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I would like to try and carbonate my beer in the keg but don't know what to do. I read somewhere to halve the priming sugar. and wait 2 weeks. any help would be great.
I tried using 1 cup per keg, but kept having over carbonation problems, so I tried 1/2 cup and that works like a charm.
I use the "half the amount sugar as for bottling" when keg priming beer and still usually end up with over carbed beer.
The carbonation tool is bs3 mobile has this calculation and it is a bit lower than you would use to bottle see example screen shot.
View attachment 762387
Just telling you what I observed. No infection but can't rule out it did not started fermenting again.Not possible, unless fermentation wasn't finished when you kegged or there was an infection. Or you hooked up the gas before all of the priming sugar was turned into alcohol and CO2. Or bottles would have also overcarbonated.
The fact that sugar is in a keg rather than in a bottle does not cause more CO2 to be produced. No way, no how.
What would you say the thinking is behind this because I see adding less mentioned in British brewing forums as well?Sorry, but BS3 is "BS" in this case.
The "Or you hooked up the gas before all of the priming sugar was turned into alcohol and CO2." I dont think makes senses. I used less sugar and it was not done but still got too much carbonation.
What would you say the thinking is behind this because I see adding less mentioned in British brewing forums as well?
I'm not disputing carbonation and the amount of sugar remaining static whether bottling or kegging I'm just wondering if anybody knows why?
I think the thinking was that kegs have significantly smaller headspaces than the headspaces of all the bottles added up, so someone applied logic to an incorrect assumption, and came up a with a bad rule of thumb. And it spread like wildfire. Actual measurements, OTOH, show that the total headspaces are very close to each other, and in fact the keg headspace is even slightly proportionally larger, not smaller. But the difference isn't significant.
With headspaces proportionally the same, the amount of sugar has to be the same, because X amount of sugar can only produce Y amount of CO2 (by weight).
That said, if someone is hooking up the CO2 tank while the natural carbonation is still happening, then of course less sugar should have been used. How much less? It's anyone's guess. You'd have to know how fast the yeast are going to work vs. how fast the force cabonation is happening.
Natural Carbonation
You can naturally carbonate the beer using corn sugar if you like. The recommended amount to use for priming is about 1/2 what you would normally use when bottling — approximately 1/3 cup for a 5 gallon batch. The only disadvantage of natural carbonation is that it takes some time to reach full carbonation and it can leave additional sediment in the bottom of the keg.
Edit: and yeah Doug293cz agrees with you as well.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/using-sugar-to-prime-in-keg.663040/post-8533258
So I sent Brad a question on the BS3 carbonation tool and he already answered.I rest my case!
I'm not certain the exact mechanism, but I believe you get more complete fermentation in the larger keg
than in a small bottle.
Cheers!
Brad Smith
So I sent Brad a question on the BS3 carbonation tool and he already answered.
My question to him:
Why is the corn sugar calculation significantly less than the bottling calculation from a quantitative standpoint? It seems the carbonation level wouldn't change if carbonated in the keg or in bottles with the same amount of sugar.
Thank you for looking in to this,
His Response:
I would like to try and carbonate my beer in the keg but don't know what to do. I read somewhere to halve the priming sugar. and wait 2 weeks. any help would be great.
For clarity I did not put the primed kegs on CO2 while it is priming, kegs were allow to ferment out then placed into the beer cooler before putting on CO2. I do give the kegs a shot of CO2 initially to seal the lid, then draw that down to serving pressure of 12psi then no more CO2. Kegs go into the cooler and set a minimum of 2week but usually longer(I like old beer) all the while sitting on serving pressure.If you hook up gas while the priming sugar is still being processed, you end up with more carbonation than if you hadn't hooked up the gas.
You still need CO2 to push the beer out, but pre-carbonating does save some.@ba-brewer Do you ever add more CO2 once it's at serving pressure? I'm hoping to get away from having to buy additional CO2, especially with the shortages. Thanks !
You still need CO2 to push the beer out, but pre-carbonating does save some.
I guess my real question is how long will it take to completely go flat. I would assume some time as it's in a sealed corny keg, even while serving it. I'm out of gas right now as my back up tank apparently has a burst disk in the knob and is out of commission. Which really stinks. But what better way to find out how long my cider and beer will stay carbonated
were you able to pour the whole keg? I would guess no, I will be messing with kegs and forget to hook gas back up from time to time and my wife will ask if the keg is suppose to pour at a trickle. The head space pressure seems to be enough to push a beer or two but I guess that might depend on how full the keg is.i've used empty kegs with presure to push full ones before.....
So this is a scenario of where you would capture the excess gas when it's in the conditioning phase.i've used empty kegs with presure to push full ones before.....
were you able to pour the whole keg? I would guess no, I will be messing with kegs and forget to hook gas back up from time to time and my wife will ask if the keg is suppose to pour at a trickle. The head space pressure seems to be enough to push a beer or two but I guess that might depend on how full the keg is.
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