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joepezHB

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I am looking to naturally carbonate my American Pale Ale in my Keg. What are the Pros and Cons to this.

The reason is because I am getting stationed elsewhere and need to move ASAP. I wanted to naturally condition it and keep in there for the few weeks that I take leave and have it ready to serve when I get to my new duty station and have a house warming party.

I usually bottle condition but I wanted to step up my game and I done have a big freezer to force carbonate the beer, yet.
 
I don't think either one is better than the other. I tried to naturally condition my keg once and it didn't seal tight enough to trap the gas. So I gave up on it. FWIW, I'd just bottle condition this one. Then you don't have to worry. Moving is bad enough.
 
I naturally carb in the keg all the time. The only disadvantage to me is that it takes longer. I do seat the opening on the keg with a hit of co2 first though to avoid the problem Double_D mentioned.
 
I naturally carb in the keg all the time. The only disadvantage to me is that it takes longer. I do seat the opening on the keg with a hit of co2 first though to avoid the problem Double_D mentioned.

I tried that too. I have since replaced my lids though.
 
Cons: takes longer; harder to control than force carbing; more sediment in kegs

Pros: none that I can think of
 
I tend to think that the "pros" of naturally carbonating are that
1) I think that I like the 'finer' carbonation that it gives over forced CO2. I guess this could also be all in my head, but I like it, so I do it occasionally.
2) If I don't have room in the keezer to force carb it, I'll just naturally carb it.

And I agree with Denny on the cons.


Teehee. See what I did there? ;)
 
I'm interested in this as well. There are a couple Nano-Breweries around town that talk about how they only bottle condition their beer, though I suspect they condition them right in the keg. Either way, there is something they personally like about how it finishes their brew.

I don't imagine there is much difference between conditioning it in a bottle or keg, but what sort of differences do you get with your beer when bottle conditioning vs. force carbing your beer?
 
I tend to think that the "pros" of naturally carbonating are that
1) I think that I like the 'finer' carbonation that it gives over forced CO2. I guess this could also be all in my head, but I like it, so I do it occasionally.
2) If I don't have room in the keezer to force carb it, I'll just naturally carb it.

And I agree with Denny on the cons.


Teehee. See what I did there? ;)

Amanda, the reason it appears to have finer carbonation is because it takes longer, which gives the CO2 more time to go into solution. Many years ago, i conducted an experiment by priming with sugar, DME, honey, force carbing and a couple other methods I've forgotten now,calculating it so that all would have the same level. After 2 months of conditioning, none of my tasters could tell which was which nor had a preference for one over another. BTW, you don't need to have the keg cold to force carb it. I always force carb mine at room temp, just because that's the most practical way for me to do it.

And I wish I had a clever zinger like you did! :)
 
Would it be kosher to keg it, and let it age in there till I was ready to serve it and force carbonate a few weeks later?
 
joepezHB said:
Would it be kosher to keg it, and let it age in there till I was ready to serve it and force carbonate a few weeks later?

If you do that you have to seat the lid.. pop it with 30psi and then that will absorb into the beer in a couple days and may cause a leak when the pressure drops. Every couple days for the first week @30 would keep the lid tight until your ready to fully carb..

Edit: when I said over carb a little I meant it..lol.. a 10deg temp drop from room temp isn't going to affect it enough to be worried about :)
 
Alesmith talks about this on the back of their beers. They say that natural carbonations give a smoother more "velvety" feel to the carbonation with tighter bubbles.

Other than that, I have never perceived any difference. My only other "pro" would be that a decent amount of beers do better after a maturation process and natural carbonation will help with the wait time.
 
Amanda, the reason it appears to have finer carbonation is because it takes longer, which gives the CO2 more time to go into solution. Many years ago, i conducted an experiment by priming with sugar, DME, honey, force carbing and a couple other methods I've forgotten now,calculating it so that all would have the same level. After 2 months of conditioning, none of my tasters could tell which was which nor had a preference for one over another. BTW, you don't need to have the keg cold to force carb it. I always force carb mine at room temp, just because that's the most practical way for me to do it.

And I wish I had a clever zinger like you did! :)

Interesting point. I have an APA in my keezer that I haven't tried in quite some time, so I should give it a go and see what's up.

I wish I could force card at room temp sometimes, but my tank is mounted in the keezer, so that hampers that a bit.

And I couldn't pass up the zinger! :)
 
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