Priming my mini-keg

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binkman

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I've looked around the mini-keg forums, but can't seem to find an answer to my question. That is, I think I know the answer, I just don't like it.

I just got in one of those party-tap 5l kegs in the mail today. I'm planning on filling it up with some Oktoberfest from a carboy to take to a friend's house to share with the guys in a month or so. I will be carbing it up in the keg.

Here's the problem. I want it to be carbonated to 2.5 volumes. But to carbonate approx. 5l of beer to approx. 2.5 volumes of CO2, I'd have to add about 1.4 ounces of table sugar. But that's going to be about three tablespoons. And although my minikeg came with absolutely no information whatsoever, I've already read in the forums that they can only hand 1 tablespoon, but that gives me a very low carbonation for my Oktoberfest.

Am I missing something or is one of the major drawbacks of a mini-keg the carbonation limit for whatever you stick in them? :confused:
 
is this a glass keg? or one of the thin walled aluminum ones like heinekin tap-a-draft (or whatever its called)?

if its glass like a growler- i know you are not supposed to use growlers for carbonating because they can not withstand the pressure.

when you bottle carbonate, using yeast to create CO2, the yeast is active at room temperature, while the CO2 will not disolve into the liquid at this temp. so there is a good amount of pressure that builds up in the headspace, then when you cool the bottle, it gets absorbed into the beer and the pressure decreases considerably. growlers arent meant to withstand this high pressure before the CO2 absorbs. once the CO2 is disolved into the beer, then you can fill your growler.
 
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