Newbie keg question

Ok have my first all grain brew (Sweetwater IPA clone) kegged and has been carbing for two weeks at room temp with about 4 oz of priming sugar. Dying to try it and I know this is a dumb question but... What's the best method? Just hook up the serving line and pour some? I know I'll pour sediment and yeast to start. Is it important to chill down first? Can I check it now to see if its carbed and check the taste? Or should I be a good boy, wait until the three week mark, then chill for two days, THEN tap it?

Main question is it safe to hook up the serving line now to get a sample and then disconnect?

Why do you add priming sugar to a keg? You don't need it. You rack into the keg, put pressure on it, let it sit with pressure and it carbs itself. You don't need the priming sugar to do the work anymore. Plus, you don't have all the sediment to contend with.

Since you used sugar to carb I would think you just need to chill it overnight at least, since you'll get more trub out then normal. Normally I just primary->secondary->keg and let it chill overnight @ 7-8psi (all my kegs are at that) and try it the next day. It will be undercarbed by quite a bit but that's how I like my beer normally. The process I use will also help cold crash and settle out yeast so my first 1/2 pint will just be yucky and I can toss it then it's clear sailing. Welcome to kegging! Have you given your bottling gear a rude gesture yet?

Hey, I agree with sniperd in that I like my beer undercarbed!

But… why are you priming your keg?!? It’s not that uncommon, say you want to conserve co2; but it doesn’t ‘conserve’ much. Can you explain more on why?

Garyr2973 said:

Why do you add priming sugar to a keg? You don't need it. You rack into the keg, put pressure on it, let it sit with pressure and it carbs itself. You don't need the priming sugar to do the work anymore. Plus, you don't have all the sediment to contend with.

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I know there are couple ways to do it. I chose the natural way for this first time because I want to save on CO2. It's not my CO2 tank I'm borrowing it from a neighbor so I just am doing the natural carbing.

discooby said:

Hey, I agree with sniperd in that I like my beer undercarbed!

But… why are you priming your keg?!? It’s not that uncommon, say you want to conserve co2; but it doesn’t ‘conserve’ much. Can you explain more on why?

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I just chose the natural carbing method this time because I didn't want to keep gas on both of these kegs the whole time. It seems like there's a lot of debate on natural carbing versus force carbing and it seems like a lot of the people on this forum like the natural carbing with priming sugar. From what I've read with force carbing you have to have it on 30 psi for a couple days and shake and shake. Also, my buddy who loaned me the two kegs and co2 does the priming method so just followed his lead. I plan in trying force carbing in the future though and I know there are a few techniques.

I've done it natural and forced, but I've never done the 30psi for a few days. I tried it once and it just didn't work well for me. It's much easier to carb it up with C02 'set and forget' to your serving psi then to try and figure out how to reduce the carb level in the beer. I recently overcarbed one by mistake.. what a hassle trying to degas it.

The only time I do natural now is if we are planning a party and a brewing buddy of mine wants to bring his beer in a keg, and he only bottles. He'll naturally carb it and I'll bring my gas gear to the party. To give you an idea you should be able to get about 6 or 7 kegs through a C02 tank (carbing and pushing) so really you aren't using much C02 for 1 keg.

Welcome to kegging!

sniperd said:

I've done it natural and forced, but I've never done the 30psi for a few days. I tried it once and it just didn't work well for me. It's much easier to carb it up with C02 'set and forget' to your serving psi then to try and figure out how to reduce the carb level in the beer. I recently overcarbed one by mistake.. what a hassle trying to degas it.

The only time I do natural now is if we are planning a party and a brewing buddy of mine wants to bring his beer in a keg, and he only bottles. He'll naturally carb it and I'll bring my gas gear to the party. To give you an idea you should be able to get about 6 or 7 kegs through a C02 tank (carbing and pushing) so really you aren't using much C02 for 1 keg.

Welcome to kegging!

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Thanks that makes sense. I just borrowed the gas tank to set the seal and then let these two kegs prime. So in this method "carb it up with C02 'set and forget' to your serving psi" how long does it take to be carbed? I don't like over carbed beer but certainly not flat either. A little head when you pour and then it dissipate some, but can always see bubbles coming up from bottom.

bd2xu said:

Ok have my first all grain brew (Sweetwater IPA clone) kegged and has been carbing for two weeks at room temp with about 4 oz of priming sugar. Dying to try it and I know this is a dumb question but... What's the best method? Just hook up the serving line and pour some? I know I'll pour sediment and yeast to start. Is it important to chill down first? Can I check it now to see if its carbed and check the taste? Or should I be a good boy, wait until the three week mark, then chill for two days, THEN tap it?

