First time kegging. Force carb or priming sugar?

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thedailyaustin

thedailyaustin

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So I got a corny kegging setup for Christmas and I've read 2 different way to carb.

1) 20-25 psi and shake the hell out of it and let it go. No priming sugar.

2) 1/3 cup of sugar with 5 psi for a week.

Anyone got any preferences or advice on which I should do?
 
So I got a corny kegging setup for Christmas and I've read 2 different way to carb.

1) 20-25 psi and shake the hell out of it and let it go. No priming sugar.

2) 1/3 cup of sugar with 5 psi for a week.

Anyone got any preferences or advice on which I should do?
 
30psi for 2 days.
10-12psi until done, should only take 4 to 5 days total.
I don't ever shake. (my beer that is)
 
Same here. Plus less yeasties in the bottom of the keg when force carbing.

Note: You don't really need to shake it will absorb the CO2 in a couple of days without shaking. Although a little shaking does speed up the process.
 
I have a Keezer, and I just carb at 12-14psi, no primer, and stick it in the cooler
@ 42 degrees. Keep the gas hooked up for at least a couple weeks.

If no cooler find a Carb chart and adjust the psi to your storage temp. (no primer)
 
I just recently kegged my first batch as well. I went with the set it and forget method. I set the regulator around 12psi for 10 days and it seemed to have worked perfectly. I believe there is a post floating around that shows the appropriate psi setting for different temperatures. Kegging is so much better then bottling!
 
wildwest450 said:
30psi for 2 days.
10-12psi until done, should only take 4 to 5 days total.
I don't ever shake. (my beer that is)
Click to expand...

+1 Although, depending on my mood after work, I will shake it a bit after the first day (don't forget to bleed the pressure when you drop the PSI back down to serving pressure).
 
I'm not a shaker either, but then I'm a 135 pound weakling and can barely carry the keg to the kegertor, let alone shake it!

I do one of two things- set it at 30 psi for two days, then purge and set at 12 psi and drink in 4 days or so, or set it at 12 psi right away and drink it 10 days later.

I think shaking does work for fast carbing, but you'll have all the sediment stirred up and maybe have some foamy beer until it equalizes. I like just setting it and forgetting it- that works great.

Please don't double post! We see the threads.
 
Why no shaking? Always do it and works perfect for me
 
If I had CO2, I'd not want to use sugar for priming. You can shake the kegs to force carb quickly, or let it sit for a couple of weeks, either way.
 
-Dan- said:
Why no shaking? Always do it and works perfect for me
Click to expand...

Just because you don't have to. I don't think anybody disputes the fact that it speeds up carbonation, but things will work just fine without shaking if you're not in a hurry.
 
The speed at which you want to carb your beer should be directly related to how well aged the beer is. If you had it in primary or a combo of primary and secondary for 4-6 weeks already, go ahead and carb it quick. If you're at week 2-3, using the longer 2-week set and forget carb method (pressure dictated by the volumes charts) is a good way to lay off the beer while it continues to age and cold condition. You should leave the liquid side disconnect DISCONNECTED to keep your impatient ass from drinking half the keg prematurely.
 
Ya thats the issue w/ kegs. You can't really age your beer.

If you want to keg that bad, scale up your recipe to like 7.5 gallons and put 5 gallons in keg, 2.5 in bottles, so that you can taste your beer aged at different intervals.
 
I thought one had to use a carbonating stone to do so with CO2?
does that just help the process or do it quickly?

if you prime with sugar or other fermentables, i've heard you should wait the couple weeks then let out the pressuer and then hook it up to your CO2. Any idea why?
 
Bobby_M said:
The speed at which you want to carb your beer should be directly related to how well aged the beer is.
Click to expand...

Agree. It all comes down to timing. I learned this the hard way when we blew through 2 cornies by having a couple of the locals over. Then, the drought! Sad times.

Picked up more cornies and brewed more on a regular basis so I can pickle away some of those tasty bad-boys.

Lesson: Planning!
- Buy more cornies
- Brew accordingly so there is at least 6 weeks before consuming (except those longer ones)
- Follow basic methods above for carbing (fast or slow)
- Keep the riff-raff off the taps.
 
I am new to kegging, so take my advice with a grain of salt. My recommendation would be to force carb. I recently carbed two kegs with priming sugar. Both were crystal clear going in to the keg. Now I every time I go to get a beer it has a good bit of yeast floating in it. I'm about a 1/4 of the way through both kegs and they seem to be clearing some. The next kegs I fill will be force carbed.
 
It's true, but unless you own 50 kegs, one of your cornies will be tied up aging beer for 3 months. Also - Once you hook it up - your ability to taste your beer at different ages is no longer
 
bladefist said:
It's true, but unless you own 50 kegs, one of your cornies will be tied up aging beer for 3 months. Also - Once you hook it up - your ability to taste your beer at different ages is no longer
Click to expand...

But, by the same token, unless you own 50 carboys, one of your carboys will be tied up aging beer for 3 months. Same difference, whether it's in a keg, or in a secondary. You can definitely taste it at different ages- why not? And, you can bottle right out of the keg with NO sediment at all, for gifts and to enter in contests.

Someone asked about a carbonation stone. I know that there are a few people who do that, but I think the majority of us just force carb by hooking the keg up to the co2 in the usual way. Some use higher pressure at first, but most of us keep the kegs on serving pressure after a day or two anyway, no matter what our techniques are.
 
YooperBrew said:
But, by the same token, unless you own 50 carboys, one of your carboys will be tied up aging beer for 3 months. Same difference, whether it's in a keg, or in a secondary. You can definitely taste it at different ages- why not? And, you can bottle right out of the keg with NO sediment at all, for gifts and to enter in contests.

Someone asked about a carbonation stone. I know that there are a few people who do that, but I think the majority of us just force carb by hooking the keg up to the co2 in the usual way. Some use higher pressure at first, but most of us keep the kegs on serving pressure after a day or two anyway, no matter what our techniques are.
Click to expand...

I was talking about aging in bottles at cellar temps or room temp.
 

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