Carbonating in a keg then serving under CO2

[David Woods]

I plan on making a few brews then kegging and carbonating in the keg as I would with bottling. I want to have a couple of kegs in stock ready to put in the fridge and connect to CO2.

Should I carbonate at the same rate I would have in bottles? - I use the batch method with dextrose, or is there something I need to be aware of. I was considering slightly under carbing and bumping up with CO2 if it needs it.

When I am ready to serve from the keg in the fridge I assume there will initially be enough pressure to serve or should I connect the gas straight away or wait until the pressure gets a bit lower. Or should the gas been connected and left for a while to settle.

I want to have a couple of brew days and get a couple of kegs ready in stock (for weeks not months).

Any help would be great.

 

[Twostage]

Yes, carbonation is carbonation, same amount of priming.

Note that carbonation pressure is higher than serving pressure so you will probably have to vent some pressure for serving.

 

[Stu]

Do you need to prime in a corny keg? I thought the point was, you could leave it flat and the CO2 would carbonate it anyway.

 

[tigertim]

Do you need to prime in a corny keg? I thought the point was, you could leave it flat and the CO2 would carbonate it anyway.

I think it's probably personal choice. I tend to force-carbonate with CO2 because it's quick and easy, theoretically creates less sediment in the keg and means the beer can start to clear sooner, but some like to do it the traditional way and that's fine.

 

[David Woods]

Thanks - I wanted to store the kegs for a while then put in the fridge connected to CO2 - hadn't thought about the extra sediment caused by the secondary fermentation

 

[tigertim]

In fairness, you're always likely to get some sediment, so dumping the first pint or so may be necessary if you're dispensing from a rigid dip tube which draws from the bottom of the keg (as opposed to a floating one which draws clear beer from nearer the surface).

I'd not leave transferring the kegs to the the fridge until the last minute though, as moving them may rouse any sediment. Additionally, spending more time at fridge temperatures will generally encourage the beer to clear more quickly.

Also worth considering is that the ability of the beer to absorb CO2 increases with lower temperatures, so you may find that a pressurised keg at ambient temperatures appears to "lose" pressure when it's refrigerated, because the beer has absorbed more CO2. So I'd personally want to make sure the kegs are connected to CO2 at serving pressure during the chilling period if possible

 

[fluketamer]

transfering beer used to scare me due to fears of oxidation but with closed transfers its really not an issue. i have found using PET bottles with carb caps and tee pieces or the new oxebars you can easily transfer beer to a serving vessel without oxidation using the keg as a brightening tank and leaving all sediment behind in the keg.

i have made crystal clear beers that way without filtration and that are 100 percent portable without getting cloudy after transport.

i have also used the carb caps to bottle crystal clear beer the same way.


like this :

 

[foxy]

I carbonate all my kegs with sugar and condition in the keg, I use half the amount as I would If I were bottling.