carbing keg with priming sugar....question

So I've bought a used corny, but nothing else yet. I have a brew ready to be kegged or bottled and I want to put it in this empty keg I bought. I figured I would just naturally carb it with sugar and let it age a bit in the basement while I drink my other brews and acquire my other kegging equipment.

How much sugar should I use? The same as I would if bottling, or a little less.....What do you guys recommend?

Also, correct me if im wrong, but I can just pour my sugar solution into the keg, and rack right from secondary into the keg....skipping the bottle bucket right? Man I need more kegs...this is just so much simpler!

Tophe said:

...Man I need more kegs...this is just so much simpler!

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The keggers mantra.

I use a 1/2 cup of corn sugar.

I siphon from my secondary straight to the keg.

Using a sterilized sauce pot, gather the first 1 - 2 cups of the beer. Stop the siphon hose for a moment and add the corn sugar to the sauce pot and stir it gently so it dissolves completely and pour it down the sides of the tilted keg so as not to suds it up.

Then resume siphoning. The natural swirling of the siphoned beer witll mix it adequately.

I've never had a problem with that method.

Yes, make sure the sugar and beer is mixed well.
Also, you'll have pretty clear beer after a while - just don't move the keg, as this will kick up sediment and you'll have very cloudy beer.

I did this when I first started keggin too and used between 1/3 and 1/2 cup each time. It all came out just fine. Welcome to the world of keggin'

Thanks guys...Hopefully I'll get this done in the next couple days if I can find a bit of free time.

Priming a keg uses half the normal recommendation.

Do you keg-priming guys end up with a lot of additional sediment at the bottom of your kegs? Seems like that's the last place I'd want a 1/2" layer of dead yeast, with the pickup tube right there. Just a thought, from a kegging newbie.

What if you wanted to keg 3/4 of your batch, and bottle a few for posterity...? Should I just bottle off the tap, or is there a middle-ground sugar level suitable for both? (This is coming from someone who last bottled a batch of lager bottle bombs.... they're hanging out in the cooler basement which seems to help)...

kvh.

kvh said:

What if you wanted to keg 3/4 of your batch, and bottle a few for posterity...? Should I just bottle off the tap, or is there a middle-ground sugar level suitable for both? (This is coming from someone who last bottled a batch of lager bottle bombs.... they're hanging out in the cooler basement which seems to help)...

kvh.

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I would use carb-ing tabs for this. Munton's makes a good one I think. It's like a little pill you put in each bottle for consistency.

Andy

BlindLemonLars said:

Do you keg-priming guys end up with a lot of additional sediment at the bottom of your kegs? Seems like that's the last place I'd want a 1/2" layer of dead yeast, with the pickup tube right there. Just a thought, from a kegging newbie.

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I ended up trimming about 3/8 " off the dip tube. Primed or force carb'd, the chilling of the keg will drive some sediment to the bottom. Shorten your tube a bit. You'll sacrifice 12-15 Oz of beer.

kvh said:

What if you wanted to keg 3/4 of your batch, and bottle a few for posterity...? Should I just bottle off the tap, or is there a middle-ground sugar level suitable for both? (This is coming from someone who last bottled a batch of lager bottle bombs.... they're hanging out in the cooler basement which seems to help)...

kvh.

Click to expand...

I'd go ahead and keg everything and get to proper carbonation. Then using a racking cane and a #2 drilled cork, bottle directly from your keg. No mis measurements of sugar, no sediment and you can pour the entire bottle.

CLICK HERE for a simple how-to thread.

Does anyone have an explanation for why one would use 1/2 the priming sugar? I used a full amount of priming sugar for a keg recently to give it a try, as I'm planning on transporting some kegs for a reunion (and don't have cold storage for the kegs)- it worked just fine, I've been dispensing it without difficulty. It seems a keg is just a giant bottle and that the CO2 headspace would be controlled by the CO2 bottle- I don't know, I just don't quite get it.