Natural Carbing and Force Carbing Together?

Hi,
I have two batches to Keg now, Mexican Cervaza and India Pale Ale (Maybe 6.5%)... Anyone have any suggestions on carbing these beers, I was wondering can I add sugar to the brew, put it in a corny, give it a bit of gas to seal it up, and leave it for a month or two to carb away itself, then if necessary give it another blast of gas, or is there just no point in doing this, better just to force carb it altogether and leave her sit?

Thanks everyone!

What I do:

Gas up and purge the o2. Then transfer, microwave 3 to 4 oz dextrose in a coffee mug with 1 cup water to boiling point and then stick in freezer for 10 minutes until down to about 100 F. Then pour in keg and gas up again. Test the seal after a week to see if it fizzes. Then leave it be.

Really no point in doing this from my perspective. Can't you just leave it on CO2? If not, you can easily fill with CO2, purge, then set to serving psi and let it sit, reconnecting once a week to ensure theres no stop in pressure. It's a good way to bulk age.

Badbrew, why microwave, why not just dissolve it in hot/boiling water? And is sticking it in the freezer to cool it down? Wouldnt a cup of warm sugar water not be OK to toss in to the wort?

IMO either method is fine, and I use both. Which method I use depends on how much space I have in my keezer and how soon I plan on tapping the keg. If there's plenty of room I'll force carb using the set and forget method. If I'm in a hurry to get it carbed I'll force carb with a carb stone. If I'm not in a huge hurry and my keezer is full, I'll prime with sugar and stick it in a closet until there's room for it.

ShinyBuddha said:

Really no point in doing this from my perspective. Can't you just leave it on CO2? If not, you can easily fill with CO2, purge, then set to serving psi and let it sit, reconnecting once a week to ensure theres no stop in pressure. It's a good way to bulk age.

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A lot of people only have one CO2 tank and regulator, and limited space in their keezer/kegerator. In this case it's nice to let some kegs carb naturally in a closet, and that way they're ready to go as soon as there's room in the kegerator/keezer.

rhinofarts said:

Badbrew, why microwave, why not just dissolve it in hot/boiling water? And is sticking it in the freezer to cool it down? Wouldnt a cup of warm sugar water not be OK to toss in to the wort?

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Boiling for 15 is better but I don't sweat sanitation at this point. And lots of people add boiled solution straight to the beer without chilling it.

With all of this said, I haven't primed in a while because I'm digging pressurized fermentation right now and the beer is nearly carbed up after it ferments.

I'll second that both work just fine. I generally force carb for 2-3 weeks anyways so they are about the same in time frame. You might wind up with a little more sediment naturally carbing, but as long as you chill it well for a few days you'll pull all that out in the first pint. Just remember if you're going to do the natural carbonation that you use less sugar than you would for a bottled batch. Something about the amount of total headspace in a keg versus a bunch of bottles I think, but can't be sure.