Main question is it safe to hook up the serving line now to get a sample and then disconnect?

Click to expand...

I think a couple people are missing something crucial here, or at least if someone's pointed it out, I've missed it...

I'm sorry to be the one to point this out to you, but you're going to have an over carb'ed beer on your hands. Best bet will be to let it ride (the larger volume of the keg should take a little longer to condition than the smaller volume of a 12oz bottle), but start hitting that relief valve a bit NOW to release some of the excess CO2.

According to my handy-dandy Beersmith Lite app, for 2.4 volumes of CO2, you should have used 2.13oz of sugar to prime that keg at 72 degrees. Playing with it a little more, it looks like 4oz should produce about 3.8 volumes of CO2.

Certainly not the end of the world - if you hit that release valve a few times and vent the gas as it builds up, more of the CO2 will come out of solution, and you'll eventually get back down to an appropriate level of carbonation. It just might take a little time and experimentation.

bd2xu said:

So in this method "carb it up with C02 'set and forget' to your serving psi" how long does it take to be carbed?.

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I would say overnight gives you a little bit of bubbles and a nice cool beer. But probably 3 to 7 days to get it where it feels about right.

bd2xu said:

So in this method "carb it up with C02 'set and forget' to your serving psi" how long does it take to be carbed?

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Sorry - missed this question completely! I follow the set-and-forget method. I leave my regulator set at 11 or 12psi, the fridge runs around 40F, and I find most kegs carb up in 10-14 days.

stratslinger said:

Sorry - missed this question completely! I follow the set-and-forget method. I leave my regulator set at 11 or 12psi, the fridge runs around 40F, and I find most kegs carb up in 10-14 days.

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Well that definitely sounds like the easiest, skip the priming and just leave the gas on it. Will try that for the next one.

stratslinger said:

I think a couple people are missing something crucial here, or at least if someone's pointed it out, I've missed it...

I'm sorry to be the one to point this out to you, but you're going to have an over carb'ed beer on your hands. Best bet will be to let it ride (the larger volume of the keg should take a little longer to condition than the smaller volume of a 12oz bottle), but start hitting that relief valve a bit NOW to release some of the excess CO2.

According to my handy-dandy Beersmith Lite app, for 2.4 volumes of CO2, you should have used 2.13oz of sugar to prime that keg at 72 degrees. Playing with it a little more, it looks like 4oz should produce about 3.8 volumes of CO2.

Certainly not the end of the world - if you hit that release valve a few times and vent the gas as it builds up, more of the CO2 will come out of solution, and you'll eventually get back down to an appropriate level of carbonation. It just might take a little time and experimentation.

Click to expand...

I have beersmith too and should have checked this, didn't think to. Was just going by what my neighbor does, he doesn't change priming method at all between bottling and kegging. I also read a few threads on this forum that said they use the same amount of priming sugar but most say less is needed.

I tried mine tonight. It is still at about 68 degrees in the basement. I vented all the gas off with the pressure valve, then hooked up the co2 and set to about 5. Poured about a pint in a pitcher, lots of foam but very little sediment. I then poured a pint. Nice thick head, beautiful clear color and amazing smell. VERY close to SW IPA. I cooled it to about 55 and it tasted good, still a tad green but has only been in the keg for 16 days. It had decent bubbles after the head dissipated but it still tasted a little flat, could use a little more co2. I stuck it in my Keezer, put the co2 on it at 10 psi and set the temp for 45. Will revisit it on Friday and hope it's AWESOME for the SEC champ game Saturday. GO DAWGS!

what I have been doing and it seems to work is I keg my beer (no sugar) and set pressure to 30 psi. every chance I get for the first two days is to shake the crud out of the keg under pressure. Day four I tap and pour out first 1/2 beer (4-6 oz). I have been runing them at 5-10 psi for pouring pending beer and bubbles I want.

I just added a second keg to my system and what I did is to keg the beer and put it to 40 psi then shaked the heck out of it. I then turned down the psi after putting my one line of CO2 back on my drinking keg. For three days I switched back in forth changing PSI and shaking. Day Five first keg ran out I switched to keg two and poured at 6 psi and it was great.

I am new at keging(about 7 keg in) and this is seeming to work for me. I keep the kegs at about 37 deg f. for carb and serving.