Mini Keg Carbonation

[Zeener]

Hey Guys,

I’m looking for some advice on how I should go about carbonating my pale ale in a 4L Mini Keg.

I tried the force carbonation method last time and it didn’t work out. I would prefer to take it a bit easier until I get more comfortable.

Should I just pretend its a big bottle and use my 500ml sugar scoop 4 times and leave for a few weeks? My garage is around 22-24 degrees.

Or can I attach the mini reg & soda stream cylinder and leave it in my garage for some time at a lower CO2 pressure?

How do people carbonate these mini kegs that don’t use a large kegging setup?


Thanks

 

[mattyh77]

You need to get it cold for it to carbonate. I put about 15psi on and leave it in the fridge for a few days. Then release prv and turn down to serving pressure. Works well for me. I also have the larger keg set up as well. But

 

[Zeener]

Yes I've read that it should be cold as it absorbs quicker or better. Unfortunately, I don't have much room in my only fridge at the moment to keep it cold for a few days.

 

[mattyh77]

Well then i guess you will need to add sugar. Depending on how well you want it carbonated, I'd probably go 15g of sugar dissolved in about 50ml of cooled boiled water. Kegs only need half dose compared to bottles so ive read. The 4l kegs only really hold about 3.8l.
I haven't actually naturally carbonated in my mini yet.

 

[EalingDrop]

I've naturally carbonate 4L and 5L. Batch prime to achieve 2.3 Co/Vol (96grams sugar) for 20L.
Usually I fill three 5 L's and the rest into bottles (beer clubs, and the fridge). I see no difference in carbonation between the kegs and bottles.
This is tested when I pour manually from the Mini Kegs.

However, when installed with taps/regs there are foaming issues (for some people), hence the advice is to under carb it.

 

[damoninja]

It's a small volume and weight, should be able to do the shake method at a lower PSI like 13 without too much trouble.