Irish Stout

I am brewing John Bull Irish Stout,

The instructions recommend 4-8 days for fermenting then moving to secondary.

I will be putting it in a cornelius keg. Approximately how long should it condition before force carbonating it so I can drink it? or how would I know when it is ready for carbonation? The instructions only gave info for bottling and I would rather force carbonate to speed up the carb process.

Not really sure what to do, but while i condition in the secondary would I have to transfer it again and then carbonate it? or can I carbonate the secondary keg and serve from the that keg?

I ideally I would like to have it ready for the weekend after st. pats day.

Please let me know,

Thanks jnurkows

I'd leave it in the primary for 2 weeks, move it to a keg, force carb and let it sit until St Pattys day. A lot of people here who keg don't use a secondary, they just move it straight to keg and let it finish conditioning there. It will still be pretty young, but stouts are usually ready pretty quickly, so I think it will be alright. Better brew it soon though!!!

So I should ignore the recommended instructions and let it ferment in the primary for two weeks? would that hurt it any with the yeast still being in there?
I have about four weeks until serving day arrives for our party and would love to have this done, but if it's not enough time I really don't want to rush it and waste the stout. But really want it to be done.

Also, should I start carbonating as soon as I move into secondary or hold off until a day or two before serving?

thanks.

Jnurkows

You can wait to carb it or put CO2 right away. I like to let the CO2 be on it 7 days before drinking because it gets really into solution better.

Sounds great, I will be carbonating it approximately 6 days before serving and if it isn't ready I will force carbonate it...if anyone has any suggestions it will be carbonating at around 50 degrees for 6 days and then chilling at (ice cold) the day of and will serve at ice cold ( keg does not fit in fridge).

let me know any objections or techniques please.

A stout shouldn't be icy cold. Make sure your glasses are nice and hot to offset that if it's unavoidable.

You'll be fine on the yeastcake for a long time unless it's unhealthy or high-temp. All my beers sit on the yeast for 3+ weeks, no secondary, and into bottle/serving keg.

Cheers.

You need to pay attention to pressure verses the temperature your beer is at. Use this chart as a guide: http://www.northernbrewer.com/instructions/co2.htm

Looking at the chart for 50F beer at 2.4 atmospheres you need 17 lbs CO2.