Forced Priming Kegs Vs Sugar Priming Bottles

[Sam England]

I always bottle a couple off of every batch for testers and takeaways as my system can do 26L and I can only keg 19 or 23L depending on the kegs I'm using. The keg always tastes better even though both the kegs and bottles sit side by side until they're ready to go in the fridge. (6 kegs room for only 2). I force carb the kegs over a week in the fridge, so can only assume it's the priming sugar making the difference. I've done side by side tests with guests and they've all come to the same conclusion.

 

[sponge]

Similarly to you BB, I've got 7 kegs, but Ive only got a fridge big enough for 2 kegs, and only a place big enough for a fridge with two kegs...

After CC'ing, I force carb whilst the beer is still cold, then let it sit in the brew dungeon til the Im ready to rotate one of the fridge kegs.

Atm, Ive got 2 kegs aging (barley wine and spiced ale), one which is empty that I use for GB's/ciders/other crap for the family (since the smell seems to stay in there for ages) at xmas etc, and a 4 keg rotation with 2 in the fridge, and 2 pressurised and waiting.

Keeps things fairly interesting whilst only having the space for 2 kegs on tap.


Sponge

 

[Dave70]

So then why do I read in various articles on brewing that after primary fermenation is finished you should keep your beer in the fermenter for another week to allow the yeast to "clean up"?

Nick JD's explanation is far more on point than my blunt description of the life and times of yeast truth be told.

Then again, some folk are paranoid about the autolysis boogie man and go through the whole racking thing and get the beer off the yeast cake the nanosecond the gravity stops dropping. I've had beer sitting on the cake at 18 deg for over a month on one occasion, just a plain old ale, with no ill effects. Might have been lucky there, but in regard to any iron laws of brewing, in my best captain Barbossa voice:
'They be more like guidelines than actual rules'

 

[hughman666]

I started bottling like most, and moved to kegs mainly to reduce the hassle factor of cleaning - 1 vessel instead of 30. In my current 21L batches, I still bottle 5-6 longnecks to avoid wasting leftover beer.

What I have noticed is that 3 days in the keg is equal to 2 weeks in the bottle when not force carbing (I do 3 days at 40psi and then drop to serving pressure). The beer is carbed up but still a bit green. As some have said, this is great for some styles (hefe, APA etc) but not others. give it another 3-4 days and most styles are ready to go. In bottles it takes 3-4 weeks to get to this stage.

What I have also noticed is that the kegged beer tastes a bit "cleaner", mainly due to the lack of sugar/sediment sitting around in it. Seems to have an impact on the taste.

Just my 2c...

 

[Nick JD]

I just bottled a 16L batch into forty-something 330ml stubbies. It TAKES AGES! Man, I love kegs.

But it's a good idea with big beers (this one was a 7.5% IPA) because if they're on tap at my place, Nick gets hangovers because IPAs are too DELICIOUS! Especially one with loads of Amarillo, Cascade, Galaxy and Citra in it. :icon_drool2:

 

[Amber Fluid]

A general rule of the thumb I read somewhere and seems pretty close imo is, 1 week in the keg = 1 month in the bottle.

 

[Edak]

I just bottled a 16L batch into forty-something 330ml stubbies. It TAKES AGES! Man, I love kegs.

But it's a good idea with big beers (this one was a 7.5% IPA) because if they're on tap at my place, Nick gets hangovers because IPAs are too DELICIOUS! Especially one with loads of Amarillo, Cascade, Galaxy and Citra in it. :icon_drool2:

Beer also makes Edak talk in the third person...

Totally keen to get onto the kegs.

 

[Helles]

When you get into kegging you'll end up with a fair collection of kegs
Everything still gets some age to it
I also carb at serving pressure witch adds a couple of weeks

 

[Screwtop]

[quote name='Mike L'Itorus' post='931590' date='Jul 6 2012, 10:26 AM']@OP....pay attention to the inverted commas screwy has used: "most". Certainly not all.. (although, I might disagree slightly and say "most" is a touch strong. Some, yes; many, yes...most? maybe, maybe not).

Some beer styles are too long in the tooth and past their prime in the time it takes a bottle to carbonate. An (extreme) example imo is English Milds....if it's not drunk within 2 weeks of pitching the yeast, you're not drinking fast enough. (my personal record is 20L pitched, fermented, clarified (without filter), kegged, and drunk to the dregs within 7 days).

Wychwood reccomend to their publicans that their casks should be emptied and returned within 14 days, or the quality of the beer will suffer. [/quote]

Yes the inverted commas! Nothing like a big fresh Hefeweizen at around 10 days (7 in the fermenter and three in the keg force carbed) on a hot summers day, served in a big weizen glass................. roll on summer!

And, remember those Wychewood casks are cask conditioned!

[quote name='Truman' post='931656' date='Jul 6 2012, 01:14 PM']Interesting replies...

So would it be right to assume that the act of priming with sugar is what contributes to the green beer to a degree?[/quote]

You're onto it there!!!

