First Ever Batch - Going Straight To Keg - A Few Questions...

[guppergoo]

Just sampled my first home brew- a nut brown that happens to be a bit hoppier than expected - but still super in my mind. OG was 1062 and now it is at 1012 after 9.5 days. The foam has fallen so I am guessing it is ready to keg? what are your thoughts on force carbing for the first time or should I just go with the sugar solution and let it do so naturally? I am not in a rush to drink. I want to do it right so my wife enjoys the fruits of our labors - and I can keep on brewing! Also, the sample I took from the carboy is really cloudy. I used the moss but it is still really hazy like a heffe or wheat. Should I worry?

Thanks so much!

 

[trevorc13]

bottling is a good idea for n00bs just because you get to experience the whole range of homebrewing. With that said, kegging is awesome!!! I just started a couple batches ago and I won't be going back to bottling. It's a hassle to wash, sanitize, and fill each botte while trying not to spill everywhere. Plus, kegging gives you the opportunity to bottle through counter pressure filling. That, or you could bottle half of your carboy, and keg the rest. You can just drop some Muntons carb tabs in each bottle to get the right carbonation. No need to worry about the haze. It will be hazy until it has the right amount of time to clear. Usually when it hits the fridge is when this really takes place. Have fun.

 

[lumpher]

it's ready to keg condition at that fg. keg it up and put it in the kegerator under pressure if you can. it'll cold-crash, and get rid of all the cloudiness and haze.if you force-carb it by just letting it sit, it'll be ready in a couple weeks. for a nut brown, i tend to primary them for 3 weeks (my standard), then keg them for about 2 weeks at room temp. then, i keg it and put it in the kegerator under co2 for 2 weeks.

 

[cuttsjp]

Force carbing is pretty straightforward. There are a lot of useful charts for carbonation units online, and basically all you have to do is connect your keg to gas and rock it back and forth on your lap for a while, then let it sit for a while the CO2 dissolves and settles. I tend to like to naturally carbonate...not sure why, it's just my personal preference. It's a little bit easier; you just boil your priming sugar or DME with water and put the solution in the bottom of the keg, siphon your beer into it, and give the headspace a little CO2 pressure to ensure a good seal. You're probably less likely to screw up the priming sugar method, but maybe I think it's easier because I started with bottling.

To address the haze problem, you might try cold crashing your beer to drop the rest of the yeast out of suspension. Haze is nothing to worry about, it's just not as pretty. If you keg your beer, the yeast will eventually settle and the beer will clear anyway. Out of curiosity, what yeast did you use?

 

[djonas]

I have never bottled in my life; straight to keg. These folks seem to have the process down but make sure that your kegs are clean and sanitized before putting your precious beer into it! I like to clean mine with soap, rinse completely, then clean with sanitizer afterward. I guess if you're confident that the keg is clean, you can skip the soap and just sanitize. Oh, make sure to take the keg apart and clean and sanitize the pieces too. A dip tube brush is pretty helpful to clean that narrow thing out!

 

[Frodo]

Obviously you didn't ask whether you should bottle, since you asked whether you should force carb or naturally carb in the keg... did you read the force carb sticky? https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/keg-force-carbing-methods-illustrated-73328/

It has some info sprinkled in there on naturally carbing. I just started kegging so not much experience; but force carbing works for me. Less sediment in the bottom of the keg, and it's a "set it and forget it" sorta thing if you can wait at least a week or 3.

On another note, since this is your first batch, have you let it ferment for at least 3 weeks? If it's still cloudy maybe not. After 3 weeks the beer seems to be much clearer and much smoother in taste. You also mentioned it tastes hoppier than you expected. All the tastes seem more amplified to me when 1) the beer is green and 2) the beer is flat.

 

[jangelj]

nahhh, skip the bottling.
I have carbed with sugar and force carbed at high pressure quickly, and tried the set it and forget it method

Now, I only naturally carb with sugar when my fridge is full and I can't put it on CO2. I'll put sugar in when I keg is and leave it in my closet so that when I do get it in the fridge, it is already carbed, just needs to chill before I drink it.

I usually just put the keg in the fridge, set the pressure to 30 psi for a day, then dial it down to serving pressure. It is usually ready a couple of days ofter that (thought I "sample" it before it is ready).

You can do the shake method to force it to carb even faster, but I am rarely in that big of a hurry.

 

[trevorc13]

Obviously you didn't ask whether you should bottle, since you asked whether you should force carb or naturally carb in the keg....

...oops. You're right.