# Quick question - Sugar Carbing in Keg



## Budron (10/3/13)

Hi Guys,

I've had an APA finished fermenting and sitting at about 7 degrees for about a week now. (US-05)

I want to put it into a keg today, but my co2 just blew.

If I bulk prime with sugar, will the yeast come back to life after being at a low temp for so long if I bring it back to 18-20 degrees?

Cheers,

Budron.


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## Wolfman (10/3/13)

Yer mate it will be fine. Just use half the amount of priming suger you would have needed if you bulk prime for bottling.


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## Nick JD (10/3/13)

Be aware that when you do put it in the fridge the first few glasses will be murky, sulphury swamp water.


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## Black Devil Dog (10/3/13)

It will be fine, I usually cold condition my beer for about a week before kegging and I naturally carbonate using dextrose. (2/3 cup)

Leave it to carbonate for as long as you can, preferably 1 month or more. 

End result, perfectly carbonated, crystal clear beer, from the very first pour, no murky swamp water ever...........


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## Nick JD (10/3/13)

Black Devil Dog said:


> It will be fine, I usually cold condition my beer for about a week before kegging and I naturally carbonate using dextrose. (2/3 cup)
> 
> Leave it to carbonate for as long as you can, preferably 1 month or more.
> 
> End result, perfectly carbonated, crystal clear beer, from the very first pour, no murky swamp water ever...........


You leave your kegs at room temp for a month?


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## Black Devil Dog (10/3/13)

Since I decided to go with natural carbonation instead of forced and increased my number of kegs from 4 to 7, I would rarely chill a keg before it has conditioned for at least a month.

They sit under my stairs which is always 1-2 degrees cooler than anywhere else in the house.


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## TidalPete (10/3/13)

Nick JD said:


> You leave your kegs at room temp for a month?


IIRC BDD survives the Queensland summer using air conditioning.  :icon_cheers:


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## Nick JD (10/3/13)

What's BDD?

I hate it when I have to leaves kegs at room temp for significant periods - especially hoppy or estery ones. They fade pretty quickly - and there's nothing worse than tasting a keg of IPA that has lost its aroma - almost as bad as buying an IPA from Dans that's been stored at room temp for a month.

That said, I have a keg sitting at room temp atm.


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## TidalPete (10/3/13)

Post *6 Nick.


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## Black Devil Dog (10/3/13)

How long do you store your kegs for?

I wouldn't consider a month or two to be a "significant period".

Another thing, when storing beer in SS kegs compared to PET bottles, my understanding is that the kegged beer will keep for much longer with minimal deterioration than beer in PET will. I would have thought that most people who use PET bottles would need to store them for a significant amount of time for the beer to condition and some recommendations are for 2 - 3 months.

I aim to keep my beer for as long as possible in the keg or glass bottle before drinking it.

Edit. No Aircon TidalPete.


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## Wolfman (10/3/13)

I have 6 kegs. I try to drink one at a time, but then some times that doesn't work out.


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## TidalPete (10/3/13)

Wolfman said:


> I have 6 kegs. I try to drink one at a time, but then some times that doesn't work out.


Even though I mostly drink weekends with 4 x taps & 7 kegs on hand it never works for me either Wolfman.
So many beers, so little time. :lol:

PS -- My apologies to the OP for this distraction so perhaps I should say that it's better to store your (non-gas primed) beer at more or less the same temp that it was carbonated. :beer:
IMHO if you have gas then use it. So much easier & much less hassle.

Sorry for the late edit. Got distracted.


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## Nick JD (10/3/13)

Black Devil Dog said:


> How long do you store your kegs for?


At room temp? As short a time as possible. Especially if they are ester, or hop-driven styles.


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## Black Devil Dog (10/3/13)

TidalPete said:


> PS -- My apologies to the OP for this distraction so perhaps I should say that it's better to store your (non-gas primed) beer at more or less the same temp that it was carbonated. :beer:
> IMHO if you have gas then use it. So much easier & much less hassle.


I found that chucking a small amount of dextrose into a keg and gassing to seal it was way easier and much less hassle than plugging the gas in and rolling and shaking the thing. Unless I wanted to start drinking it the next day, then force carbonation is a great option.


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## TidalPete (10/3/13)

Black Devil Dog said:


> I found that chucking a small amount of dextrose into a keg and gassing to seal it was way easier and much less hassle than plugging the gas in and rolling and shaking the thing. Unless I wanted to start drinking it the next day, then force carbonation is a great option.


Not too sure what you're getting at here BDD?
Gave up forced carbonation years ago mostly thanks to my option of having 4 x kegs on tap + one x keg carbonating + 4 x kegs cc'ing at serving temp waiting their turn.
If you are in no hurry to carbonate then carbonating at serving pressure will see your kegs done in a week max.


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## lmccrone (10/3/13)

I normaly put my beer in a bottle, however every now and again I fill a keg for my old man and I bulk prime. I use exactly the same amount of sugur as I would when putting it in the bottle, the beer seems well carbonated, not sure about useing half? As far as the yeast coming back to life, I larger some of my beers for 6 weeks at 1 degree and then pop them in a bottle with some sugur and Roberts your Mothers brother.


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## Amber Fluid (11/3/13)

lmccrone said:


> I normaly put my beer in a bottle, however every now and again I fill a keg for my old man and I bulk prime. I use exactly the same amount of sugur as I would when putting it in the bottle, the beer seems well carbonated, not sure about useing half? As far as the yeast coming back to life, I larger some of my beers for 6 weeks at 1 degree and then pop them in a bottle with some sugur and Roberts your Mothers brother.


If you use the same amount of sugar in your kegs as you do in your bottles then you will only get 1 of 3 results:

1/ bottles are under carbed
2/ kegs are over carbed
3/ success if you are using _really big_ bottles or _really small_ kegs

If you can get away with this then you are the only person that can :blink:


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## lmccrone (11/3/13)

Amber Fluid said:


> If you use the same amount of sugar in your kegs as you do in your bottles then you will only get 1 of 3 results:
> 
> 1/ bottles are under carbed
> 2/ kegs are over carbed
> ...



At the risk of sounding like an Idiot it does seem to work, (however OP I
would use half just to be sure). Why would it make a difference I would
have thought it would be a mathematical equation, X amount of sugar creates Y
amount of C02 in a given volume creates a pressure of Z, what am I
missing?


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## Nick JD (11/3/13)

Put a gas IN and a beer OUT on a cold, sugar-primed 750ml bottle cap (pretend it's possible) and connect your QDs. Set your reg to your normal pouring pressure.

Now try to pour a schooner from it. All foam?

That's why kegs have less sugar in them.


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## barls (11/3/13)

because by opening a bottle your venting all of the pressure before pouring. kegs you dont do this normally.


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## Budron (11/3/13)

Thanks for all the feedback guys.

Yeast won't die when stored at low temps for long periods. And use half the sugar you would when bottling.

Got the answer and them some!

Cheers,

Budron


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