Using sugar to prime in keg?.

[odie]

I'm in two minds about it - the sugar is good, but opening the keg is bad. Will the sugar off-set the keg being opened? Probably not. Getting sugar in the keg at the same time as transferring beer definitely has benefits, but I don't think I'd be opening an already kegged beer to put sugar in.

Diminishing returns?
I have 2 ales conditioning that I feel hadn’t fully attenuated so I hope the yeast was still active and fermenting away in the keg.
The two lagers I’m pretty sure we’re finished but they are aging at 40’ and one is pretty high abv.
Will add sugar to future kegs

 

[Jayjay1976]

I speak from my posterior as I have no kegging experience so take this with a heavy pinch of burton salts, but I think keg carbing with sugar makes tons of sense. Firstly, it doesn't take any longer than force carbing. Second, it saves CO2 for serving. Third, if you have several kegs and batches in the pipeline they can just sit in the cellar until needed, all carbed up and ready to serve. I dunno if you need a spunding valve to store carbed beer long term, but you can DIY one pretty cheaply.

 

[Redpappy]

I’ve never kegged for storage until now. Maybe I need to start adding a little sugar to the kegs if it’s gonna age? I’ve got a porter and couple lagers that will sit 2-4 months before drinking. Should I pop the top and add a little sugar and reseal?

Did you add any co2 to the kegs? I’m still learning, so take it for what’s worth, are you using the kegs as a secondary? If I’m not mistaken when lagering ( I have not done) you place in a secondary, and drop the temp for x amount of time. Now if you will be doing what I am planning, which is to fill the keg, and then leave at room temp, then it sounds like priming is the way to go. How long have you had them in the keg for so far?

 

[odie]

The porter has been kegged a month maybe. All co2. I purged several times but since I don’t plan to tap for another couple months I wonder about oxidation.
Lagers all kegged 2 week ago. Primary ferm only for 4 weeks. Lagering in kegs. One lager won’t get tapped for a few months. Dopplebock

 

[Gnomebrewer]

The other option to sugar priming in the keg is to spund in keg with gravity points remaining. This makes sure yeast are still active and (IME) gives the best quality beer. The downside is that you have to transfer at a fairly precise time (with 2 to 8 points remaining) and end up with a bit more trub in the bottom of the keg. If you go this way, you either need a spunding valve (about $15) or to check the pressure in the keg every day and vent as required. I've found about 25psi at room temperature gives about a normal level of carbonation.

 

[odie]

Ok, I don’t get the spunding thing? The keg lid has a relief valve. Or I could just attach a blowoff tub to the inlet post?

 

[Jayjay1976]

I don't believe the built in relief valve would actuate until the beer was severely over-carbed and so it is not a substitute for an adjustable spunding valve.

 

[WBCo]

Ok, I don’t get the spunding thing? The keg lid has a relief valve. Or I could just attach a blowoff tub to the inlet post?

A spunding valve is an adjustable blowoff valve. If you know that you need to hold your beer at (for example) 16 psi to reach 2.4 volumes of carbonation at the temperature it's being held at in your cellar, you can set your spunding valve to 16 psi. If you accidentally add too much sugar to your keg and it starts to carbonate over 16 psi, the spunding valve will let the excess CO2 out of the keg and keep you from over carbonating your keg.

 

[madscientist451]

I usually brew 4-5 kegs of lager/kolsch in March/April for summer drinking and leave them in my cool basement (40-50F) until the temp down there gets higher than 55 and then put them in refrigeration for the summer.
I've done keg conditioning before, and it worked OK for me, but I stopped doing it because I'm a lazy brewer and the extra step of measuring the sugar, boiling it, ect. was a hassle. But I'm going to try it again this season, maybe using the DME method (above) figuring my kegs of lager will be pretty close to perfectly carbonated when I want some.

 

[BruceH]

Anyone have an update? I would really like to know how it's working out.

I've recently ordered kegs and equipment including a spunding setup. I plan to naturally carb. Will start with sugar but would like to eventually get spunding with unfinished beer figured out.

 

[RoguePixels]

Anyone have an update? I would really like to know how it's working out.

I've recently ordered kegs and equipment including a spunding setup. I plan to naturally carb. Will start with sugar but would like to eventually get spunding with unfinished beer figured out.

I've also been looking into using a spunding valve when my next keg arrives. I plan to transfer to my keg when I've still got a few points of fermentation left and throw a spunding valve on it skipping any sugar additions.

This thread had some good advice on natural carbing with a spunding valve that's worth a read.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/spunding-question.644774/