For my first keg I used a 3 gal keg and carbonated to ~2.5 vols. The rest of the 5 gal batch went in to bottles for conditioning to the same volume. I’ve got to say, while I love the ease of kegging, I prefer the body and flavor of the natural carbonation. I have read that it is possible to prime in the keg and still serve on tap. I also understand that the first pint or two are sacrificed due to the yeast and sediment in the bottom of the keg, but think that might be worth having, what I think, is better beer. My questions are: 1) How much priming sugar do I use? 2) When do I put pressure on the keg? 3) Do I just put ~5psi or so to serve?
Thanks.
:cheers:
There are different thoughts on this. Some say 3/4 cup (5oz) just like bottling.
Try 2/3 cup of sugar (or 3-4 oz). Put that in the kegs and rack the beer in. Then, add 30 psi of CO2 to set the lid seal. Remove the gas fitting and let the kegs sit for 2-3 weeks.
When ready to serve, have the CO2 pressure set as you normally would, 10-12psi. Based on line length and temp. You many need to bleed some CO2 out of the keg if it became over carbonated.
I use corn sugar to carbonate all of mine as I have four kegs and can only dispense one at a time. I use 2 oz. of sugar and takes three weeks same as bottling. I do release the pressure just before hooking up the gas. I dump the first glass. There’s not much extra yeast from the small amount of sugar.
I use 1/2 cup corn sugar to keg. I agree, natural carbing gives better mouth feel; softer, smoother, that’s why I still do it. I know weighing would be the more accurate way to go and maybe some day I’ll learn how many ounces equal my 1/2 cup, but it’s been working good for me. I don’t really know the science behind it, but you should use less when keg’n vs bottle’n. I boil the sugar in 1 cup water and after racking I only add serving pressure (10psi for me) to seal the keg. It’s probably even less psi because I don’t leave it on very long. I then shake it a bit and check for leaks.
You’ll see the color change as you tap, going from the yeasty slurry to your beer. After it sits for a while, it might happen again. I usually lose about 4 oz at the beginning of the first few sessions.
:cheers:
I don’t know what I’m doing so I trust the experts. NB has a priming calculator here on their website. I was amazed at the difference in carbonation depending on the style. So far I’ve used these amounts to keg prime and have seen an improvement in my beer. I like to have a couple of cornies on deck just in case. I dispense at between 6-8 with 5ft. lines and it seems to work for me.
Don’t use corn sugar. Why waste a good all malt beer by using that nonsense? I use 5/8 cup of dry malt extract. Boil it with a cup of water and then add into the keg before the beer. Seal it up and wait a week and a half to two weeks. Tap off the first pour or two without using any CO2. It may be a bit foamy at first but that will settle down after a few pours and then you can just use serving pressure. Works great and I have gotten a lot of compliments on my beer since I started using this method. Also when I clean the keg out after it is all consumed there is only a tiny bit of sediment in the bottom of the keg.
