Carbing keg with both sugar and co2...force carb hybrid

[noggins]

There are tons of threads on sugar vs co2 for carbing kegs, I can't seem to find any on using both together. I'm on my third keg of trying and have had decent results, I throw in 2.5oz sugar, let it sit at 65F a few days, then stick it in the keezer on gas at 40F for a couple days, reset to 12PSi and start chugging.

So far what I've tried:

Keg......Sugar Days..........CO2
1.........12...................12psi 1day
2.........9.....................12psi 2days
3.........4.....................30psi 12hours then 20psi 12hours

So keg 1 was not really hybrid, just a standard natural carb. Keg 2 was almost hybrid, I basically got tired of waiting and stuck it on the gas early and was pleased with the results. Keg 3 is full on hybrid, where I can get a fully carbed keg in 5 days using sugar and (I'm assuming)a smaller amount of co2 compared to a full force carb using no sugar at all.

My goal is to have beer carbed reasonably quickly, say 3-5 days, without using a bunch of gas. Sort of a force carb hybrid. If keg 3 turns out good I'll start measuring the data to have actual results to share.

Comments? Suggestions? Anyone else done anything similar? Am I just too dumb to realize what's actually happening and really just wasting more gas by doing this? Thanks.

 

[thekraken]

Not trying to hijack but your post makes me wonder: how much gas is used up to carbonate a batch vs amount of gas used to dispense it?

Is saving co2 the only reason you want to do the hybrid/natural carb or are there other factors?

 

[noggins]

trying to save co2, and not have to wait 2 weeks for carbing.

 

[solbes]

Is a few days enough time for the yeast to ferment your smaller amount of priming sugar?

Guess I go one or the other. 75% of the time I sugar prime. I have plenty of beer in the pipeline so this just reduces the amount of primary time by a week or so. Super easy to add at kegging.

Lagers, Kolsch yeast derived beers, or beers in a rush get the shake for a minute at 30 psi, dial down to 10 psi, and tap 3 days later. Takes a few days to get to full carbonation and for the carbonic bite to die down. But fully drinkable in a week vs 2.5-3 with sugar prime.

I seem to remember that carbonation takes about the same amount of CO2 that dispensing it does. So in theory you go twice as long between cylinder refills.

 

[UndeadFred]

What I have done for a quick carb (on ales anyway) is put 30-35 PSI on at room temperature and shake until I can't reasonably get it to take on more in 10 minutes. This is nice as it positively seals the lid gasket.

Then I shut off the tank entirely and let cool overnight. Set the regulator for desired pressure before opening another valve to the keg...

Even if you are over your desired cold PSI with a couple of days you will get there in 2-3 more days.. then you can drink.. 3-4 days total instead of 7-10...

Fred

 

[noggins]

Well I got impatient and took my keg out and rolled it at 30psi