OVHA Chat

When I post flavor and desire to carbonate something like Meade I struggle to carbonate properly. I am in the middle of a really good-looking perry with pot sorbate and slightly sweetened with honey. It is in the serving unit at 39 deg and been hit with 20-25 psi CO2. Also have a reconstructed cherry Meade down from about 12-14 ABV to about 7 (sorbate added) being carbonated in the same way. I will bottle both.
How do I know if I am adequately carbonated?

The 3 variables of carbonation are time, temperature, and pressure (there are more I've learned over the years, but makes for a rather lengthy discussion). The only linear calculation in the variables is time. The easiest, and most repeatable thing is to keep the beer at serving temperature and pressure for a couple of weeks. Just like bottle conditioning.
Changing any of the variables changes everything. You can do it quicker with colder temp, agitation, higher pressure. There is no chart that I'm aware of that you can reference to come up with the perfect carbonation level.
I know that's not the answer you want. So here's my guess to start: take a cold cornies with a ball lock fitting. Hook it up to your co2 tank. While hooked up adjust your pressure to 30 psi. Lay cornie on its side while still hooked up and take your foot and roll the cornie with your foot back and forth heel to toe for 15 min. You'll hear the co2 bubbling in rapidly. After 15 min of agitation. Unhook co2 tank let beer rest for 10 min in refrigerator, reduce head pressure to serving pressure. Let rest another 10 min then taste test sample. That got me close if the cornie was really full. If you have more head space, decrease rolling time dramatically. A half full cornie will on take a couple of min.