Hi All, I’m about a week out from getting my freezer and picnic system up and carbonating. I have a batch in secondary that I need to get bottled or rather kegged. If I mix up my priming sugar, sanitize the corny, pitch the sugar and rack, is there any other step besides closing the lid and rocking it a bit? While it’s naturally carbing, will it pressurize and help seal the lid? Then I assume all I’ll need to do is hook up the CO2 to preferred volume and be good to go?
Thanks, Mike
Add the sugar and then rack the beer on top, close the lid, then cycle between pressurizing with CO2 and pulling the relief valve a couple of times to flush, then pressurize again to seal the lid.
Great thanks, I will do this. So assuming another week before my freezer and equipment is all set up, all I will need to do is gas to desired volume and I should have a drinkable beer?
My keg kit just arrived today, so i’m wondering why you would want to naturally carb the beer in your corny when you can just force carbonate it??
I have a batch that’s been in 2ndAry for too long and I think I have to bottle it or keg. I won’t have my system set up until maybe next week if I’m lucky. So I thought I’d get a jump on that batch of beer and condition in the corny.
So I guess a good question to ask is this; how long can a low gravity APA sit in a secondary before bottled or kegged?
[quote=“Steppedonapoptop”]So I guess a good question to ask is this; how long can a low gravity APA sit in a secondary before bottled or kegged?[/quote]It can sit for a long long time depending upon the style. I personally would stay away from adding priming sugar as it will give more sediment in the bottom of the keg. The beer can go into the keg now and sit until you get CO2.
Thank you for the info. I am so “hopped” up on kegging I can’t stand it. Unfortunately some family committments are cutting into my tinkering time both this weekend and next.
I naturally carb all my kegs since I’ve got a good pipeline of beers. Rather than have to burst carb or screw around shaking my keg all I have to do when a keg kicks is thrown the next one on tap and it is ready to go. Also means my 5 lbs CO2 lasts a really long time, right now dispensing the 17th and 18th keg from the same CO2 tank.
Flip, does the crud at the bottom of the keg ever clog anything? How many beers do you have to dispense to get rid of the crud?
Nope, never clogged a dip tube. Haven’t cut or bent them either. Usually only takes a 1/2 pint to get rid of the yeast and then the rest of the beers from that keg are crud free.
Will say that it also helps having the spare fridge (chest freezer running at 40 degrees) where I keep kegs ‘on deck’, really helps make sure all the yeast are solidly on the bottom before I put the beer on tap.
Very interesting and helpful information.
I can’t remember the last time I used priming sugar. :?:
Force carbing is the only way to go.
One other thing that I do in order to minimize sediment in the first beer or two from my keg is to place the secondary into the keg fridge for a few days before you siphon the beer into the keg. The beer will clear up quite a bit in the secondary vessel, thus minimizing sediment in the keg and ultimately your glass.
Also, if you “cold crash” the secondary (or the primary, if you skip the secondary) this will allow for chill haze to form. If you use gelating for additional clarity, it’s important to develop the chill haze BEFORE you gel. Since I want to save my yeasts, I add the gelatin to the bottom of the keg, rack the beer on top of it from my cold-crashed primary (skip secondary), seal it up, purge o2, reseal, then roll it or invert it a few times before hooking up the gas for “set it and forget it” force carbonation. The gelatin probably gets mixed well enough from the racking, but this ensures that it comes in contact with all the suspended yeast, haze, etc.
Being new to kegging, I have a question concerning some of the comments on this thread concerning conditioning in the Keg. Many of the posters indicated that they purged the oxygen off of their keg and I understand the reasoning for doing so. However, I thought that the yeast that is remaining needed oxygen and sugar for production of the CO2. Doesn’t purging the oxygen hurt or at least slow down the natural carbonizing of the beer?
[quote=“Jethro2”]Being new to kegging, I have a question concerning some of the comments on this thread concerning conditioning in the Keg. Many of the posters indicated that they purged the oxygen off of their keg and I understand the reasoning for doing so. However, I thought that the yeast that is remaining needed oxygen and sugar for production of the CO2. Doesn’t purging the oxygen hurt or at least slow down the natural carbonizing of the beer?[/quote]At this point in the beer stage, introduction of oxygen will be detrimental to the beer. It can cause the beer to taste like wet cardboard. The yeast are healthy enough at this point that they do not require oxygen to keep working.
Yeast doesn’t need oxygen to turn sugar into alcohol and CO2. The yeast uses the oxygen in the beginning of your fermentation to multiply. After it finishes the available oxygen and multiplication, your new bigger yeast colony can get to work chowing down on sugar.
Very useful information! I’m fairly new to this homebrew thing, so I try to soak up as much info as possible.
Sounds like your approach works. I’ve never cared about chill haze. My process eliminates any sediment from getting into my glass - sediment you can see or taste. I know that nowadays the trend is to move away from a secondaries (http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/second … gh-176837/) but I do it just so there is little-to-no sediment in the keg and in the first few glasses of beer.
Like you, I harvest my yeasts from the primary.
