Carbonating a mostly empty bright tank?

[Mike Lachelt]

Hi all,

I have a 1000 liter bright tank (10bbl) in which I carbonate cider via carb stone. I normally use large batches where the tank is mostly full, and the carbonation usually takes me about 20 hours. I'm now wondering if it is possible to carbonate a small batch of about 150 litres in the same tank. The carb stone is inserted at about the 250 liter mark, so in this case the level of cider would be beneath the carb stone. Would carbonation of this amount be possible? Would it be advisable? I suppose the co2 would have to absorb entirely from the head space...

With this amount of cider, would it be better to carbonate keg by keg (which I haven't done before), or in the bright tank as discussed above? If the latter is preferable, what would be the best method? (Would I just remove the carb stone and pressurize the head space and wait? Would this take much longer than I am used to?)

Thanks!!!

Mike

[DowneastCider]

Try sticking the stone in an extension (or a T or two with caps) on the discharge port of the tank and carbonate through there. It will not be as good as when doing it from the tank sidewall but it should work. The colder the cider the better, which is always the case but especially when doing it this way as you will have larger bubbles than normal working their way through the liquid to the headspace.

[Mike Lachelt]

Try sticking the stone in an extension (or a T or two with caps) on the discharge port of the tank and carbonate through there. It will not be as good as when doing it from the tank sidewall but it should work. The colder the cider the better, which is always the case but especially when doing it this way as you will have larger bubbles than normal working their way through the liquid to the headspace.

Hi, thanks for the reply. I'm not sure exactly what you have in mind. Are you suggesting I try inserting the carb stone through the bottom valve of the tank? (I could try that but am not sure there's room for it there). Can you explain how the extension or T with caps would be used here? Sorry if I'm slow but I haven't been at this very long...

Thanks again for your help.

[mmussen]

You use the T's to add an extension to the bottom valve so your stone can fit there without hitting the valve. (It doesn't have to be T's, you just need something to hang off the bottom valve that can fit the stone) It does work, but will take a fair bit longer than you're used to. Given the choice I'd do that over trying to carbonate keg by keg.

[Mike Lachelt]

You use the T's to add an extension to the bottom valve so your stone can fit there without hitting the valve. (It doesn't have to be T's, you just need something to hang off the bottom valve that can fit the stone) It does work, but will take a fair bit longer than you're used to. Given the choice I'd do that over trying to carbonate keg by keg.

Hi, thanks! So, I need to get a couple of triclamp t's. Then I cap the t's, and use them as a long extension tube that will hold my carb stone. Then, I open the bottom valve and start carbing as usual, with the understanding that it will take a bit longer. Is this right?

Thanks!!

[DageraadBen]

Is it a jacketed tank, or a single-wall tank in a cooler? If it's jacketed, 150L of cider might not even contact the jacket. If that's the case, you might not be able to cool the cider enough to carbonate it.