Force carbonation

[Nmillard]

Well I've finished my first brew and it is still in the fermenter I will be putting it in a keg in a couple weeks. My question is I've been reading about bottle conditioning and how it makes the brew better over time well I have no desire to mess with bottling so am I supposed to condition in the keg since I will be force carbonating it? Or can I start drinking it right away?

 

[eljefe]

I have no patience so I fill my keg, force carb it over night and drink it the day after I rack it to the keg. I will let some of the stronger beers age in the fermenter before racking, but I have not conditioned a beer in the keg.

My force carb process is to stick both keg and CO2 in the fridge, turn the co2 to 30 psi and let sit for 24 hrs. I then purge the line, connect the keg and release some of the pressure to get it between 7 - 10 psi. Works well for me, but I am sure others have a better way to do it.

 

[Weizer]

I do it a very similar way that eljefe does. I put 30 psi into the keg, shake the keg like you shake a baby to give it sids and then put both the keg/tank in the fridge and let it sit for 5-6 hours..by then the beer is always cold enough and pumped full of carbonation After I release drop it to around 15-18 psi, just because I like my beer to have a nice thick head.

Just my take on it though.

 

[Curtis2010]

Well I've finished my first brew and it is still in the fermenter I will be putting it in a keg in a couple weeks. My question is I've been reading about bottle conditioning and how it makes the brew better over time well I have no desire to mess with bottling so am I supposed to condition in the keg since I will be force carbonating it? Or can I start drinking it right away?

You can condition (or primary ferment, or secondary ferment...) in a keg just fine. Just treat it like a 5 gallon bottle. If you want the end result to be more like a bottle conditioned beer, and don't mind waiting of course, then prime the keg like you would a bottle (again: a 5 gallon bottle). It will condition and naturally carbonate right there in the keg.

I use kegs for primary and secondary fermentation. For primary you need to rig an air lock (or even a blow off tube if it's really rocking), but for secondary or longer conditioning there is really no need. During secondary I usually just "burp" the keg every few days by letting a little pressure off using the overpressure valve (there's not much anyway)...worst case the overpressure valve will release the excess pressure (of course you don't really want the pressure to get this high in the first place, but at least it wont explode).

I usually rack to secondary as soon as primary ferm slows down (typically just a few days). I think I get better results this way, but when, and even if, to rack to secondary is a raging debate.

 

[wailingguitar]

I am a HUGE fan of putting a CO2 stone in a corny. Cost you about $17 for stone, tube and a hose clamp or two. Will carb cold beer in 2 days at serving pressure. I fine my beer in the primary, after cold crash. 24-48 hours xfer to keg. Put gas on at 13psi. 48 hours later beer is sparkling clear and ready to drink. No hassle.

 

[Veedo]

I am a HUGE fan of putting a CO2 stone in a corny. Cost you about $17 for stone, tube and a hose clamp or two. Will carb cold beer in 2 days at serving pressure. I fine my beer in the primary, after cold crash. 24-48 hours xfer to keg. Put gas on at 13psi. 48 hours later beer is sparkling clear and ready to drink. No hassle.

It makes that much of a difference? Do you just set up another dip tube on the gas inlet side, with a stone rigged on the end?