Into the keg or???

[LarryC]

I have a batch of West Coast IPA that is sitting in my primary and it's going on 5 weeks now. I intended to keg it at about 3-4 weeks but I had some logistics issues - mainly I only have the keg and no CO2 components. A friend was going to loan me his CO2 set up but he ended up having to use it for his beer.

So now I'm getting a bit desperate and that brings me to this question - should I add some sugar to the keg & rac in the beer, wait a couple more weeks until I can get the CO2 rig or just go ahead and bottle it? The bottling option is a bit of a problem for me right now because I sliced my thumb pretty badly last week and I really don't want to be cleaning, sanitizing and transferring beer with a bum thumb if I can avoid it. Would kegging it with sugar be OK for a couple weeks until I had the O2?

Thanks for the help & Happy New Year!

 

[DogTail]

if you don't plan on drinking it soon then just put it in the keg and let it sit until you get a CO2 setup. You can add sugar to try to carbonate it and it would work but without CO2 it will just go flat after a couple beers anyway so really there is no point. If you want to enjoy it prior to getting a CO2 setup then go ahead and bottle it.
just my 2 cents

 

[LarryC]

My only reason for adding sugar to the keg (if I keg it) would be to create some CO2 in the keg while it sits. I know I would need the CO2 rig to dispense and keep it carbed (that's what the guy who was going to lend me his CO2 rig didn't realize)

 

[Goblism]

add the sugar, let it carb for a couple weeks and tap into it once you get the CO2 setup.

 

[LyonsViper27]

add the sugar, let it carb for a couple weeks and tap into it once you get the co2 setup.

+1

 

[LarryC]

Done

I added 3oz of sugar and rac'd it into the keg. If all goes well, I should have the CO2 tank & lines in about 2 weeks and we can start drainin' that thing!

By the way, the hydro sample smelled great and tasted really good - can't wait to try the finished product!