Priming sugar requirement for kegging

All -

I've had a bit of trouble finding the information for this.

I've been homebrewing for a while - always bottling which I find to be a hateful task. I've decided to take the plunge and begin kegging.

That being said - what are the guidelines for priming kegged beer? Is it necessary to add sugar (corn, DME, etc.) for carbonation prior to racking as in bottles? If you're planning on force carbonating I would guess no, but what about letting it keg-condition? Do you purge the headspace if you're going to let it keg condition?



Thanks,
Andy

It's my understanding that priming is not necessary.

However, if you do, you prime at half the rate and still add some gas to aid in sealing the lid. Then you condition as you would with bottles.

i generally toss 1/3 cup of corn sugar in the keg, then hit it with 12psi to set the gasket. Put the keg away for a couple months. When you take it out you'll want to move it carefully, crash cool it, then drain off about 1-2 pints worth of beer to push out all of the cake thats formed at the bottom. Good to go!

You don't need priming sugar when kegging. That's the whole point. Your introducing CO2 directly from a source as opposed to letting the yeast convert the priming solution to CO2. After secondary, or a long time in primary, rack to the keg. When finished, make sure brew is not past the has fill tube, which you can easily see when the lid is off. Close the lid. Hook up the gas and let it pressurize. Keep an eye and ear open to see if you got any leaks. If you do have leaks, but they correct themselves when the tank gets up to operating pressure, don't worry about it. Once your happy with that, pop the relief valve on the lid to displace the air that was left in it when you closed the lid unpressurized. I do this about 4 times and then take it off the gas and let sit for about 6 weeks. Then I put in in the kegerator with gas hooked to it and let it sit for another week, then it's ready to consume. You might want to get about 3 or 4 kegs ready. This way, you got plenty on tap while the others are conditioning.

I'd say ol grog is right on the money no need to add sugar if you've got co2. The only thing I would add is to check for leaks with san-star. Just brush it around the lid and posts to make sure you don't have any leaks. If you have a leak it will make a bubble if you suspect you see it bubble just brush it a few times if it bubbles everytime you'll know you have a leak. Just because you can't hear a leak doesn't mean you don't have one. You can force carbonate in a week by leaving the co2 tank connected but you'll still have green beer until it conditions.