Will the carbing time for 3 gallons differ from 5 gallons in a 5 gallon corney?
 

I have a recipe for an amber ale that I usually let ferment for 4 weeks and then use the set it and forget method of carbing in the keg for 3 weeks. However, swmbo had some of her friends over and this keg is now empty and I need to have at least 3 gallons ready to drink 5 weeks from today for our son's first birthday celebration.:ban:

Thus, I was thinking of making a 5 gallon recipe where I was thinking that if I keg 3 gallons (and bottle the remaining 2) that the time for the kegging for three gallons might be OK for 2 weeks instead of 3 weeks.

Question remians is will 3 gallons of beer absorb CO2 faster and more effectively than 5 gallons if I use a 5 gallon keg? Will this empty space (purged of O2) help or hinder this process?

Thanks:mug:

Boy, I just don't know the "real" answer to this question. I will tell you that in my experience I haven't noticed any difference between 3 gallons in a 5 gallon keg or 5 gallons in a 5 gallon keg when it comes to carbing/serving/drinking.

I make a lot of 'half' batches and now that I'm kegging (thank you Santa!), I regularly keg 3 gallons in a 5 gallon corny. I've done 5 so far this year.

A couple of things I've noticed: 1) It is really easy to overcarb 3 gallons, especially if you're force carbing. I've had better success with the set and forget method with the occasional purge; 2) Dry hopping in the keg can be tricky. If you're not careful, you'll drain the keg lower than a standard hop bag usually sits. If you do dry hop in the keg, be sure to account for the lower liquid level; and 3) 3 gallon kegs go really, really fast. At least at my house. :)

HTH

I ended making thias yesterday and somehow how screwed up the sparging where I ended with nearly 8 gallons of finished beer instead of 6 gallons. I split these into two 4 gallon batches and pitched some washed yeast from the day before. Thus, I will end up kegging 4 gallons anyway instead of the planned 3 gallons. My crush must have been off because I came in just 1 point below the predicted OG for 6 finished gallons.

I will just go ahead and set the pressure to 12-15 psi for two weeks in the keezer and then back it off to 8-9 psi to serve. Not planning on dry-hopping this batch but I may dry hop the 4 gallons to be bottled.

Thanks for the reply.