How to use a Carbonating Keg Lid (Beer Carbonator)

How to video on the carbonating keg lid. We'll demonstrate how to install and use this awesome home brew tool! We use this home brew tool ourselves and enjoy being able to carb our keg in 24 hours. Check it out! Brew On!

[@vladg5477]

Awesome video. Thank you guys!

[@melissaflatley864]

It's just like coming in to talk to you. Cheers guys! 🍻

[@BrewChatterTV]

Thank You! Happy you liked it. Cheers!

[@MrJordonmcgee]

This is definitely the long way of doing this. You can set your psi to serving pressure right from the start, and it will be fully carbonated in 5 hours.

[@GREEENZO]

Sorry, I’m late, but should it be serving pressure + wetting pressure? Or just serving pressure?

[@Dabby724]

or just set it to 30 psi and force carb it.

[@MrJordonmcgee]

Set that sucker to 13 psi, wait five hours and boom. I have recently had better luck starting at a lower psi, and gradually increasing it over the 5 hour period, but you gotta baby sit it. The whole point of this is convenience and speed. But ya, straight to your serving psi, wait 5 hours and it will be ready to drink.

[@Dabby724]

@@MrJordonmcgee I absolutely agree this is the most efficient and quickest way to have the best carbonation in your brew. But what happens when you have a party and forget to make an extra barrel and you don't have 5 hours?

[@Se9n.]

Great video, i always wondered about the initial pressure procedure

[@BrewChatterTV]

Glad it was helpful! Cheers!

[@markdougan591]

Great video !!! I see that there seem to be either .5 Micron or 2 Micron carb stones- is one better than the other or are there two different applications ? Thanks !!!

[@BrewChatterTV]

Thanks Mark! We like the 2 micron stone for carbonation - seems to put a little more CO2 in the beer faster. That being said, they both work great.

[@lowlife_rabbit_mk2]

I have done it exactly like you. Little head pressure (20psi) to make sure the lid is sealed, then lower to 2psi and put the CO2 on the lid. the head pressure pushes beer into my co2 line at first. Dont we want to keep our CO2 lines dry? Now I feel like I have to push 20psi, seal lid, purge, then connect to lid...

[@BrewChatterTV]

Yes, you definitely want to keep your CO2 lines clean. If it's going back through the coupler into your CO2 lines, that just means that the keg has more pressure than what you're pushing in and it's trying to equalize by going back out into the CO2 side. Once you're sealed, try bleeding off a little then putting on your CO2 so that it doesn't shoot back through. Cheers!

[@riseley1]

How do you get the lid to pressurize at 2 psi? The lid takes at least 10 psi to form a seal, and then the when I move the gas line to the carbonation stone connection on the lid and drop the pressure to 2 psi the beer backs up into the gas line. This is with a new lid gasket/O ring, too. When I release the pressure to get the beer back out of the line my lid starts leaking again. I get the logic of what you’re doing here, I just have no idea how you’re doing it with old kegs (like mine).

[@davidr6667]

There will be a pressure drop across the stone. Should that not be considered when selecting pressure… for example if it takes 3 psi for the CO2 to start passing through the stone, should we add that onto the serving pressure otherwise it will come in undercarbed.

[@madssrensen1181]

Why do you start at 2psi rather than just do serving pressure?

[@BrewChatterTV]

With a carbonation stone, the idea is to get the CO2 into solution without it off gassing at the top of the beverage. The idea is that you start small and as you raise the pressure, you're compounding on the CO2 that is being absorbed. Think of using a carb stone as a close mimic to the way that yeast produce CO2 when bottle conditioning. That being said, you can just set the regulator to serving pressure and it will work (we've tested this, too!), it just won't be as efficient a method for getting CO2 into solution.

[@joshuapinter]

THANK YOU FOR EXPLAINING THIS and thank you for asking the question.

[@spseale]

Great information. Do you guys sell the 2 micron carb stones/caps? If not, who carries those?

[@BrewChatterTV]

We absolutely do! brewchatter.com/products/carbonation-lid We're looking forward to having them back in stock June 2021!!

[@daviddallas4607]

You said you sometimes leave the carbonation lid on after the beer is carbonated. What would happen if I leave the lid & stone hooked up with serving pressure still applied? Will it over carbonate while serving?

[@BrewChatterTV]

It definitely can, but as long as you pay attention to your serving pressure and don't over pressurize, in our experience it's usually fine. That being said, leaving the carb lid attached for the life of the keg is really better for things like nitro coffee and kegged cocktails.

[@fredfosdick4093]

Is the procedure the same for carbonating cider?

[@BrewChatterTV]

Yes, the procedure is the same for cider, although cider can take longer to carbonate! Cheers!

[@mattdixon4236]

I’m using one of these lids on my nitro cold brew setup, and I keep getting liquid coming into the gas line when I disconnect it to change the keg, or when I change my nitrogen tank. Any idea what I’m doing wrong? Thanks!

[@BrewChatterTV]

Hey Matt! Sounds like you're getting pressure pushed back into the line because your pressure in the keg is higher than the pressure going into it. All you have to do is bleed the keg when you make the switch, and you'll be rock and roll! I hope that helps! Cheers!

[@mattdixon4236]

Thanks for the reply! That makes sense. Should I be bleeding the keg periodically to make sure the pressure in the keg is staying lower than the pressure setting on the nitrogen tank? I appreciate your help!

[@BrewChatterTV]

@@mattdixon4236 I hope it helps! Anytime! You should only have to bleed it a little when you make a switch to a new nitrogen tank. Nitrogen doesn't go into solution, so it shouldn't build pressure while the tank is still attached.

[@Chris-dp9cr]

Any issues using gelatin with this setup?

[@BrewChatterTV]

Nope, no issues with gelatin at all! It will act exactly the same in this setup.

[@anthonysavo764]

Can this be used with a nitro set up?

[@BrewChatterTV]

Awesome question!! You see this lid used with nitrogen often, although the nitrogen won't go into solution like CO2. We've seen many cold brew coffee users prefer this to just adding nitrogen as head pressure, and it should work the same with beer to help mix the nitrogen throughout the beer better! Cheers!

[@imnille3989]

Hahaha

[@michaelroberts6299]

Roll it round on the floor! just keep it in the boot of your car