Brewing my first batch of beer TODAY! Quick question about cornelius kegs & sugar

Hi All,

First off I am going to attempt to brew my first batch today of beer. The wife got me a kit for xmas from Northern Brewer and I've been adding onto it since then. I have a three hearted ale I ordered a few months back that I am going to do.

Anyways, wish me luck But I do have a question about bottling and kegging. I was thinking of not bottling and going straight for a 5 gallon corny keg. Now with bottling I understand you can have some exploding beers, is that also a concern for corney kegs? And it seems like a mixed bag of reactions when I search for if I should put priming sugar in them. Since I'm new to think I figured I'd ask, because I don't know what type of carbonation level I like yet. Also with the kegs can they be kept unrefrigerated for any amount of time before getting them setup in the fridge?

I'm open to all suggestions, I just smacked the yeast bag and I'm letting it sit for a few hours and I'll be brewing away. Just going to run out to the store now and get my gas tank filled and an extra clean bucket for sanitation stuff.

I've never used sugar when kegging. I've always just force carbonated it with the CO2 tank. But if you do use sugar, no need to worry about the keg exploding. It can hold much more pressure than a glass bottle. With force carbonating, you can alway add more CO2 if you want until you find the level you like.

You can store a keg outside of a refrigerator. It would be no different than storing a bottle outside of the fridge.

Good deal... Thank you

You seem to be at least 3 weeks ahead of yourself. Not that that is a bad thing but there is no need to "RUN" out and get Co2 at this point.

No im not getting it now, just thought of it when I was preparing to brew before... Ohh by gas I meant my propane tank.

Got it!

Enjoy the Ride!

Not only did I brew my first batch of brew that that... That night my baby (our first) decided to come out a few weeks early

Congrats on the birth of your child and a new hobby!

Thanks.. whats great is, I know exactly how long my beers been in the bucket.. Kind of hard to forget that day.

Congratulations!

Of course the brewing is about to take a serious hit with the arrival of the baby.

I know mine did.

Yes, I'm sure thats true along with my other hobbies... I opted to not go to secondary because I just didnt have the time to swap over to the carboy, so I'm letting this guy sit for 4 weeks and going to toss the hops in tonight or tomorrow and let it sit another week. Then bottle it up and let it sit for another 4 weeks before I taste it.. Hopefully it comes out OK.

Sounds good to me! I rarely bother with a secondary.

My only advice is get lots of sleep when you can. You don't want any dozy-butterfingers while parenting or brewing. . . mostly while parenting.

It's a real treat. My son is a year and a half now. He already points when I pull a bottle out of the fridge and says, "Da'deeee Beeeeeeeeyyyyyuuuur!"

hahaha