Kegging question

[rickprice407]

After a slightly disappointing result carbonating with conditioning pills, I have decided to start racking to kegs, force carbonating and then bottling as needed.
My main question is if I force carbonate, should the beer still sit in the keg for two weeks or is it ready to drink?

 

[insubordinateK]

After a slightly disappointing result carbonating with conditioning pills, I have decided to start racking to kegs, force carbonating and then bottling as needed.
My main question is if I force carbonate, should the beer still sit in the keg for two weeks or is it ready to drink?

It is ready to drink after force carbonation; however why transfer to bottles? Just cool the keg and drink from it.

Also I have tried to bottle from kegs to send people samples of beer I have on tap, and it is a pain to keep the foaming under control during transfer. I would used priming sugar in the bottle personally. I only bottle about a 6 pack with each batch and have found that anywhere between 0.5 - 1.0 tsp of corn sugar per 12 oz bottle works well.

 

[rickprice407]

I usually bottle to give to friends and I brew in my workshop which is about 400 yards from the house. The issue I had with the conditioning tablets was seriously low carbonation. Disappointing after waiting 2 weeks and then we were stuck with it. 2 marzens and 2 Porters - great taste but low carb. I may try the priming sugar in the bottles next time. Any ideas on how to salvage these?

 

[GatorBrew1]

I was told to open them up, add another priming tablet (or two depending on the bottle size), add another 2 or 3 drops liquid yeast and re-cap. Guess you could add more sugar, if that is what you want to use instead of the tablets. I used a a syringe for the yeast.

 

[insubordinateK]

Yeah I have used carbonation tabs from Coopers and Muntons. I liked Coopers: 1 for 12 oz and 2 for 22 oz. Simple and carbed up really nice. You might try those. They are easy and work well.

I just switched to corn sugar because I can get it cheaper. I dissolve the proper amount in boiling water, cool, then draw up in a syringe to dispense into bottles. You can do this to your marzen and porter. Dissolve about 0.5 tsp of corn sugar in 3 mL of water for each bottle (5 tsp in 30 mL for 10 bottles, etc) and dispense into your bottles, then re-cap and wait a couple of weeks.

 

[rickprice407]

Do I need to add sugar/tablets AND yeast? Or just the sugar? Don't want to end up with bombs, LOL.

 

[samc]

My main question is if I force carbonate, should the beer still sit in the keg for two weeks or is it ready to drink?

The best way to force carb is setting it at serving pressure and waiting two weeks. If you do the fast methods (shake or high PSI for a day or two) you can start drinking immediately but the beer doesn't always taste it's best due to Carbonic acid taste or just that the beer is possibly too young.

 

[insubordinateK]

Do I need to add sugar/tablets AND yeast? Or just the sugar? Don't want to end up with bombs, LOL.

I would add just sugar since they are partially carbed, the yeast should still be active.

 

[Hethen57]

Just because you can carb it in 2 days, doesn't mean it will taste great. Some beers are more conducive to quick drinking than others. If you are just going for a BMC substitute like a Blonde Ale, it might be ok (I've done it and it works fine). But for big hoppy IPA's and more complex beers where you are expecting some body and melding of different flavors it will taste green and watery, even if carbed. In my experience, the 1-2-3 method seems to be a fairly accurate timetable, possibly reducing the 3 weeks conditioning down to 2 with kegging (1-2-2). One week fermentation, 2 weeks secondary or settle out in primary, and 2-3 weeks of conditioning for optimum flavor. It all makes beer...though...haha

 

[mightynintendo]

My main question is if I force carbonate, should the beer still sit in the keg for two weeks or is it ready to drink?

If you force carbonate, the beer will have already sat in the keg for two weeks. It's ready to drink!

 

[Hethen57]

There is nothing magic about sitting in the keg for 2 weeks, it really depends on whether it's ready before you keg and what type of flavor you are going for. If you can carb in a keg in 2 days, which I have, it is ready to drink if it tastes good. I have also done that and decided to pull it off the gas, put it back in my basement, and let it sit for a few weeks to mellow and it can make a world of difference...still beer, just better beer.

 

[rickprice407]

Thanks for the info.

One last question. As an option to adding sugar and maybe a bit of yeast to the under-carbonated batches, can we pour them into a keg, purge the O2 and force carbonate them in a keg? Other than the carbonation, the flavors were right on what we wanted.

 

[JuanMoore]

Thanks for the info.

One last question. As an option to adding sugar and maybe a bit of yeast to the under-carbonated batches, can we pour them into a keg, purge the O2 and force carbonate them in a keg? Other than the carbonation, the flavors were right on what we wanted.

I'm guessing warming them up and giving them a swirl to get the yeast in suspension may be all you need. You said something about carbonation not being right after 2 weeks, but the MINIMUM time it takes for an average gravity brew to fully carb is 3 weeks at 70F. Lower temps or higher gravities can extend this timeframe into several months. To get exact carbonation levels in the bottle next time, use a priming calculator like this one, and use a precise amount of sugar rather than drops.

And just as a heads up, kegging and then bottling out of the keg can be frustrating, and often leads to a foamy mess and undercarbed bottles. To do it right really requires a counterpressure filler of some sort.

 

[DustBow]

Kind of off topic but do you use the Munton's tabs where you have to put several in a bottle? I used the Coopers before I started to keg and had good results.