On a time table

[Morrisj86]

Ok, so I am kinda in a time crunch atm. I need my fermenter, but I ran out of co2. Can I add say 0.5oz or 1.0oz of priming sugar to a keg to get it started so i can start a new patch in my fermenter. I just want enough activity to produce enough co2 to seal the keg. I need/want to start another brew so I can have it ready for a party. I ran out of co2(i thought i had enough for 2 more kegs) and the only places I can get co2 aren't open till monday. Which will put me way behind cuz after this weekend I don't have the time to brew till a week from tuesday.

So, what I am asking is can I add just enough priming sugar to a keg to get it to seal and be okay? Or, can I just rack it to the keg and hope it produces enough co2 naturally to be fine? The beer in question was in the fermenter for 2weeks and in my secondary/brite tank for 2weeks.

The plan is(if everything is okay) to rack my brew to the keg early tomorrow morning(Saturday) and let it sit till Monday. When I will be able to get more co2. I am using ball-lock corny kegs with all new gaskets if that makes a difference, all the gaskets are brand new, never been used before.

 

[Vedexent]

I've never done it, as I don't keg (yet).

But based on this thread elsewhere, it looks to be possible, but an "iffy" proposition.

It looks like you need to make sure you maintain a seal (which you seem to have down pat with new gaskets), and ideally you want to flush the keg with the last bit of your CO2 (do you have any left?).

But provided you can get a good seal in at least as reduced O2 environment, it looks like it can be done - but it's not a slam-dunk by any means.

Good luck!

 

[IslandLizard]

Why not buy another fermentor bucket? Problem solved for many brew sessions to come.

Don't ruin a good beer, oxidation is bad!

At this month's homebrew club competition we had 10 beers brewed from the same grain and hops bill. It was an interesting exercise. 2 of the beers were clearly oxidized and didn't score high, one was suspect but still tasty. 4 beers were exemplary, one was a nice dry hopped sour, the other 2 were OK, low to mid 30s range.

 

[IslandLizard]

You can rely on the gasket to seal the beer from the outside, sure. But leaving 2-4 quarts of air in the headspace for 2 days isn't going to do your beer any favors. Adding priming sugar will take way too long to generate enough CO2, and isn't going to purge that headspace.

If you could fill the keg to the brim, so the headspace is truly minimal, it would probably be OK.

Do you have a friend who you could borrow a tank from?

 

[IslandLizard]

Here's another idea. If you have a keg that's mostly empty, say a gallon left, you can use the gas from that to purge the headspace.

 

[Dcpcooks]

Yes you can carb a beer in a keg with priming sugar. You will end up with a bit of sediment in the keg after it's done, so you may want to plan to transfer it to a clean keg. If memory serves me you add about 80-90% of the dextrose you would addd for bottling.

You probably have enough co2 in suspension to seal the keg already. Just seal it up and give it a good shake. You'll want to add sugar to feed the yeast and scavenge the o2 you going to have in the head space.