D*Bo

Recipes 

Well since I got a free keg-o-rator with a couple of bottles (CO2) I figure it's about time to pick up some cornies and start kegging.

So I had a question about conditionoing. There are some beer styles that fare better by bottle conditioning, there are certian flavors that develop from bottle conditioning that keg beer doesn't have. Can you get similar flavors from conditioning in the keg instead of force carbonating?


Thanks,
D*Bo

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PrimaryBaltica 9
Secondary British all Amarillo IPA, Calypso
Conditioning Decoction maddness, FlyingJess Ale
Drinking Oatmeal Chocolate Stout, Oaked Bourbon Chocolate Stout, Dry Mead)
Up NextScottish ale and Dopple Bock

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sonvolt

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yep - a corny is just one huge bottle, if you treat it as such.

bikebryan

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With one BBIIGG difference - you still need a CO2 source. Why?

Cornies are notorious for their lids not sealing unless you pressurize the keg. If you just prime, rack to the keg and place the lid, in a few weeks you'll have a keg with lots of sediment in the bottom and no carbonation, as it will all leak out of the lid.

To seal the keg after racking, you really should hook up a CO2 source and pressurize it. That way the lid will seal. At that point you can let the beer condition naturally it that's what you desire. I've experimented with a big batch, cask conditioning half and force carbonating the other half. I couldn't tell the difference, nor could any of my friends. The difference I COULD tell was that it was more work priming, just to get those first few draws of nasty sediment filled beer. Hardly scientific, I know, but there you go.

ajf

Recipes 

Why do you need a CO2 source? To dispense the beer. Natural carbonation generates enough pressure to dispense some fo the beer, but not the whole 5 gallons.
Many people cut off the bottom 1/2" or so of the dispensing tube. This makes it impossible to dispense the last cup of beer from the keg, but you more than make up for that small loss by drawing clear beer from the first pint.

-a.

wild

Recipes 

I think bikebryan is referring to the use of CO2 to seal the keg. Some people have kegs that don't seal properly (I have 2 myself) and need about 10# of pressure to put a proper seal on the keg. Once the keg has sealed, the majority of the pressure can be released.

Wild

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sonvolt

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My kegs all seal without the aid of CO2. If you have a good fitting lid and a keg in good condition, they should seal properly.

And you can dispense without the use of Co2 - it is called a beer engine! See this thread . . . http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/fellow-homebrewers-meet-my-new-beer-engine-10529/

david_42

Recipes 

I've never had sealing problems either (7 years and 13 cornies). sonvolt is dead on though, a cornie is just a big bottle. Unless one of those bottle conditioned flavors are a hint of skunk. I guess you couldn't make Corona in a cornie.

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