Natural Priming in a Keg

[buggslife]

I have just got a second hand pressure barrel / keg and, having never kegged before, I have a few questions hopefully you can help with.

I would like to keg my German Weissbier and intend to siphon from the secondary into the keg with the priming solution.

1) Can it take the pressure? I intend to prime to 3.8 volumes of CO2 (+250g sugar in 5 gal). This is more than most beers but I assume ok?

2) The beer will be drunk in one night - how will the carbonation fair during, ay, 4 hours of drinking? Will it taste flat by the bottom half?

3) This drinking session will commence 20 hours after a long car journey. Any experience with sediment in kegs? I will be very careful transferring from primary to secondary and again from secondary to keg leaving behind as much sediment as possible but do you think 20hours is enough time for it to re-settle?

I hope these questions were not too obvious and thanks in advance for your help.
Cheers!

 

[benbradford]

A keg can take a lot of pressure... more than you are likely to achieve with yeast and sugars.

Once it is carbonated(takes a week or better two), it stays carbonated.

20 hours will settle just fine. Cold crashing would help too. The first pull will have sediment, but after that, you are good.

 

[xoltri]

I've only keg conditioned one keg so far (doing another one tonight though), but I found that the force carbed beers are crystal clear where as the conditioned one was always a bit cloudy. Of course it was worst on the first and last pints. Not a huge deal but that was my one experience.

 

[buggslife]

Cheers people.

On the cloudy front I am thinking this is less of an issue with Weissbier as it's meant to be somewhat cloudy.

That got me thinking - how easy or good an idea is it to hand pull Wheat Beer through a pump? I could just bottle the lot...

What about loss of carbonation whilst the keg is being drunk? As liquid reduces, air volume increases inside and the pressure will equalise taking CO2 from the solution.
That is the theory, any experience in practice? Does it affect the beer massively or still enjoyable on the 2nd half of the keg?

 

[buggslife]

Ok, the beer is primed and in the keg.
Now, how do I purge the head space?
It is the pin type valve (for bulb / sparklet) CO2. I cannot see a release valve - see attached pic.

?

 

[beninan]

What kind of keg is that??? Is it a plasic keg?

On your question about carbonation loss, kegs are usually kept pressurized with a CO2 tank the entire time you are pouring. If you are using a hand pump, it still should stay carbonated fine, but it will oxidize a lot faster, due to oxygen being pumped in. It will be fine for a day or two of drinking.

 

[buggslife]

It is a plastic keg like the Bottom Tap King Keg.

So far I have been unscrewing the cap slightly to release pressure and now think the head space of air has been purged.

Would be nice if there was a purge valve though.

Intend to just use the plastic tap now a hand pump will not arrive in time.

Question: Will I get away with taking a sneaky half pint in advance without risking ruining the batch?

 

[sanch]

if you release the pressure it will not carbonate.

 

[buggslife]

You need to purge the head space if air, then let CO2 build up.

Any opinions on sneaking a sample from the tap or will it start to ruin the batch?

 

[buggslife]

Just feel it's worth commenting on the reponse from Sanch, just in case some noobie stumbles across this post...

"if you release the pressure it will not carbonate"
This is a misconception.

A fizzy liquid will always look to equalise the pressure with it's surroundings - so if you release built up gas and then secure the lid again afterwards the liquid will re-fill the air gap (head space) with gas.

People are often concerned about losing carbonation - relax!
Yes, you will have lost a small amount but if the head space is small the loss is minimal.

Try it. I have been doing it on and off for years with experimental brews such as Root Beers and Ciders when I have opted for the lazy less scientific approach.

if you release the pressure it will not carbonate.

 

[buggslife]

My first keg was a great success.

Primed for 3.8 volumes CO2, the Weissbier came out exactly as hoped. First pint was half foam, subsequent pints perfect.

When about 60% full I injected an 8grm bulb to help serving pressure keep up with demand.

Also, keg was left to settle outside for 24hours before starting.

A successful stag do feature.