What to expect from first time keg conditioning

[bmack]

Hello Everyone,

I'm brand new to kegging, and I just tapped my first homebrew keg which I attempted to carbonate naturally. Unfortunately I do not have a kegerator, so I'm planning on transferring the beer to a growler for now as needed.

My question is what should I expect from the first pour? The beer is a double IPA which I've had kegged for two weeks now. I expected the first pour to be super cloudy from the yeast which should have settled on the bottom, but the it seemed fairly clear from the first pour and seems to be hardly, if at all, carbonated. The mouthfeel is similar to cask beers i've had. Does this mean that carbonation didn't take, and if so should I pitch more yeast or just force carb it? Thanks!

 

[Nuggethead]

If carbing naturally, let it finish that way. May take at least a month at 70f and that may still not be enough time. Two weeks won't be enough time for a keg to carbonate naturally. Don't add additional yeast, it's to soon. There should be plenty of yeast in suspension.

 

[bmack]

Thanks for the advice. I've had the keg in my temperature controlled fridge which has been sitting at about 66 degrees. Could that be the cause for slow carbonation?

 

[Nuggethead]

Could take 6 or 8 weeks at 66f.

 

[masonsjax]

2 or 3 weeks has always been enough time for me. Do you have a CO2 tank? If you didn't seal the keg lid first with about 30psi, the CO2 produced by the yeast may escape and you wont get much carbonation. How much sugar did you add? I have good results filling the keg to about a half inch below the gas diptibe and adding 3oz of corn or cane sugar.

 

[bmack]

I took it out of the fridge, my ambient room temperature is about 75 degrees. Also, I hooked up my co2 tank and sealed the keg with 30 psi. I'll let it go a few more weeks and check again. This proves once again that patience is key. Thanks!

 

[masonsjax]

It's possible that the priming sugar sank to the bottom and when you pulled a pint off, you removed much of that sugar. If so, that would prevent it from carbing up.

[edit] I just noticed that you said you had it in the fridge that whole time. That's almost certainly why you didn't get carbonation. You may have also removed a lot of the sugar, but at those cooler temps, it would take much longer to carbonate. Let it sit at 70+ for a couple of weeks and see where you are.