Can I keg my brew without CO2?

I just got my kegging kit and I have a couple brews ready to put in there but I havnt gotten the CO2 bottle filled. I was going to put the beer into the kegs and get the bottle filled tomorrow to force carb (im going to naturally carb the next batch though. Just had to get the pipeline going.) Is this a good idea or should I just wait? I really just want to free up my fermenters for the next 2 batches.

if you're gonna get the co2 tomorrow just relax and wait.

Man I just hate postponing a brew day!! Well maybe I can wait. Maybe.

Jesus it's only a day. Just wait, then you can fill, bleed and store.

I recommend putting them in the kegs and putting them in your kegerator so they will be cold when you put the CO2 to it. I wouldn't imagine that the oxygen in the headspace would hurt anything until tomorrow.

Without Co2 you have no way to positively seal the keg. The CO2 pressure from inside seats the seals and puts pressure on them to make them airtight. You'd be dealing with oxygen in the keg without the CO2 to flush the O2 out and seal it up.

If you are in a hurry, better to wait till you get the CO2 and force carb the beer a bit to get it up and running quicker.

+1 to pre-chilling the beer.

to be honest if you are getting the tank filled tomorrow just keg it. a litttttle bit of oxygen exposed ofr less than 24 hours is not gonna kill your beer.


all up to you abouut taking your chances. if it was a very old batch of imperial ipa or something expensive I wouldnt do it. if it was under 20 bucks it wont hurt

OK.. well I'm going to wait. Takin WildWest's advice. I looked at his avatar and just felt I could trust him.

Wait for the CO2.

you have a purge the kegs with CO2 to get the O2 out. The head space really is not a big problem its when you are filling the keg and the keg is full of air, the agitation from the filling the keg will get O2 into the beer, this will lead to oxidation and off flavors in the beer over time.

Packaging is one of the most important parts of the brewing process, but often the most neglected.

Why not carb it naturally, you still have to wait till it's conditioned anyway. Also I've not had any problems sealing the kegs WITHOUT co2, Just rack it in with your priming sugar and close it up, maybe turn it upside down and make sure it doesn't leak, assuming you don't have any huge gash or cracks in your orings, etc. In a day or so, pull the relief a tad to purge the o2.

Although I'm all about patience, how is this any different than racking to secondary? People don't flush secondaries with CO2....what makes a keg any different? Most don't flush secondaries with CO2...

shortyjacobs said:

Although I'm all about patience, how is this any different than racking to secondary? People don't flush secondaries with CO2....what makes a keg any different? Most don't flush secondaries with CO2...

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I think this is reason #53 why not to use a secondary.
I stopped using about 20 batches ago, but I'll fancy a guess that you still have yeast activity in the "secondary", but when you start building up pressure like in a keg the yeast shut down and wont scrub out all O2 that gets in to the system during the transfer. Just a SWAG...

Bsquared said:

I think this is reason #53 why not to use a secondary.
I stopped using about 20 batches ago, but I'll fancy a guess that you still have yeast activity in the "secondary", but when you start building up pressure like in a keg the yeast shut down and wont scrub out all O2 that gets in to the system during the transfer. Just a SWAG...

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I agree it points to the "don't use a secondary" camp....but I maintain that a very large percentage of homebrewers still do use secondaries.

Plus yeast are just fine under pressure....people ferment in sealed kegs....and how do you think your bottles get carbonated? Yeast under pressure...

Hmm...just before I hit post, I thought of the fact that a keg doesn't have an airlock. Supposedly, as some CO2 came out of solution/fermented out, it displaces the O2 in a secondary....but the O2 couldn't go anywhere in a sealed keg......so maybe that's the difference between kegs and carboy secondaries...

For the record, I still vote for "wait a day", (I know how hard it is), but I also don't think it's gonna kill his beer either....

PS. What's a SWAG?

