbonation demystified" for advice on learning the wetting pressure for my stone, and what PSI to set my regulator to, and can hit 12 PSI in my headspace in about 5 hours by starting at wetting pressure and slowly bumping it up.
However, when I'm ready to take a sample and/or package, I have the following troubles. If taking a sample of trying to fill bottles with 12 PSI in the headspace, I get mostly foam out of the valve, and flat beer underneath the head. I usually release the pressure in the headspace and drop it to 6 PSI or so which balances minimal foam and maximum flow. However, today my purge valve started foaming out and I immediately pictured opening a bottle of soda, and how that sudden pressure drop causes the soda in the bottle to foam up. I imagine the same thing is happening inside the bright tank when I purge the headspace. I took a sample at 6 PSI and sure enough I get a nice creamy head, but no effervescent activity in the beer underneath the head. The beer has reasonable lacing and mouthfeel, but I really want some activity in the glass. I've tested growlers after they are packaged, and often get no effervescence and weak head.
What am I doing wrong? Should I be counterpressure filling my growlers and not purging the headspace in the tank before packaging? Should I slow down the carbonation process? Is my stone oversized? I'm quite puzzled but my real end goal is quick packaging and beautiful activity in the glass.
Cheers
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