carbonation question

[Brewery1422]

Has any one used priming sugar to carbonate in a keg. I have a keg but no co2. Was thinking of using priming sugar and one of those mini co2 hook ups for pouring.

 

[Face Eater]

You can carbonate in a keg by priming no problem. The only thing is that you will get yeast build up in the bottom of the keg. Some people cut their dip tube about an inch higher to compensate for the yeast.

You can leave the dip tube alone but your first few pours will be more yeasty. The other thing you need to worry about is maintaining carbonation. This is where a regulator and co2 tank comes in handy. You might be able to keep it carbonated with one of those injectors but won't be precise. If you plan on drinking the whole keg I'd say go for it, but other than that you may risk under/over carbonated beer.

 

[Face Eater]

Also, you use much less priming sugar while carbonation a keg. You use about a third of the amount but I'm not sure the exact amount, maybe someone can chime in.

 

[stpug]

I've used half the bottling priming sugar for keg priming with good results.

Important: You will need to pressurize the keg upon priming in order to SEAL the lid otherwise your co2 produced will simply escape.

 

[Brewery1422]

Sounds like I should just get a co2 set up

 

[stpug]

Sounds like I should just get a co2 set up

That is the best choice because you would also want to purge the headspace with co2 prior to sealing the lid and I'm not sure how much pressure a little co2 cartridge can provide.

Of course, a full co2 setup will likely be $150+ unless you can find a deal through a friend, craigslist, classifieds, or the like.