Glossary
Forced carbonation
Dissolving CO₂ into beer under pressure from a gas cylinder rather than producing it by fermentation.
Also called force carbonation, force carbing.
Fast, precise and fully controllable, which is why it is standard for kegged and most canned beer. The carbonation level is set by the pressure and temperature at which the beer is held, following a well-established equilibrium relationship.
Whether force-carbonated beer differs perceptibly from naturally conditioned beer is disputed. Claims about smaller bubbles from natural conditioning are widely repeated and not well demonstrated; what is clearer is that bottle-conditioned beer contains live yeast that continues to affect it, which force carbonation does not.
Related
- Bottle conditioning — The natural alternative.
- Volumes of CO₂ — How the level is expressed.
More vocabulary
Arrested fermentation · Barrel ageing · Batch sparging · Biotransformation · Blending · Bottle conditioning · Bottom fermentation · Burtonisation · Cask conditioning · Centrifugation
See every term on the glossary index.
Last reviewed 2026-08-16.