Carbing 10bbl @ 40F

[Neighborbrewer]

Hey everyone,

I'm new to ProBrewer, I've done a bit of looking around on here for an answer but havent found much so i'm wondering if some of you could chip in on some advice/insight.

I recently became an assistant brewer at a small pub with a 10bbl system and tanks, the pub makes decent beer but i'm a believer that there is always room for improvement.

One of the first things that stood out to me was the carbonation process, which was to just blast the beer with an unregulated CO2 hose (carbstone slightly cracked) till the bbt came up to 15psi to which we would just degas and start over till we hit our target volume which is usually between 2.6-2.7. I've started trying to carb it slowly with as little agitation as possible but i'm having troubles reaching my target.

The procedure ive been following has been as follows roughly:

1. Bung Fv before crash and pressurize between 10-15psi
(I want to start bunging before terminal but hasnt quite been implemented)

2. CIP & SIP BBT then purge through carbstone and out CIP arm through transfer hose.
when CO2 is strong, hook up to FV.

3. Pressurize both tanks to 15psi, then hook an umbilical to both tanks.

4. Start transfer, once equalized ill add pressure to the Fv and slowly bleed BBT retaining 10-15psi

5. After transfer is finished I'll pressurize bbt to 1psi below target saturation (usually 14psi). I then add up my wetting pressure (its somewhere between 1-5psi, I hate our regulators) my hydrostatic pressure (usually 2psi) and my target saturation. In total its usually around 18-21psi. (my regulators are constantly jumping around)

I seem to either get nowhere with carbonation or I over shoot my target.

Also my BBTs are in a walk-in which usually sits around 40F (38F if im lucky)

If Ive skipped any important info let me know and ill get back to you.

Thanks in advance,

Cheers!

[vinaykumar27]

In our experience, pressure gauges sometimes have about 3 psig of play between pressures. It is possible that you are either over or under-pressurizing the bbt resulting in the variation you see.
One option around it is an inline carbonation system. QuantiPerm offers several different economical automatic carbonation systems. One version of the system can carbonate up to 3 volumes while transferring to your bbt in about 60 minutes for 10 barrel batches. It shuts off after the carbonation is done so, you can walk away from the system and check in after the run. It is also 100% mass transfer efficient, so the carbonation level that you set is what it will deliver.
Your process will still remain the same, pressurize the bbt to 15 psig and add the carbonator inline.

More information on the system here: https://quantiperm.com/quantiperm-pr...-xflowco2-frc/

[Hugh Warren Jr]

Try and get the beer colder. Just an idea.

[gitchegumee]

Lots of carbonation threads on Probrewer. Read them and you'll see recurring theme of mine is flow meters. Get accurate pressure gauges, thermometers, and a flow meter. You don't need any expensive, fancy gear to carbonate properly. You just need accurate readings of temperature, pressure, and flow rate. From there, it's easy.