Just kegged a 2.5 gl Pale Ale with 2oz of corn sugar and was wondering how long others have waited before tapping? I’m thinking 10 days for natural carbination then another 10 in the fridge before tapping.
Why would you use corn sugar to carb if you are kegging? Are you not using Co2 in your keg?
JUST READ THE SUBJECT LINE AGAIN… I would think your timing would be about right. Maybe a little longer to mellow out the flavor but it would still be drinkable.
It’s pretty much the same as a bottle, so 10-14 days ought to do it. Did you hit the headspace with CO2 to seal the lid?
Yeah, purged the air out with 16g co2 cartrige and sealed the lid tight. I never tried the corn sugar priming keg route before but thought I’d give it a try with my new little 2.5 gl kegs. I realize it’s going to be trial and error getting the right carbination but I can live with that.
When I used to bottle condition I noticed a difference in conditioning time for various yeasts. Ales were quick - i’d give them 2-3 weeks for best results (though 10-14 days should be enough).
I always found the saflager yeast took a little longer and might give it a full 5 or 6 weeks.
Though most natural carbination would tend to be done for ales anyway.
I usually wait at least a couple weeks. I prime all my kegs (except lagers) as I’ve got enough kegs in the pipeline that it is usually around a month or two before a keg is going to be on tap. I figure I get carbonation for virtually free (sugar is cheap) and the kegs are just sitting there anyways, no need shake my keg like some sort of angry beer hulk 
I almost always prime with an ounce or two of white table sugar. I do add some water and heat it up to make a syrup. It will not foam if you have some CO2 still in solution. I also dry hop in the keg. I think it depends on the gravity. The beer will be ready to drink in 10 days, but should continue to mature as long as you can keep it cool. A 1.043 pale ale is really good at 3-4 weeks. A 1.050-55 might taste better at 4-6 weeks. This is all subjective of course. A porter or stout would probably taste best after a few weeks. I also don’t understand why more people don’t naturally carbonate in the keg. I usually only force carbonate my lagers because I am ready to lager them and not disturb them.
Two weeks??? I force carbonate all of my beers with ‘set and forget’ and it only takes three to four days!!! Even less time if I’m gently carbonating a Bitter to traditional levels!
So, since I don’t have the space for refrigeration of kegs for force carbonation and conditioning, I could naturally carbonate a 5 gal keg right?
I would just have to purge the oxygen out of the keg, then as the beer is served, add more CO2 to propel it and take up the empty head space. Could this all be done with the 16gm soda keg charger?
[quote=“ibeentired”]Could this all be done with the 16gm soda keg charger?[/quote]If you drink it all in one night, are careful with the CO2, and use a short beer line, you can probably get it done with one cartridge. If you don’t empty the keg the first night, you’ll have to re-pressurize it to keep the CO2 in solution in the remaining beer and that’ll take a cartridge. This is based on limited experience with them, though, so maybe someone else will have specific info.
Makes sense. A little cartridge wouldn’t hold that much gas, say if I only got through half a keg.
Didn’t think of that. Thanks.
I use them quite often. No need to drink it all in one night, just be sure it has enough pressure to serve and it will have enough pressure to hold the co2 in solution. You may need 2 cartridges to dispense the whole keg. Also, make sure you don’t let the pressure get too low or else you might lose your seal.
[quote=“ipa”] just be sure it has enough pressure to serve and it will have enough pressure to hold the co2 in solution.[/quote]This would depend on your beer line resistance - I have about 3psi resistance in mine, so when I use the cartridge I have to pump the keg back up to 12 psi to keep the leftover beer carbed.
That is a very good bit of advice.
