Corny kegs

[jambop]

Natural carbonation is better than force carbonation, though. Get the foam and flavour benefits from the former, and the convenience and shelf life of keg. Worth the effort. IMO.

I have gone for a couple of 9.5L kegs and will do a natural conditioning. What gravity do you close your spunding valve to carbonate?

 

[Laner]

I have gone for a couple of 9.5L kegs and will do a natural conditioning. What gravity do you close your spunding valve to carbonate?

If you fit one it will need to be closed from the outset, you can then read the pressure as it builds and set accordingly.

Or just don’t fit one

 

[Sadfield]

If you fit one it will need to be closed from the outset, you can then read the pressure as it builds and set accordingly.

I'd wait 48 hrs if fermenting fully in a keg to allow the initial bulk of ester production. And also purging of the head space. If priming fermented ale with sugar, or, if racking from a fermenter part way through fermentation, then as above.

It dependent on desired carbonation level and temperature. So, use the same calculator as with force carbonation, to get the right headspace pressure.
https://www.brewersfriend.com/keg-carbonation-calculator/

 

[Laner]

I'd wait 48 hrs if fermenting fully in a keg to allow the initial bulk of ester production. And also purging of the head space. If priming fermented ale with sugar, or, if racking from a fermenter part way through fermentation, then as above.

It dependent on desired carbonation level and temperature. So, use the same calculator as with force carbonation, to get the right headspace pressure.
https://www.brewersfriend.com/keg-carbonation-calculator/

I understood his question to just be about carbonation after kegging

 

[jambop]

Yes I don't think I will be fermenting in the keg for English style beers. The brew supply shop I buy from say not more than 4g of sucrose per litre for carbonation in the keg but them being French I thought to get the advice of English brewers. I use 2.5g/L in my mini kegs but they will not take any real pressure... beer if fine though.

 

[crescent city Mike]

Natural carbonation is better than force carbonation, though.

You might wish to reconsider this. Carbonation is carbonation. The only real difference is the formation of carbonic acid.

CO2 (carbon dioxide) when mixed with the water in the beer converts to H2CO3 (carbonic acid). Many commercial brewers use forced carbonation in a Brite tank. Most home brewers use forced carbonation in kegs. The beer clears and the CO2 converts simultaneously.

The same process occurs when “natural” carbonation is applied. The krausen or priming sugars re-ferment to produce CO2 which converts in the same way. Most, if not all home brewers have noticed this conversion in their beer; especially when it has been bottle conditioned. After a week, the beer seems carbonated but doesn’t produce a good stand of foam. After 2½ to 3 weeks however, the same batch of beer exhibits a nice head (assuming the beer is properly made.) This is due to the conversion of carbon dioxide to carbonic acid. The speed at which this occurs is a bit dependent upon the pH level of the beer.

 

[phildo79]

Apologies if this has already been mentioned but how are you transferring from the FV to the serving keg? For the benefit of the beer, you will want to avoid as much oxygen contact as possible. Are you adding sugar to the serving keg and then purging it before doing an oxygen free transfer? When I started kegging, I used sugar to carb the first couple of times. It's a faff and takes twice as long to achieve the same outcome. My hop forward beers were only good for about a week until I started doing oxygen free transfers.

 

[Sadfield]

You might wish to reconsider this. Carbonation is carbonation. The only real difference is the formation of carbonic acid.

You may wish to reconsider that one is fermentation that has by-products and one isn't. Two vastly different processes.

Thread 'Natural carbonation superior to force carbonation.' https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/natural-carbonation-superior-to-force-carbonation.104938/

It isn't a coincidence that the most success US craft brewery see this, UK cask brewers, Trappiste Monks, Lambic brewers and many German brewers value refermentation at packaging.

 

[Stu]

As an aside going back to the point about forced vs conditioned carbonation, I bottled some of my stout and primed it using a little sugar - enough to give a decent sparkle and head. I threw the rest into the corny keg and force carbed it.

I'm sorry, but for me, the forced carb is far nicer. The secondary fermentation in the stout has made it much drier. I've found the same thing doing NEIPAs - they weren't as juicy.

Just be aware, it might suit some styles, but not others.