Keg conditioning? No CO2 yet.

[MrGibbon]

Hey Guys, For my latest brew Im planning to crash chill it and then rack to a keg to condition for a month.

Is it possible to keep the brew in a keg with no CO2 for a month without any horrible side-effects?

Cheers!

 

[mckenry]

Not really MrGibbon.
Its all about the oxygen in the headspace. This is detrimental to beer long term.
I would suggest as a minimum you prime with some sugar. This will at least carbonate the beer, which will in essence make it like a big bottle. We all know bottles can be stored. Look up bulk priming to find out how much sugar you'll need for your particular batch size.
mckenry

Edit - I am assuming you have no CO2? If you did, you wouldnt be asking this question right?

 

[Black Devil Dog]

What I do is connect the co2 line to the keg and fill the head space with co2.

Purge the o2 out by releasing the pressure relief valve.

Fill the headspace again with co2 and leave it.

edit. I bulk prime my kegs with 2/3 cup of dextrose.

 

[MrGibbon]

Yeah, I dont have my co2 yet, its coming soon, but im looking at racking this weekend.
I'll bulk prime and then transfer to the keg.

Its an amber ale so Im prob looking at 160-170g of dex to prime?

Thanks chaps.

 

[doon]

You have to half the amount you would use if you were to bottle. Someone on here has the calculator in their sig.

Last time I bulk primed a keg I thin i used 60g dont quote me though going off memory

 

[DU99]

60 grams of dextrose should be ok..

 

[MrGibbon]

Thanks.

 

[Diesel80]

Gibbo,

the last keg I semi naturally carbed i used a 1/3 cup of dex.
Temps ranged from 20-30degrees massive perth heatwave over xmas.

It was an english brown ale / stout and it was undercarbed, was carbed but not quite enough.

Are you going to have gas bottle before you start drinking it? If so, probably put in less than what is needed to fully carb the beer and tweak it to your liking with CO2 when available.

Cheers,
D80

 

[MrGibbon]

Yeah, I will be putting gas in before I drink it.
Its going to be my very first keg of beer!
Ive done loads of bottled brews before this.

Thanks.

 

[Amber Fluid]

Yeah, I dont have my co2 yet, its coming soon, but im looking at racking this weekend.
I'll bulk prime and then transfer to the keg.

Its an amber ale so Im prob looking at 160-170g of dex to prime?

Thanks chaps.

Put your sugar solution into the keg then transfer your beer. Bulk priming first then transferring to the keg is a waste of time I reckon.

As previously mentioned, you need to halve the amount of sugar you would use for bottling the same volume.

 

[stux]

Put your sugar solution into the keg then transfer your beer. Bulk priming first then transferring to the keg is a waste of time I reckon.

As previously mentioned, you need to halve the amount of sugar you would use for bottling the same volume.

hehe,

Bulk prime in the keg

I used 70g of dex disolved in 150ml of water for my last one

 

[MrGibbon]

Im also guessing that keeping this in a coolish place would be good, but it doesnt have to be refrigerated.

 

[mckenry]

Im also guessing that keeping this in a coolish place would be good, but it doesnt have to be refrigerated, like bottles.

Yep, in this case, condition as you would your bottles. When you are force carbing with CO2 it needs to be cold.

 

[gsouth82]

Hey guys, on a semi related topic...could you purge the O2 out of the keg with CO2 then leave uncarbed out of the fridge? Or alternatively, force carb but not put in the fridge?
I ask because I'm going to try and brew 5 kegs for a party but can't store them all chilled.
How long will the beer last?

 

[fcmcg]

You will find that a keg takes on more cO2 when colder , so you really need to chill and then force carb...
Do that and then when its carbed , take it out of the fridge...it will keep ...as long as your keg was clean/sanitised before you filled it and your beer doesnt have an infection !
Cheers
F

 

[Amber Fluid]

Hey guys, on a semi related topic...could you purge the O2 out of the keg with CO2 then leave uncarbed out of the fridge? Or alternatively, force carb but not put in the fridge?
I ask because I'm going to try and brew 5 kegs for a party but can't store them all chilled.
How long will the beer last?

How far away is your party?... if more than a couple of weeks then just bulk prime the kegs and leave them out of the fridge without a need to purge or use C02. Chill them for about 24 hours before your party and they will/should be primed up ready to be served. I've done this a few times and have had no problems.

 

[kahlerisms]

WHy do you need to halve the sugar for kegs? Can someone explain this please?

 

[Liam_snorkel]

less relative headspace compared to bottles.

 

[kahlerisms]

Well that depends how much you fill your keg.

I would think it'd be reasonably comparative and that overcarbing is a lot less dangerous and a lot easier to deal with in kegs.

I've never naturally carbed a keg, so was curious as to the difference in priming rates.

 

[nala]

I have looked up on Brewmate - for a 2.5 carbonation level at a temperature of 25c the required priming sugar is 140 grams.
I used 25c as an average ambient here in WA