Carbonation Times for Mini Kegs

[camicus]

So I just mini kegged an American Cream Blueberry Ale.


I initially fermented for one week, then I racked back into bucket and added 3lbs. blueberries, and let those ferment and seep into the beer for almost a month. As I said, I just put the deliciously blue looking concoction into some mini kegs with a tablespoon of priming sugar each. My question is,


A: How long will it take to carbonate in the kegs? I figure it is already fully conditioned, so do I still need to give it two weeks?



B: How long will the beer last once I open the kegs? I have a mini keg kegerator that I will be using.


thanks for the help


Cameron

 

[Iordz]

How long will it take?
On average two weeks. However, it depends on how much yeast was in the beer when you racked into the keg and on temperature. More yeast equals faster carbonation. Temperature is also important, the warmer the temp the faster the yeast work and the quicker the beer is carbonated. Keep the kegs in a warm place to encourage the yeast and the beer could be carbonated in a week. The beer will probably improve with age but you can drink it when it's carbed. You could try save a keg and taste it a couple of months later.
How long will it last?
If you have an airtight seal, no air can get into the keg and oxidise the beer so it should last for a very long time. This is assuming you are going to be using CO2 to push the beer, right?

 

[malkore]

Did you use a calculator to determine how much sugar to use for priming?

assuming these are 5 liter mini-kegs, and you want an average CO2 volume (I used 2.4 volumes which is good for most american ales)...I came up with .9 ounces of sugar per 5 liter mini-keg...or 25 grams of sugar.

a heaping teaspoon is roughly 5g of sugar, so a tablespoon is roughly 15g of sugar.

these *might* be a little under carb'd.

 

[homebrewer_99]

So I just mini kegged an American Cream Blueberry Ale.


I initially fermented for one week, then I racked back into bucket and added 3lbs. blueberries, and let those ferment and seep into the beer for almost a month. As I said, I just put the deliciously blue looking concoction into some mini kegs with a tablespoon of priming sugar each. My question is,


A: How long will it take to carbonate in the kegs? I figure it is already fully conditioned, so do I still need to give it two weeks?



B: How long will the beer last once I open the kegs? I have a mini keg kegerator that I will be using.


thanks for the help


Cameron

Carbonation will take a couple of weeks at around 70F.

Once tapped the kegged is doomed. You have to drink it all. Trust me, it will be flat by morning.

I've hed kegs last over 1 year if not tapped though.

 

[p0nyb0y20]

but if yopu use an additonal tap with Co2 and not the built in tap on the bottom, how long prior to drinking to you add the C02?