I have a couple of SMaSHes going and haven’t found much info on ferm & cond. times. They are Marris Otter/EKG (US-05) and Vienna/Fuggles (denny’s fav). My plan was 3 weeks primary then sugar prime the keg (with half normal amount sugar) and condition for 3 weeks. Just wondering if i could maybe do 2 & 2??
OG and yeast strain are what matters… and what you want the final product to taste like. If working for a pretty neutral yeast profile, which is what I want from a SMaSH, you want to ferment on the colder side. I’d use I pretty neutral yeast and ferment as close to 60F as possible.
As far as timing… again, OG and yeast strain are what matter.
Question, why do you say you’ll be priming with 1/2 the sugar?
[quote=“dobe12”]OG and yeast strain are what matters… and what you want the final product to taste like. If working for a pretty neutral yeast profile, which is what I want from a SMaSH, you want to ferment on the colder side. I’d use I pretty neutral yeast and ferment as close to 60F as possible.
As far as timing… again, OG and yeast strain are what matter.
[color=#BF80FF]1.049 for MO/EKG with 05
1.043 for Vienna/Fuggle with Denny’s fav
i have temp control[/color]
Question, why do you say you’ll be priming with 1/2 the sugar?[/quote]
I’m no expert but from what i have read that is standard practice when priming kegs
Depends on how you carb the keg. If your force carbing with co2, don’t add any priming sugar. If your going to use priming sugar, then use the full amount from a carb calculator and leave the co2 disconnected until carbination is complete.
I don’t prime with sugar in a keg, I carb over 3 days (30, 20, 10 method), but I don’t see why only 1/2 the sugar would be needed. X volume of beer needs X amount of sugar at X temperature to carb to a specific volume of CO2. Kegging or bottling shouldn’t matter as far as I know. You’re still trying to get 5 gallons of beer carbonated to a specific level regardless if it’s all in one keg or in multiple bottles. But again, I don’t prime with sugar in my kegs so maybe I’m missing something.
With those lower gravities I’m sure you could keg after two weeks. Three wouldn’t hurt, but they should be ready to go after only 2 weeks and maybe even soon. My SOP is just to let most beers sit for 3 weeks. I’m not usually in a rush.
[quote=“dobe12”]I don’t prime with sugar in a keg, I carb over 3 days (30, 20, 10 method), but I don’t see why only 1/2 the sugar would be needed. X volume of beer needs X amount of sugar at X temperature to carb to a specific volume of CO2. Kegging or bottling shouldn’t matter as far as I know. You’re still trying to get 5 gallons of beer carbonated to a specific level regardless if it’s all in one keg or in multiple bottles. But again, I don’t prime with sugar in my kegs so maybe I’m missing something.
With those lower gravities I’m sure you could keg after two weeks. Three wouldn’t hurt, but they should be ready to go after only 2 weeks and maybe even soon. My SOP is just to let most beers sit for 3 weeks. I’m not usually in a rush.[/quote]
This is off the top of my head without any verification. But, I think it has to do with the ratio of total volume: head space. With a keg there is less head space relative to the total of the head space in 54 bottles. So you are supposed to use less sugar for a keg.
If you use priming sugar (or malt extract, stored wort, honey, etc) in a keg you’ll get additional sediment from the priming fermentation. It will also take longer to carbonate and delay you drinking your beer.
Once I invested in kegs I wasn’t about to put up with the delays and additional sediment required to prime a keg with sugar. Keg it, chill it, and hit it with 30 psi CO2 as dobe says. It’s quick and simple.
[quote=“Old_Dawg”]If you use priming sugar (or malt extract, stored wort, honey, etc) in a keg you’ll get additional sediment from the priming fermentation. It will also take longer to carbonate and delay you drinking your beer.
Once I invested in kegs I wasn’t about to put up with the delays and additional sediment required to prime a keg with sugar. Keg it, chill it, and hit it with 30 psi CO2 as dobe says. It’s quick and simple.[/quote]
+1.
30psi for 24hrs
20psi for 24hrs
10psi for 24hrs
Start tasting and adjusting pressure as needed.
good suggestions but i have several kegs and two taps. i like to condition my beers for (usually 3 weeks) anyway before going in the keg so why not carb 'em while they just sitting there? but occassionally i empty one sooner than expected and just wanted to know if i could shove one in there a little sooner
