First time kegger

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Canadianbrewer2012

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I find myself a little confused and could use some knowledge from one of the ever so helpful seasoned brewers on here ... I recently finished bottling my first brew and am waiting for carbonation to complete .. So.. I know that people say to wait up to 3-4 weeks to pop a bottle open not only to let your beer carbonate but also to allow it to establish "certain flavors".. Well I recently acquired all of the equipment I need to keg my beer as well .. With doing forced carbonation will I be able to carbonate my beer with my c02 immediately after my 2 week fermentation process and enjoy? .. Or is there more of an aging process to follow when kegging like there is when bottling for it to establish "certain flavors?" is the wait when bottling just for carbonation purposes?
 
What do you mean by certian flavors? Are you talking about giving the yeast time to reduce diacetyl? That is something that usually takes place following fermentation, and will mostly happen in the fermenter. It does take a little bit of time to force carb your beer using the set and forget method. You can speed this up by using a carbonation stone in your keg, or by shaking the keg while applying co2. Just having carbonated beer will change the flavor as having co2 in the beer will change the way you precieve the flavors.
 
Short answer: yes you can quickly carb a keg, but its still a green, immature beer with extra carbonic acid (bite), so you really should only do this in emergencies.

Also I'd go for 3 weeks in primary if you're skipping secondary.
 
I do use a secondary ... Basically it's one week primary.. One week secondary ... Depending on observations ... So what you saying is I should still be waiting to drink out of my keg after I carbonate it for the same amount of time as when bottling?
 
There has been a ton of research done around here and it has found that the only need for a secondary is if you're dry hopping or adding fruit. I leave mine in the primary for 3 weeks no problem. Personally i don't think you are giving the beer enough time in the primary.
 
Carbed beer tastes different than non-carbed beer. I usually try one after a day, and it tastes like green beer.
Here's my schedule that works really well.
-3 Weeks Primary
-Keg it- Set lid with 10lbs, put in kegerator or however you're keeping it cold. Wait 24 hours.
-Hook up CO2, put pressure at 18, let it sit this way for a week. Pull the relief valve on the keg a couple times during the week.
-After 7 days, pull relief valve, turn pressure down to 10-12. Serve.
 
Spartan-

I'm wondering why you pull the relief so many times? I understand doing it once or twice at the start to purge oxygen, but why in the middle of force carbing? Also why put it under pressure then wait 24 hours? Why not just keep the CO2 on it at the pressure you plan to carb it? Not trying to put you method down (If it work, it works. right), just curious about the reason behind it.
 
I agree, 1 week primary isn't enough.

I basically 3 week primary all my beers now, with few exceptions (but good reasons when I do) and then keg or bottle.
 
CO2 doesn't absorb into room temperature beer very well. It absorbs into cold beer really well. So I wait until it gets cold before starting to force carb it.
I don't know if it hurts anything to have the gas on while its cooling down, I just think it doesn't do anything productive.

I pull the relief to get some movement of CO2 through the beer. You can hear it bubbling after you pull it, so I know that CO2 is traveling through the beer. ( I usually carb through the liquid side)
 
Spartangreen said:
CO2 doesn't absorb into room temperature beer very well. It absorbs into cold beer really well. So I wait until it gets cold before starting to force carb it.
I don't know if it hurts anything to have the gas on while its cooling down, I just think it doesn't do anything productive.

I pull the relief to get some movement of CO2 through the beer. You can hear it bubbling after you pull it, so I know that CO2 is traveling through the beer. ( I usually carb through the liquid side)

FWIW pushing gas through the liquid out with the pressure relief open is counterproductive to carbonation. It's actually a great method for removing all of the carbonation from an overcarbed beer. The agitation of the large bubles forces the residual CO2 leftover from fermentation out of solution. For pushing the gas through the beer to be effective you need to use a carbonation stone to break the gas into millions of tiny bubbles.
 
I've done it both ways, through the liquid post and the gas post, both ways work. But my opinion is, when I go throught the liquid post the carbonation mouthful sensation feels more natural.
Its probably just me;)
Pulling the relief valve a couple times during the first week was how I was taught. I don't know if its counter productive. I've only ever done it this way. But I do know my beer is carbed perfectly after 7 days.
Try it out. Either way.
Cheers!
 
I treat my kegs like large bottles in terms of aging, so here's how *I think of it:

When you bottle you're creating a mini fermentation by adding priming sugar. You give the beer 2-3 weeks to carb and then clean up after that mini fermentation.

When I keg, I like to give the beer a week at room temp (in a purged keg) before I chill it and start carbing it. To me, it gives the beer a chance to condition/age just a bit before immediately stopping the yeast activity and hitting it with CO2.

I ferment in a primary for 2-3 weeks depending on the beer (usually 2), then transfer, condition for a week or two, chill and carb.

I may not turn things around quickly, but my beers taste better this way.
The first time I kegged I did a pale ale and went from a 2 week primary right to the keg - chilled and carbed immediately. the first few pints tasted green. I pulled it out of the fridge and conditioned it for two weeks before re-chilling. It was perfect and it reminded me that I still needed to age the beer.

YMMV.
 
Thanks Kealia that sounds like really good advise .. A little disappointing with regards to my initial thought of immediately keging, carbing and pouring myself some home draft... But I will try it method
 
Actually, I think you should try just what you suggested.

You can take my advice and it will likely produce a good beer - but won;t you always wonder how it would taste if you did immediately keg and carb it? You can't do any harm by doing that, and then pulling it back to room temp to condition if needed.

I only say this because I need to see/hear/taste things for myself - it's just the way I am. When I first started brewing I knew that I needed to let the bottles condition for 3-4 weeks for the best results, but I still tasted one at week one, week two, etc. so I could taste for myself what the time did to the beer. I considered it part of the learning curve and it certainly made it easier for me to let them age longer because I KNEW how they tasted young, I wasn't just TOLD.

Just food for thought.

Cheers.
 
Great point I agree. Its good to listen and learn from other peoples mistakes and their wisdom because of making those errors, but first hand experience is almost always best.
 
I too am kegging for the first time. I made three batches. The first batch I kept in the primary for 1 week and then in the secondary for 3 weeks. It's in the keg but I won't be carbonating it for another couple weeks. Batches 2 and 3 I kept in primary for 1 week and then put them directly in the keg. I tasted them and they seemed fine. It will be at least two weeks in the keg before I force carb. I am short on time, they have to be drinkable by the 24th (my wedding day). I hope it works out. Probably not the best time to experiment.
 
From what Ive read on HBT you should make a Hefe...they have a really quick carboy to pint glass time. Someone else will probably chime in here, but I think you might want to carb up your first batch and let it sit until the day comes. As for batch 2 and 3 your stretching it by kegging after only a week. Hope things work for you.
 
My first and second batches are a Hefe. It's really simple amd tastes great already. Batch three is an irish red. I'm kinda worried about the red not being ready in time.
 
It did! I had two of them yesterday ... My original plan was to try one each week until 3 or 4 weeks when I feel they are done .. Well yesterday I was out in the sun at my BBQ and it was so tasty that I had a couple thrown in the fridge .. Looking forward to the finished product
 

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