Man, I remember when I first got my system. I had a belgian and a pale waiting for the keg kit to come from UPS. I wated around all day for it to come and they finally came at 8 PM!!!! I was pissed b/c then I couldn't get my Co2 filled. Oh well, I was drinking the beer 3 hours after I got my tank filled. Just do the rock and high psi method if you can't wait.

shortyjacobs said:

PS. What's a SWAG?

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Scientific Wild Ass Guess...

And yes yeast can handle pressure,but I though that they can't handle lot. once you get up to 10-15psi they start to crap out, thats why white labs and wyeast have High pressure yeast strains. But I could be wrong I often am.

* WLP925 HP Lager Yeast
Use to ferment lager beer in one week! Ferment at room temperature 62-68°F) under 1.0 bar (14.7 PSI) until final gravity is obtained, generally in one week. Lager the beer at 35°F, 15 PSI, for 3-5 days, to condition. Sulfur production is strong first 2 days, then disappears by day 5. Do not need to carbonate, since at 1 bar entire time.

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shortyjacobs said:

People don't flush secondaries with CO2....what makes a keg any different? Most don't flush secondaries with CO2...

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I do. Again, it's one of those corners people like to cut because they don't think it makes a difference. Then. they come back and ask why folks are starting to pick up oxidation in the beer.


TL

Bsquared said:

Scientific Wild Ass Guess...

And yes yeast can handle pressure,but I though that they can't handle lot. once you get up to 10-15psi they start to crap out, thats why white labs and wyeast have High pressure yeast strains. But I could be wrong I often am.

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SWAG. I love it. I'm totally using that from now on.

Honestly I'm no yeast expert either....I just figure that they work to naturally carbonate under pressure....

I natural carb my beer all the time in kegs. I use 1/2 cup of priming sugar and set it somewhere 70deg for two weeks and its fine. Still have the option to force carb if you need to.

COLObrewer said:

Why not carb it naturally, you still have to wait till it's conditioned anyway. Also I've not had any problems sealing the kegs WITHOUT co2, Just rack it in with your priming sugar and close it up, maybe turn it upside down and make sure it doesn't leak, assuming you don't have any huge gash or cracks in your orings, etc. In a day or so, pull the relief a tad to purge the o2.

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Even if you add sugar to the keg to naturally carb it, the keg is not sealed unless you give it some gas to seal it. Yes, it will build up CO2, but it will take a few days to get a seal.

You have devoted at least 4 or 5 hours to this batch and lots of money. Take your time. Do it the right way. Why cut corners now? You won't regret it.

Eric

Well.. There is only one place in this craphole town that will fill my C02 and they cant do it until late next week. Really throwing off my schedule for christmas brews!! But I guess I will wait.

EinBierBitte said:

Well.. There is only one place in this craphole town that will fill my C02 and they cant do it until late next week. Really throwing off my schedule for christmas brews!! But I guess I will wait.

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Hey man it's no biggie. just crash cool your stuff and do the high psi shake method. It tends to work good for me when I'm in a tight spot.

Bsquared said:

you have a purge the kegs with CO2 to get the O2 out. The head space really is not a big problem its when you are filling the keg and the keg is full of air, the agitation from the filling the keg will get O2 into the beer, this will lead to oxidation and off flavors in the beer over time.
.

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This is not true at all. There will be adequate CO2 in the beer to protect it in a gentle racking. The agitation will release enough CO2 to lay down on top and protect the beer from oxidizing. If you are careful about your racking there is no need to purge your kegs. It won't hurt and may help if you aren't that careful when racking but it is far from a danger to a careful brewer.

As for the OP, the obvious answer is to just buy two more primaries.

dantodd said:

This is not true at all. There will be adequate CO2 in the beer to protect it in a gentle racking. The agitation will release enough CO2 to lay down on top and protect the beer from oxidizing. If you are careful about your racking there is no need to purge your kegs. It won't hurt and may help if you aren't that careful when racking but it is far from a danger to a careful brewer.

As for the OP, the obvious answer is to just buy two more primaries.

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+1

I've never purged my kegs b4 racking into them and I've never had a problem. No one ever purges their bottles before filling them and those have been coming out just fine for as long people can remember. I think it's just overkill.