CO2 Using a C-Keg

[ryno1ryno]

When, not if, but when I get one of these, what do I need to know thats not obvious?

Is it true that you can skip the entire bottling process and pump the fermented wort right into the keg?

What about the traditional bottling time that was required? Does this mean use the keg as the secondary? With CO2?

Thanks

 

[Knightmare]

Basically you rack into the corny after fermentation is complete. You can use the corny as a secondary by purging the head space with co2 and let it sit at room temp for a couple of weeks. I don't do that. I leave my beer in the the fermentor for 2-3 weeks, rack to the keg, refrigerate and set the co2 at 10 psi and wait 14 days. You're pretty much skipping the 2 week carb time.

An alternate way to carb in the corny is to use it as a big bottle. Add sugar like you would for bottling and let naturally carb. You use about 1/2 the priming sugar you would for a bottled batch. Then just use the co2 to dispense the beer. Corny kegs make life much easier on bottling day. That's for sure!

 

[ryno1ryno]

Basically you rack into the corny after fermentation is complete. You can use the corny as a secondary by purging the head space with co2 and let it sit at room temp for a couple of weeks. I don't do that. I leave my beer in the the fermentor for 2-3 weeks, rack to the keg, refrigerate and set the co2 at 10 psi and wait 14 days. You're pretty much skipping the 2 week carb time.

An alternate way to carb in the corny is to use it as a big bottle. Add sugar like you would for bottling and let naturally carb. You use about 1/2 the priming sugar you would for a bottled batch. Then just use the co2 to dispense the beer. Corny kegs make life much easier on bottling day. That's for sure!

Thanks.

I don't see you skipping the carb time if you let the keg refrigerate for 14 days. Isnt that essentially a carb period?

 

[Knightmare]

Sorry. I meant I eliminate the secondary fermentation caused by naturally carbonating. Even though I'm letting it slow carb for 2 weeks, it's also conditioning during that time. If I naturally carb in a bottle, I wait a minimum of 4 weeks before trying a bottle. 2 weeks to carb, 2 weeks to condition to get rid off the "green" flavors caused by the secondary fermentation of the carbing sugar. By force carbing, I eliminate 2 weeks by avoiding this process.

 

[ryno1ryno]

Sorry... but again, 2 weeks to ferment plus 2 weeks in the keg with CO2 in the fridge is equal to 2 weeks to ferment then 2 weeks to bottle... time wise at least.

Is it possible to ferment 2 weeks then go straight to drinking with CO2?

Or should the C keg be used as the secondary (like you do) and then the total time is 4-5 weeks anyway?

The advantage of the c-keg is just the fact that one doesnt have to bottle?

Thanks

 

[beerguy52]

Yes, you can quick carbonate in 20-30 minutes if you want to. I also leave the beer in the fermenter for 2-3 weeks after fermentation ceases. (Use your hydrometer.). Then I rack to secondary. I use another keg. Cold crash to clear the beer. Rack to second keg. (I use kegs as secondary so I can move the beer around with gas and avoid oxidation). Beer should be reasonably clear. Attach gas. Set your regulator to your target beer pressure in atmospheres taking temperature into account plus a pound or so. Lay the keg on its side with the gas post submerged. Roll the keg back a forth fairly briskly. The agitation will help dissolve the gas into the beer. Pause every minute or so and listen for the gas bubbling into the keg. If you hear bubbling you aren't done yet. After 20-30 minutes you won't hear any more bubbling which that the pressure in the beer is equal to the regulator pressure. Beer is ready to go at that point. I generally let it settle a day or so before serving. But set-it-and-forget-it works fine too. Cheers.

 

[Knightmare]

Ok. Lets try this again. 2-3 weeks to ferment your beer in a primary. No need to rack to a secondary. Then it's time to bottle or keg. If I bottle, it sits in the bottles for 4 weeks minimum. ( 2 weeks to carb, 2 weeks to condition). If I keg it , it goes on gas to carb for 2 weeks. The kegged beer will be ready to drink 2 weeks earlier because I don't have wait for the sugar to carb the beer because there is none. I'm using CO2 to carbonate the beer. No waiting for the beer to eat the sugar like it would when you bottle. There's no need to wait for the yeast to clean up after eating the sugar. It saves 2 weeks by using the CO2 to carb the keg.

I think this is where I confused you before. Instead of using CO2 to carb the keg, you could use sugar to carb the keg at room temp. This essentially is just like using it as a giant beer bottle and naturally carbonating. Then after 4 weeks, you hook up to the CO2 and use it to serve the beer. Some people use this method because they use small CO2 cartridges to serve the beer or they want to save money by conserving the CO2 in their larger gas cylinders.

 

[beerguy52]

Should have also noted that you really have to let the keg settle. Overnight is fine. Chilled is best.

 

[ryno1ryno]

Its all good... I have seen recipes that say 2 weeks to ferment then 2 weeks to carb in a bottle. I did not realize that you bottled for 2 additional weeks making your total time ~6 weeks.

Thanks for the ideas.