Question about kegging

[kRooGa]

Hi all. I've always bottled my beer in the past, but have decided to keg it instead. I've got a bog standard pressure barrel with a s30 cap. My question is, I've but the beer in the barrel with 100g of sugar to condition it. Do I need to inject one of those little co2 bulbs straight away or leave it until it's half empty.

Thanks in advance :-)

 

[Racinsnake]

Nah, leave her be until it starts to slow down coming out the tap, usually half way ish although Iv had a full barrel without adding Co2. It's mainly to stop O2 glugging in as the pressure drops inside.

Class dismissed :lol:

 

[Spapro]

No you don't need to inject the CO2 bulb until the keg is half drunk.

Pressure Barrels can be a bit temperamental while you get used to them but assuming you have a good seal with the lid then as the yeast munches through the 100g of priming sugar you added then Co2 is naturally produced and the pressure will build in the barrel resulting in fizzy beer.

Worth having a drip tray under the barrel while it carbs up - they have been known to leak a little when the pressure builds, best to avoid a sticky, beery mess on the carpet !

Needs 2 weeks in the warm before moving somewhere cooler for week or 2 before trying the beer.

 

[kRooGa]

Thanks gents. I'll leave it alone :

 

[keat64]

I was always of the understanding that a squirt of CO2 would help to expell oxygen, which could be bad for the beer.
And I usually give mine a little squirt once i start drawing off the beer.

Open a bottle of cola, notice how the bubbles rise.
That's because there is no pressure inside the container to hold the co2 in the liquid.
Pour a little and recap, notice how the co2 in the cola is still being exhausted until the pressure in the bottle builds up enough to hold it.

This is happening with your beer everytime you draw any off.

On that basis I always give my barrel a little squirt after drawing off a few pints.

 

[mgreenough]

I squirt co2 in straight after kegging as it helps me find out if my seal has buckled/caught causing a bad seal. As I once left a stout for a week and then found it had not carbed due to overtightening the lid. So I inject just for peace of mind.

 

[Mickeywheelspin]

I squirt co2 in straight after kegging as it helps me find out if my seal has buckled/caught causing a bad seal. As I once left a stout for a week and then found it had not carbed due to overtightening the lid. So I inject just for peace of mind.

Ditto - did this last night, but it's much easier if you're using a Hambleden Bard valve and bottle rather than disposable bulbs. If using disposable CO2 bulbs I'd just leave it without adding any CO2.

 

[Cwrw666]

If you're going to pressurise the barrel with CO2 then most of the gas produced by priming is going to blow straight out of the pressure relief valve. A lot does anyway which is why I've found PBs work better with 4 gallons of beer in them rather than 5 (so I usually bottle a gallons worth). Also, squirting CO2 into a sealed barrel doesn't get rid of the oxygen,it just squishes it up a bit. I suppose you could have the cap not quite sealed so that when you squirt CO2 in it blows the oxygen out or at least some of it.
personally I rely on priming and never had any oxygen related problems even with only 4 gallons in the PB. When pressure runs out I take the cap off, chuck in more sugar and leave a few days to re prime itself.

 

[Godsdog]

I was always of the understanding that a squirt of CO2 would help to expell oxygen, which could be bad for the beer.
And I usually give mine a little squirt once i start drawing off the beer.

Open a bottle of cola, notice how the bubbles rise.
That's because there is no pressure inside the container to hold the co2 in the liquid.
Pour a little and recap, notice how the co2 in the cola is still being exhausted until the pressure in the bottle builds up enough to hold it.

This is happening with your beer everytime you draw any off.

On that basis I always give my barrel a little squirt after drawing off a few pints.

Isn't C02 heavier than 02? Which means after filling the keg its sitting under the oxygen so will start to contaminate the beer when the C02 starts running out,when I keg I gas it a little at the start with the lid not tight to drive out the oxygen and tighten the lid while the gas is flowing

 

[jeg3]

My process:

Fill the keg, loosely put the lid on and put a squirt of co2 in to purge the air.

Tighten the lid up, squirt of co2 to check for obvious leaks.

Leave for a couple of days. Undo the lid to release excess pressure (i find the PRV Setting on the king keg results in an over pressurised beer when its full)

Re-pressurise and continue conditioning

 

[MrDasherD]

Never felt the need to purge a PB of air and never had a problem. I will squirt some co2 in when the pressure drops (or sometimes re-prime) so there will always be some co2 between the beer and the o2 ... until I need to start tilting the PB when I will release the cap to vent it, but will then probably finish it within the session!

My cheap PBs will inflate and lift their feet off the surface after a couple days which confirms no gas leak is present.

Each to their own :

 

[Racinsnake]

My process:

Fill the keg, loosely put the lid on and put a squirt of co2 in to purge the air.

Tighten the lid up, squirt of co2 to check for obvious leaks.

Leave for a couple of days. Undo the lid to release excess pressure (i find the PRV Setting on the king keg results in an over pressurised beer when its full)

Re-pressurise and continue conditioning

Could it be "over pressurised" because your giving it a squirt of Co2 before it's had secondary ferment??

 

[jeg3]

Yes, this is why I vent it after a couple of days. The primary aim of keg conditioning is to carbonate, which needs the keg to be sealed.

I like to leave my beer to condition for a few weeks, I will then either bottle it or drink it. It takes me a while to drink and I've found that if I don't purge the air it can be detrimental to the beer over time.

 

[Racinsnake]

Hhmmmmm

 

[jeg3]

It's just my way of ensuring the beer carbonates and that it's protected from oxidation.

Other methods work perfectly well, I just know that this works

 

[mgreenough]

Adding co2 at the start should not affect carbonation as the sugar will still be consumed by the yeast pressure or no pressure. Also they cannot over pressurise due to the relief valve in the cap.