Screwy

 

[Truman42]

Well my other foot is over the fence now and Im about to jump into the kegging yard and chill with my kegging buddies.

I was just reading the article TB wrote on converting a garden sprayer into a party keg and was contemplating making one of these as an option to start out in kegging. I can fit this into my current fridge and use with a picnic tap and just bottle the remainder of my beer. Are these okay to hold beer in for say a month or two. (Not likely to be that long anyway).

 

[seamad]

I made one with liquid and gas posts so it was compatable with my cornies. Had leaksage problems that were solved with a lot of heavy duty plumbers tape.
However, after about six hours i get a soapy taint to what is in the keg, have soaked,washed done everything to the ******* to no avail.
For the price of used 19 l cornies dont stuff around with them. You will still need co2 to pump out beer from either to avoid oxidation anyway, and the gas bottle and regs are over half the cost of a keg setup.
Cheers
Sean

 

[Truman42]

I don't have room for a dedicated keg fridge so was going to store it in my spare fridge in the garage. But I don't think a 19 litre keg will fit. I've been looking for smaller kegs on ebay but there all brand new and well over $150 each.

 

[booargy]

Rack the beer to keg before it has finished fermenting and attach PRV. When the beer has finished fermenting put it in the fridge to chill then drink. quickest and most efficient way.

 

[Nick JD]

Get a CO2 bottle, a reg, a gas QD and a carbonator cap.

Rack to secondary in a jerry that has a gas post connected to the lid.

Fill a 2L PET bottle with beer and chill. Purge your jerry headspace with CO2.

Attach the gas to your 2L bottle - force carb when cold.

 

[Mike L'Itorus]

snip...And, remember those Wychewood casks are cask conditioned!

Screwy

True, so there is some condition for the beer. But nowhere near as much as some advocate in the HB world. Particularly when you consider standard practice is to soft spline the cask within the first few days of reciept, ready for serving. So only a few days of condition before being served up to the punters, rather than a few weeks (or more).

I've had more than one bitter never make it to a keg; it's been drunk in it's entirety out of the fermenter.

 

[katzke]

One of my biggest pieces of advice on here seems to be dealing with green beer.

It seems like the kit instructions get brewers thinking that their beer is ready in a week or maybe a few days longer. If they bottle it gets a bit of a chance to finish up. If they keg, they drink green beer. The test 3 days in a row suggestion only waists beer. The only reason I test final gravity now, is to see if my recipe calculations were correct.

Fomentation and aging time all depends on the style of beer. Some are good after a week or 2 in the fermentor. Most need 3 or 4 weeks, and some need 6 months or longer.

I loaned out a small glass carboy for a Barley Wine project. Can not remember how long he left it in to age, It was in the months, however it was not long enough. I remember the last of my 2 bottles was just over a year old and was getting ready to drink. He had ran out long before that.

So green beer is not from force carbing in the keg, it is from packaging way too early.

Drink no beer before its time.

 

[gtsbrewer]

A general rule of the thumb I read somewhere and seems pretty close imo is, 1 week in the keg = 1 month in the bottle.

I have also read this.....

I moved to kegging as i was putting on two brews at a time and got over washing dam bottles! I naturally carbonate my kegs always have. depending on the beer style and CO2 level required for the amount of sugar that goes in. Never had a problem with flat beer beside two leaking kegs which i now too pressure check kegs before filling. I have 11 19L kegs with room for three at a time in the fridge. most of my kegs are atleast a month old before drinking...
I also have a 2L growler for take aways if i need, however all my mates are brewers so theres no need taking beers to drink expect if you want to show case


kegging is a small price to pay for more brewing time no wasted time washing a crap load of bottles.

 

[Byran]

I have bottled, kegged, and force carbed in kegs then bottled.
Out of the fifty or so times I have done this the beers that are poured from the tap into bottles are ALWAYS much better tasting than the beers that I have bottle primed from the same batch. Cleaner, clearer, less DMS, less ethanol and off flavours.

My conclusion: Bottle carbing with sugar is shit and I will never accept it as a good way to make a nice beer. And they carb up shitty too, never as creamy and smooth as the ones that are carbed in the keg. Always more coarse and with a strange flavour I cant quite explain.
I think it ruins the beer that has been fermented and changes it into something a little, different. Not always a bad thing though of course as hoppy beers do taste good bottle carbed. Prob cause the hops mask the off flavours from the sugar.

Bottle carbing, it works, but I think that getting a keg setup was the best thing I ever did.

 

[Steve@PMF82]

My conclusion: Bottle carbing with sugar is shit and I will never accept it as a good way to make a nice beer. And they carb up shitty too, never as creamy and smooth as the ones that are carbed in the keg. Always more coarse and with a strange flavour I cant quite explain.

Massive call there!

 

[Thefatdoghead]

I know the otter brewery in the U.K have their beers going out the door in 1 week. 1 day to brew it, 1 day in the primary, 5 days in the secondary and then keg and off to the breweries.