Force carbing a keg that has been naturally carbed?

[pineknot]

Good day to all! I have a keg that I carbed with corn sugar two weeks ago. I would like to consume the contents of said keg sooner than anticipated. If it is not at the desired carbonation level when I check it this afternoon, can I connect it to my CO2 tank and force it the rest of the way? The only problem foresee is over carbonation from residual sugar that has not been converted yet. Any thoughts, advice or experiences regarding this matter would be greatly appreciated.

 

[dyqik]

If you put it on the CO2, then any residual sugar that ferments will just raise the pressure in the keg slowly above the set pressure. The keg will come back down to the regulator pressure every pour as you increase the headspace above the beer and equilibrate there. If you are pouring regularly, your rate of CO2 production in the keg from the sugar will be much less than the rate of pouring, and so it won't make any difference. The rate of sugar fermentation in the kegerator will be very slow anyway, as you're way below room temperature. Most likely it will stop, and the yeast will drop out anyway.

In the worst case, if you pour a few pints, then leave the keg for a while and it does overcarb a bit, you've only got to pull PRV and let it equilibrate over a day or so.

Biggest problem might be that the beer tastes a little sweet.

 

[pineknot]

Thanks for the help! I might be in the clear. I pulled the PRV last night and got a strong hissing sound with some beer spray. I'm going to hook it up to CO2 this afternoon and sample. If the carb. level is low I will pump some CO2 in to force the issue. Thanks again!

 

[WPen]

Yeah if it's already been carbing for 2 weeks then most of that priming sugar is already gone. I'd hook it up to the gas a serving pressure, chill, vent and enjoy


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[BigFloyd]

Yeah if it's already been carbing for 2 weeks then most of that priming sugar is already gone. I'd hook it up to the gas a serving pressure, chill, vent and enjoy


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This^^^^^^^, except that you should chill and vent just before hooking it up to gas to avoid the risk of beer getting into the gas line and reg.