force priming

Hi I am thinking of getting a cornelius keg setup but I have a few questions first. After the fermenting stage what do you do? Do you just put the unprimed brew in the keg and force prime it? How long does it take? Does it take away any of the quality of the beer? How do you get the beer into a keg? Thanks Alot.
PS do most people recomend this way of priming?

BrooklynBrew said:

Hi I am thinking of getting a cornelius keg setup but I have a few questions first. After the fermenting stage what do you do? Do you just put the unprimed brew in the keg and force prime it? How long does it take? Does it take away any of the quality of the beer? How do you get the beer into a keg? Thanks Alot.
PS do most people recomend this way of priming?

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Actually the term would be force “carbing”. Priming refers to the act of adding additional sugar to the beer to restart mini-fermentation and generate CO2 or carbonation.

I actually think the quality of force carb’d beer is better. I do ten gallon batches and for a while force carb’d one and primed the other with sugar. The primed keg has a definite yeast bite that I think detracts from the cleaner flavor.

You get the beer into the keg the same as you would for bottling. Use a racking cane to siphon, or use the spigot with a hose from your bottling bucket. Put the keg under CO2 pressure of 10-12 PSI for 10 days and…done.

OK thanks alot. So it still take 10 days to carbonate while in the keg? I thought it would be much faster. Learn something new everyday..I think im going to order a system tonight then. Any tips on buying a good setup, and what to make sure they come with? Thanks

well you can rapidly force carb with more psi, and shaking the keg....but the beer still hasn't aged its greenness out.

7-10 days at 10psi, the beer should be carb'd. if you can, let it age in teh keg first, then chill it, force carb a week, and start drinking.

I like deluxe regulators with shut off values independent of the main regulator valve, and also with a knob instead of a screwdriver adjustment for the psi.
I buy used/refurb'd corny kegs cuz its a whole lot cheaper to do that and replace the O-rings then dropping $130 per keg for a new one. Online you can get 2 kegs for 30-40 bucks from many places including eBay.
just make sure they are pressure tested kegs. you don't want any leaks.

ok thanks alot. I just realized i dont think my girlfriends gonna let me take out the shelves in our fridge for this keg so until I buy an extra fridge or a keggerator, i think im gonna just try those mini keg systems for now and use priming sugar. Any ideas where to find a cheap fridge? And if i buiy a fridge is it east to convert into a kegger? Thanks

Conversion is easy and used appliance stores & craigslist are good places to buy.

BrooklynBrew said:

ok thanks alot. I just realized i dont think my girlfriends gonna let me take out the shelves in our fridge for this keg so until I buy an extra fridge or a keggerator, i think im gonna just try those mini keg systems for now and use priming sugar. Any ideas where to find a cheap fridge? And if i buiy a fridge is it east to convert into a kegger? Thanks

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Three out of four Dentists agree...the Sanyo 4912 (BestBuy) is a great mini fridge that can easily be converted to a two-keg kegerator:

Spend some time HERE and get and idea of different kegerator styles.

cool im gonna check that one out. thanks everyone