Specific Gravity at time of Kegging and Carbonation

[jonypiana]

Hello,

I've got three carboys that I would like to free up. They read at
1.008, 1.01 and 1.014. I'm going to put them into 5 gallon cornelius
kegs. Will this produce to much carbonation considering their current
SG readings? Aslo, I will be bottling some of this cider. What is the
maximum SG reading at the time of bottling without worrying about
bombs. (I wont be using champagne bottles)

Cheers.

Jonny
Barnard ,VT

[Nat West]

Not using champagne bottles doesn't tell us what you *will* be using. So what is that?

R.e. carboys and kegs, you can rack into a keg at nearly any gravity. Kegs are designed for a lot of pressure (130 psi) and have a pressure relief valve in case the pressure gets up there. I racked some cider in October for the same purposes, SG varying from 1.030 to 1.008, topped with CO2. I quickly yank the relief valve ring every month or so to ensure they're maintaining pressure. With a keg you don't even need to rack before drinking, just toss out (or be brave) the first couple pints of sediment. That's not to say a subsequent racking isn't a good idea. I do plan to rack into clean kegs before dispensing.

-Nat West, Portland Oregon

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[Andrew Lea]

According to the figures I have calculated for my book and website, the
*approximate* relationship is as follows:

SG 1.005 Carbonation is 8 g/l (45 psi at 15C) Safe bottle is heavy
weight beer bottle with crown cap

SG 1.010 Carbonation is 14 g/l (90 psi at 15C) Safe bottle is full
weight champagne

SG 1.015 Carbonation is 20 g/l (135 psi at 15C) There is *no safe bottle*

That assumes that all the sugar ferments out (which it may not, due to
CO2 inhibition, but you can't be sure of that). For practical sensory
reasons, there is absolutely no point in over-carbonating a cider in my
view. It will just gush up your arm to no purpose ;-)

Andrew

--
Wittenham Hill Cider Page
http://www.cider.org.uk

[Nat West]

On Thu, Jan 20, 2011 at 2:37 AM, Andrew Lea <y...@cider.org.uk> wrote:

For practical sensory reasons, there is absolutely no point in over-carbonating a cider in my view. It will just gush up your arm to no purpose ;-)

Andrew mentions carbonation levels for bottles, but there is no reason why you can't regularly release the head pressure on still-fermenting keg of cider put in at 1.030 or whatever. Jonny, you would be advised to separate and clarify these two questions into one about bottles and one about kegs since the approach is very different for each.

-Nat West, Portland Oregon