You are here

How To Carbonate A Beer

goodfoodlover's picture

Are you looking for ways to carbonate a beer? Here are few methods of carbonating a beer. 

Carbonation is a process in which carbon dioxide is suspended in a liquid; this phenomenon makes drinks like beer, soda and cola fizzy.

Carbon dioxide levels are stated as volumes of gas at standard temperature and pressure per volume. 

Carbon dioxide not only contributes to perceive fullness, it also enhances foaming potential and acts as a flavor enhancer. It also plays an important role in extending shelf life of the product. 

There are two ways of carbonating a beer 

1. Natural carbonation 

2. Forced Carbonation 

Let me get into the details of the above carbonation methods. 

Natural Carbonation: This is one of the methods of carbonating a beer and this process involves transferring beer to the final containers like bottles, kegs or casks and adding small but measured amount of sugar before sealing. There is an adequate amount of yeast that remains suspended in the beer so this little bit of sugar will cause fermentation that helps in carbonating a beer. This method does not contribute to the alcoholic content of the beer. The second bi-product which is carbon dioxide, has no place to go, so it is absorbed by the beer. 

The above method is popular among home brewers who don’t have the equipment to force carbonate the beer and it is a correct way of carbonating beers like Hafe-Weizen. 

Forced Carbonation: This is another method of carbonating a beer. In this method beer is filtered and pasteurized before packaging. This filteration and pasteurization process removes yeast present in a suspension and it results in a more stable product as compared to natural fermentation. 

So, if any body wants to carbonate a beer they can follow the above methods. 

Image courtesy: 

Rate This

Your rating: None
Average: 4.6 (2 votes)