What are my options?? NO gas:(

[newfiebrew]

Hey guys I have a Edworts IPA dry hopping right now and was planning on kegging it in a day or so but I'm out of co2 gas,possibly due to a leak.The problem is that my only source for c02 is unavailable right now.

The beer has been in the primary for 3.5 wk's total and dry hopped with pellet centennial for the last week.From what I hear I should rack the beer off the hops after 7-10 days...but I cannot keg right now so what do I do? Leave it in the primary with the dry hops or transfer to another carboy and leave it till I can get my c02 straightened out?

thanks.

No bottling isnt a option as I hate it and got rid of all my bottles...lol

Jamie.

 

[JustLooking]

Priming sugar in keg. Just use lots of keg lube since you won't be able to seat the lid or purge.

 

[Siberian]

The beer has been in the primary for 3.5 wk's total and dry hopped with pellet centennial for the last week.From what I hear I should rack the beer off the hops after 7-10 days...but I cannot keg right now so what do I do? Leave it in the primary with the dry hops or transfer to another carboy and leave it till I can get my c02 straightened out?

How long do you think until you get Co2?

A few more days beyond the 7-10 isn't going to be a crisis for the dry hop character, I'd say you have less to fear from that then you do from potential oxidation in racking it. Assuming say you could work out the Co2 issue in the next 5 days or so.

I've done 14 days+ and never noticed any of the 'grassy/vegetable' tastes folks mention sometimes, so I'd just relax and work out the Co2 issue and keg it as soon as you can.

 

[pvpeacock]

Mix up a half cup of hot water with priming sugar, pour it in the keg and rack your beer on top of it. Seal the keg and wait as it naturally carbonates. You run the risk of some oxydation since you can't purge the keg with CO2, but that is the same risk as racking to a secondary -- probably less of a risk since the beer will start carbonating itself unlike a secondary.

 

[JustLooking]

-- probably less of a risk since the beer will start carbonating itself unlike a secondary.

... and the secondary fermentation from the priming sugar will consume some of the O2.

 

[ericbw]

... and the secondary fermentation from the priming sugar will consume some of the O2.

And if you shake it and vent, you might purge some o2.

 

[barnaclebob]

What about just waiting for gas because you'll need it anyway to serve?

 

[TheZymurgist]

From what I hear I should rack the beer off the hops after 7-10 days...

"Should" is extremely relevant on this site. It's almost completely lost its meaning unless coming from a handful of people.

 

[Natdavis777]

I'd agree with priming sugar in the keg as well. I think that is your safest bet until you can get some more co2

 

[helibrewer]

I assume your hops are loose and cannot be removed ?

 

[JustLooking]

And if you shake it and vent, you might purge some o2.

Don't shake the keg.

 

[ericbw]

Don't shake the keg.

Let me clarify: rack to the keg with sugar to prime it. Put the lid on and jiggle the keg while holding the vent open. Residual CO2 should come out, pushing the O2 out.

Not vigorous shaking.

 

[Yooper]

No shaking at all- rack the beer to the keg. It'll be fine.

 

[ericbw]

No shaking at all- rack the beer to the keg. It'll be fine.

What about the oxygen at the top of the keg?

 

[JayDubWill]

I've keg carbonated before while waiting for a tap on the kegerator to open up. Never had any oxidization issues. Personally It's been my experience that oxidizing the beer, at least to above the flavor threshold, is more difficult than commonly believed. Think about racking the beer to secondary -- how often do you purge the carboy with CO2? I've never done it, and never had any issues.

 

[Yooper]

What about the oxygen at the top of the keg?

What about it? If you fill the keg, just like you would a carboy, there would be very little oxygen in there, but what would be in there would be less than in a carboy with a bung and airlock.

When people bottle, there is a bit of headspace in the bottle and it doesn't ruin the beer, anymore than a bit of headspace in a keg would.

But shaking or agitating it would put whatever oxygen in the headspace in contact with the beer much faster and more readily- so don't shake it!

 

[newfiebrew]

May get some co2 thur or friday so hopefully I won't have to prime a keg at all!!

Thanks for your help guys. If I do end up priming in a keg Ill be back here asking questions.

 

[ericbw]

What about it? If you fill the keg, just like you would a carboy, there would be very little oxygen in there, but what would be in there would be less than in a carboy with a bung and airlock.

When people bottle, there is a bit of headspace in the bottle and it doesn't ruin the beer, anymore than a bit of headspace in a keg would.

But shaking or agitating it would put whatever oxygen in the headspace in contact with the beer much faster and more readily- so don't shake it!

I only suggested that because people seem to be concerned about oxidizing their beer and needing to vent the keg. Agitation would release the CO2, pushing the O2 out of contact with the beer.

 

[Yooper]

I only suggested that because people seem to be concerned about oxidizing their beer and needing to vent the keg. Agitation would release the CO2, pushing the O2 out of contact with the beer.

That goes against the laws of physics, though!

The Ideal Gas Law would come into play, and the oxygen in the keg won't go out just because the keg is shaken. Sure, it can be purged quite a bit with a big blast of c02 from a c02 source, but without pure c02 being forced in, it won't be just oxygen that is released. Room air is about 19% oxygen, and shaking the keg (which is full of room air) only puts more of that room air into contact with the beer.

If anybody tells you about the mythical "co2 blanket" that covers everyone's beer long term, they aren't scientists or physicists. The Ideal Gas Law and the Laws of Physics still apply in brewing.

 

[ericbw]

If you rack to the keg, put the lid on, wait 5 minutes, and pull the vent, you'll get a pffft. Wait 5 minutes and do it again. Probably a smaller puff. More or less, probably depending on the temperature. If it warms up, even more.

What's coming out?

 

[JustLooking]

What's coming out?

A homogeneous mixture of CO2 and ambient air (which is only about 21% oxygen).

 

[solbes]

Go for sugar priming and call it a day. If you've always force carbed and never tried sugar priming, this is a great opportunity to see if you like it. I personally do it for most of my kegged brews and get just a tad more yeast in the first 2 pints than without. The only styles I don't do it for are lagers and kolsch's as I work very hard to get them clear prior to kegging.

Agree, no need to shake. OR vent really if you are not purging with CO2 (which I do with sugar priming w/ CO2 available). Keg lube on the large main seal will allow it seal under the keg conditioning process (yeasties eat priming sugar).