Natural Gasing Kegs

[phil123]

Hello all,

I'm new a new member, I've been looking for about a year and the info from the experts obtained here has been a real help. Planning a party in a couple of months so starting now to get the beer sorted. I've borrowed some more 19lt kegs, so I have a total of 8 to fill up for the night. I remember seeing on here ages ago about adding sugar/dextrose to naturally gas the kegs??? I have a cylinder of gas and normally leave the keg gassed up for a few days in the fridge, and it pours perfectly. If I have 8 of them to do this is going to take forever, and I don't have enough room in my frigde!!!. Can I gas them and store them for a couple of months with out storing them in the fridge?? This would be easier and then I'd just have to chill em on ice on the day, Any previous experiences or advice would be helpfull.

 

[unrealeous]

You have quite a few options.

You can treat it like a big bottle. 19 litres is 25 times bigger than a 750 ml bottle - so a really easy way is to add 50 carbonation drops per keg.

You can use the bulk prime calculators and use sugar (cheaper option). You should read this http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...;showarticle=68

You can cool each keg, gas each one, get it to the right carb level, take it out of the fridge and leave it. Might take longer but you will get less sediment and thus potentially clearer beer.

Or you can wait until the day before the big day, cool and use the Ross method to rapid carb. More hero factor in this method - but of course it could all go to hell.

And I'm sure others will have some more advice.

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

Ha , I like to see anybody shake the gas into 8 kegs, even the man of steel. Would not be much of a party for you, you would be crashed out in a corner with arms shaking. :lol: Prime the dam things, its dead easy.
GB

 

[phil123]

Yeah, I would need a beer or three after shaking the gas into 8!!!! How much sugar to prime them ,they are going to be mainly lagers, and a porter or two?? and would I chill filter as I usually do, and how much clouding could be expected with the priming???

 

[under]

I thought the priming rate for a 19L keg was around the 70g mark. Exact figure gents?

 

[djneli]

Ha , I like to see anybody shake the gas into 8 kegs, even the man of steel. Would not be much of a party for you, you would be crashed out in a corner with arms shaking. :lol: Prime the dam things, its dead easy.
GB

Yeah I did 6 kegs one afternoon and almost decided to give up brewing forever! What a b!tch of a job LOL

 

[adam]

you naturally carb kegs at about half the rate you would use compared with bottling. Dunno why but probably because of reduced headspace. I was a bit suspicious of this advice earlier and suffered the consequences. Here's an excerpt from the coopers site:

Natural Conditioning
1. Clean and sanitise the keg thoroughly.
2. Prime with sugar at the rate of 4g per litre.
3. Rack via a piece of sanitised, flexible tubing so that the beer runs to the bottom of the keg.
Leave 5 10 cm of headspace at the top. 4. Seal the keg then invert and give it a shake to mix the sugar and check that the seal is good.
5. Store at 18C or above for a week, then allow the beer to condition for at least two weeks.
6. Refrigerate for a day or two, momentarily release the keg pressure, then connect the gas at required
pouring pressure 35 100 kPa, depending on your system. (Fifty litre kegs through a temprite or miracle box may require up to 300 kPa).
?
?
?

 

[JestersDarts]

you naturally carb kegs at about half the rate you would use compared with bottling. Dunno why but probably because of reduced headspace. I was a bit suspicious of this advice earlier and suffered the consequences. Here's an excerpt from the coopers site:

Natural Conditioning
1. Clean and sanitise the keg thoroughly.
2. Prime with sugar at the rate of 4g per litre.
3. Rack via a piece of sanitised, flexible tubing so that the beer runs to the bottom of the keg.
Leave 5 10 cm of headspace at the top. 4. Seal the keg then invert and give it a shake to mix the sugar and check that the seal is good.
5. Store at 18C or above for a week, then allow the beer to condition for at least two weeks.
6. Refrigerate for a day or two, momentarily release the keg pressure, then connect the gas at required
pouring pressure 35 100 kPa, depending on your system. (Fifty litre kegs through a temprite or miracle box may require up to 300 kPa).
?
?
?

Sounds good -

I have done ONE - I put about 60g sugar in the keg - and left for two weeks until i got thirsty..
my theory was to undercarb it - hook it up to gas, and let it balance out.

Turned out fine - I can only guess I used less gas or that it worked at all, because I still waited a week to pull the first pint.