do you "prime" your keg beer???

[pa-in-utah]

I will be kegging my first batch soon and I was curious.......... Do I have to prime it with corn sugar prior to kegging it? I wouldn't think so, since it is force carbed with Co2. I read in a homebrew catalog that you should prime it, but with considerably less sugar.

Just want to get the facts straight prior to my first batch in the keg.

Thanks.

 

[Onescalerguy]

Either or.
Cheers

 

[Iordz]

You can prime it if you want, but most of us choose to force carbonate. It's easier to force carb, you rack the beer, hook it up, turn the gas on to 12psi and forget about it for a week or so. You don't have to boil any priming solution or have to worry about having enough viable yeast left over, etc. If you do want to prime you have to consider the temperature at which the keg will be storing to figure out the amount of priming solution needed.

 

[bradsul]

You can do either. Personally I have to naturally carbonate with dextrose because I only have a 2 keg kegerator. If I had the room to do it with forced carbonation I probably would though.

 

[Iordz]

You can do either. Personally I have to naturally carbonate with dextrose because I only have a 2 keg kegerator. If I had the room to do it with forced carbonation I probably would though.

I don't get what you are saying. I have a two keg kegerator too and I force carb. What's stopping you from force carbonating? And how do you dispense the beer?

 

[JimC]

If you have more kegs than CO2 hookups, you might want to prime so you don't have to keep switching the C)2 from the kegs you are drinking to the kegs you are going to drink.

 

[bradsul]

I don't get what you are saying. I have a two keg kegerator too and I force carb. What's stopping you from force carbonating? And how do you dispense the beer?

My kegerator holds 2 kegs and dispenses 2 kegs. I always have a couple kegs sitting and waiting. If I want those carbonated when they go into the kegerator I have to naturally carb them. When I swap out a keg I only have to wait for it to chill to serving temp and then it's ready to go, I don't have to wait a week for it to carbonate.

 

[Iordz]

Ah, I see, that makes sense. I give the keg a week or so before I tap it. I do want to get some more kegs so I can do that.

 

[bradsul]

Ah, I see, that makes sense. I give the keg a week or so before I tap it. I do want to get some more kegs so I can do that.

I hate having an 'empty' tap personally. Waiting a day for it to chill is hard enough.

 

[Bobby_M]

The other option is picking up a second bottle and reg used and apply 30psi on the warm kegs in a closet or something.

 

[Buford]

I have a second tank I use for carbing outside the fridge. It's harder to carbonate at room temp, so the pressure is set around 19-22 PSI. I just let it sit on gas until it goes in the kegerator or until I have another keg to carb.

 

[pa-in-utah]

Thanks for the advice. I didn't totally understand why to "prime" if you were going to hook up and force carb. Guess I didn't understand all the details (I am a NooB again).... So if you prime it is "more ready" to drink when you hook the gas up to it. How long do you have to let it sit at room temp for this to make a difference??

My Keg-er-eezer will hold 3 kegs, 2 Home Brew kegs and 1 commercial 1/2 barrel. I have a dual tap set-up (one home brew, and 1 commercial tap).

So, if I can wait an extra week to tap, just force carb?.?.?.?.... Wouldn't you have to wait a few days (or weeks) for the priming sugar to do it's deal anyway?.?.?.?...

What pressure do you kegs dispense at? I know it depends on alot of factors but just curious.

 

[Joker]

My kegerator holds 2 kegs and dispenses 2 kegs. I always have a couple kegs sitting and waiting. If I want those carbonated when they go into the kegerator I have to naturally carb them. When I swap out a keg I only have to wait for it to chill to serving temp and then it's ready to go, I don't have to wait a week for it to carbonate.

I am having visions of my future. I currently have 3 kegs and no means of dispensing from them. Talk about driving yourself crazy. Soon though very soon I will get them set up but I like your method of priming prior to connnecting. I would think this would save you a decent amount of C02??

 

[bradsul]

...I would think this would save you a decent amount of C02??

It would, though I don't know how much. So far I've got about 12 kegs on my current 5lbs tank with serving pressure only, no carbing. And I know your pain too well. I had 4 kegs and all the equipment I needed (picnic taps at first) and was just waiting for a sale on the fridge I wanted. I had to wait almost 3 months.

...So, if I can wait an extra week to tap, just force carb?.?.?.?.... Wouldn't you have to wait a few days (or weeks) for the priming sugar to do it's deal anyway?.?.?.?...

What pressure do you kegs dispense at? I know it depends on alot of factors but just curious.

A keg is just like a bottle, I don't tap mine (assuming there is a slot in the kegerator free) any earlier than 3 weeks after kegging. Kegging doesn't eliminate the need to age your beer.

I personally serve my beer at 8PSI and the kegerator is set at 8.5C (that's around 47F I think). I have 5' of 3/16" beer line.

 

[z987k]

I serve my beer at 9psi at 40F.
I only have 2 kegs right now so I force carb them quickly, but this also means they probably spent a month or so in the secondary. What I like about force carbing it the beer comes out crystal clear. If you prime with sugar you'll get some more yeast in the bottom of the keg, which will probably clear in 1 to 3 pours.

My method as per a link from this site is: rack to keg, get it pressurized so it seals and put it in the fridge for a day to cool down to the 40F. Take it out with the co2 bottle and crank up the co2 to 25-30psi. Put it on your lap and roll it back and forth (laying it sideways) for 100seconds.take the co2 off, and turn it back down to serving pressure. Let the keg sit in the fridge for an hour to a day or so (to let the foam from rolling it go away) Release the pressure, then hook up the co2 line and enjoy.

 

[Dycokac]

So far, I have my fridge, my regulator, one tap handle and my faucets are in the mail

But after that I just need shanks, a manifold, some kegs, a bottle and some hose. One more month

 

[APendejo]

I hijacked one side of the OL's fridge a couple of years ago so I only have room for one keg to be on tap at a time. I like to keep at least 3-4 kegs in lineup at all times so I prime the kegs with dextrose priming solution and put 'em away in a closet until they are ready for tapping. At night I will just put the fresh keg in the fridge and hook up the gas, 8-10 psi, and the next morning I have cold naturally carbed keg beer.
AP

 

[asoccerdude]

Why not just build a tree with 2 regulators connected to eachother coming off of one bottle? have one kicking out your forced carb psi and the second one after that dropped down to serving? as long as the first one is higher or equal it'll always work.

 

[JeepDiver]

If you keep your pipeline going you should have plenty of time to naturally carb. Most of the time, unless my brewing gets off schedule, my kegs are waiting a month for a spot in the kegerator. Most beer benifits from the extra time. If I got way behind I would force carb but I try to keep the pipeline going