Kegging

[Gabe]

So I have a high final gravity Belgian IPA that I fermented with a Saison yeast and I wanted to bring the fg down a bit more. I wanted to see if it was possible to keg this beer and then add more yeast. Would this be a good way of carbing or a bad idea? It's right around 1.032 right now and I wanted it around 1.016.

 

[Kauai_Kahuna]

I vote no, but is this a democracy?
After spending so much time fermenting and clearing the beer, I never saw a good reason to carb in the keg. Putting the keg under pressure for a week while you condition it will do the same thing, and much less yeast hanging around.

 

[Gabe]

I thought about the yeast being pulled once I start to drink off of it, that doesn't bother me. I thought I would at least trap some of the final ferm co2 and carbonate it a little. I have no ideaof the pressure that final ferm would give off, but I figure the keg would hold it just fine until it absorbed into the beer.

 

[ohiobrewtus]

If your goal is to get the gravity to drop I'd recommend repitching. Carbonating the beer before you get the FG where you want it will not benefit you.

 

[cubbies]

There is a local micro that sort of does this. They close the fermentation tank when fermentation is about 80% done. This doesnt carb the beer, but it does get some carbon dioxide into the beer thus saving them $ on CO2.

 

[Evan!]

FYI, simply "repitching" is rarely enough to get a stuck fermentation to roar back to life. In my experience, the only method that's ever worked (on a saison, coincidentally) is to rack it onto another recent yeast cake from a lower-OG batch that just finished. My saison finished around 1.017, so I racked it onto a Witbier cake and it finished it out to about 1.011. I just would hate to see you dump the beer in the keg, pitch a packet of dry yeast, and have nothing happen. At the very least you need to add a yeast starter that is at high krausen point...but I'd suggest brewing a smaller (low-OG) beer like a blonde ale, racking it to a keg or bright once it's done, and immediately racking your BIPA on top of it. I can almost assure you that it will finish it out that way.

 

[Gabe]

I like that idea Evan. I thought my way was kind of a hit or miss way of going about this. Now I guess I need to make a Belgian Pale Ale!
Cheers and thanks, Gabe