I need to get a beer carbed up in the keg in either 3 or 4 days max before I have to bottle it for a comp. I was hoping someone has a tried and true method for set and forget pressures and duration to make that work. I was thinking 30 psi for 24 hr then 20 psi for 24 hr then 15 psi for 24 hr then at 12 psi for last 24hr. It's an IPA in a fridge set at 43 degrees.
I've tried that style, but I had the best luck so far chilling the keg to 38F or so, checking a carb chart for the temp I need to get it to 2.4 Vol of CO2, and then setting my regulator to that psi and just rocking the thing back and forth for about 15 minutes until it stops absorbing. You can't overcarb this way since you can only absorb up to what it says on the chart, and it gets done quite quickly. You need to let the beer sit for a few hours before you try and pour, preferably overnight, but it's still quicker than trying to blast it with 40 psi or so.
Transfer about a gallon to another keg, set your desired pressure and it'll be ready in less than two days.
One watch out is if you keg hop with dental floss attached to a worm clamp on the pressure relief valve stem, it's pretty easy to tear the floss this way. Otherwise rocking at your serving pressure works great to speed up the process in my experience
