When in a Keg what temp do I keep the Beer to Carbonate?

Alright, so this is a two part question. First: I'm one week away from transfering from my secondary to a Corny Keg and I would like to know what temp do I need to keep that full keg at after I add the sugar to carbonate or if I should just force carboante? Second either way if I "Sugar or Force Carb" what temp do I need to keep that keg at do I just pop it in the fridge at serving temp or does it still need to be at a fermenting temp of 60 to 65 degrees?

If using sugar to carbonate with use less sugar than you would if bottling, but otherwise use the same temperatures you would normally.
If force carbonating, then temperature isn't so much an issue, keeping in mind that more CO2 is absorbed into colder solutions than warmer ones.

If you want to prime with sugar, just like with bottling, you need to keep the beer at room temperature (preferably 70 degrees) for about three weeks to get proper carbonation. After it's carbed up, it can be placed in the fridge. Just like with bottling.

If you want to force carb, there are generally two ways to do it. One is to look at a carbonation table, and see the correct psi for your set up. What I mean is there- it takes into account temperature and the desired amount of carbonation. In my case, it's 11 psi at 39 degrees. So, I could "set it and forget it". I'd set it at 11 psi and it would take about two weeks to fully carb up, more or less.

Some people like to get it ready faster, so they may set the pressure at 30 psi at 39 degrees for a day or two, to encourage faster carbonation. Some even gently rock/shake the keg to get the co2 dissolved faster into it. If the beer is cold, it works pretty well.

So, you can see that there are a couple of choices. I would say that if fridge/kegerator space is at a premium, you may want to try using priming sugar and letting it carb naturally. If you have room in the kegerator, and the beer is ready to drink (aged enough), then you may want to try force carbing and have it ready quicker.

boo_boo is a bit off. Temperature matters a LOT when force carbonating. 10 PSI at 38 degrees F will give MUCH different carbonation than 10 PSI at 65F, regardless of how long you leave it.

Everything Yooper said is right. I'd just add that you can also force carbonate at room temp too Typically it takes more like 26-30 PSI at room temp to hit the same carbonations you get at 10-12 PSI in the fridge. So, you can set the keg at 26 PSI, carbonate for a week at room temp, then put it in the fridge at 10 PSI and maintain that carbonation.

a couple more questions...
I naturally carbonate (I use wort as my priming sugar) and I know I can do this in a keg. So the questions are:
1) Do I still want to put some CO2 into the tank and bleed off the air after I get my beer & primer in there in order to minimize oxidation or would that produce an excess carbonation?
2) If it is better to bleed off the air with CO2 to minimize oxidation, how many psi of CO2 do I put in?
3) What what psi is used to push the beer to the tap?

MartyMSU said:

a couple more questions...
I naturally carbonate (I use wort as my priming sugar) and I know I can do this in a keg. So the questions are:
1) Do I still want to put some CO2 into the tank and bleed off the air after I get my beer & primer in there in order to minimize oxidation or would that produce an excess carbonation?
To put a head of CO2 at the top of the tank, I attach the CO2 fill up the corney, then bleed off the pressure then add some more co2. Figure this displaces the 02. The CO2 is heavier anyways so even a small layer should protect from oxidizing.

3) What what psi is used to push the beer to the tap?
That depends on altitude, temp, hose length. There are charts for this. The chart told me 16 PSI, but I am finding 14 works better for me, 10-11 PSI at high 30 temps is a good place to start.

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I like to force carb my beer.
Chill it to 35 degrees
Put 30 PSI of CO2 in
Shake the keg
Add more CO2
Shake some more.

You can carb you beer in about 5 minutes this way.

The only time I would endorse natural carbonation in a keg is if once you put it on tap you will NEVER move it until it's gone. Naturally carbonating will produce more yeast sediment at the bottom of the keg (just like bottle conditioning). I can't stand the taste of yeast, and every time you slightly move that keg, your next few beers will have yeast in them.

Suck up the cost of the CO2 and force carb it.

kanzimonson said:

The only time I would endorse natural carbonation in a keg is if once you put it on tap you will NEVER move it until it's gone. Naturally carbonating will produce more yeast sediment at the bottom of the keg (just like bottle conditioning). I can't stand the taste of yeast, and every time you slightly move that keg, your next few beers will have yeast in them.

Suck up the cost of the CO2 and force carb it.

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I re-read this thread, and didn't see anybody mention cost of CO2 as an issue. So, since this post didn't answer anybody's questions, maybe it should be re-posted under a thread titled "How I Like My Beer, and Everybody Should Do Their Beer The Way I Like Mine."