Priming in a keg... how long should it take?

[kanemcg]

Just curious more than anything as I bottle all my beers, but when you bulk prime a beer in the keg how long does it generally take to carbonate?

My instinct tells me it would be roughly the same time as priming in bottles would take for the same volume of beer, is this accurate?

 

[Grott]

Yes

 

[mr_wibble]

Does anyone actually do this though?

I tried it once, and it worked.
But 99% of the time, I just hook it up to the gas and forget about it for a couple of weeks.

 

[technobabble66]

You also generally need half the amount of priming Dex. Found out the hard way [emoji53]

 

[Mattwa]

You also generally need half the amount of priming Dex. Found out the hard way [emoji53]

Really? Why? I'm genuinely surprised by that.

 

[barls]

i do this most times.
half the dex is about right. most batches are about 30-40 g.
i find after about a month they are good.

 

[Digga]

I have done it a few times at the same priming rate I would have for the bottles. This only happens if I have a full keg fridge and don't just wanna leave the keg co2 purged..
Only one has turned out over carbed. It was a WRDA clone and took ages to degas.

Interested to see what the thoughts are on half the amount of priming sugars are needed!

 

[quadbox]

Beersmith's got a calculator for it. Presumably the maths is related to exposed surface area to volume ratio, but I havent looked at it.

What's the motivation over force carbing the slow way? I completely understand people wanting to not use the ross method, but nothing wrong with just hooking it up at serving pressure and leaving it two weeks

 

[Fraser's BRB]

What's the motivation over force carbing the slow way? I completely understand people wanting to not use the ross method, but nothing wrong with just hooking it up at serving pressure and leaving it two weeks

Was wondering the same thing. I just hook mine up at pouring pressure and come back in a week or so.

 

[gdupagne]

I prime all my beers in the keg. I generally use around 150-160 grams for the 19L corny. People have told me this is too high but after trying anything from 100 and up I find this the best. After the beer is kegged I leave at room temp for 2 weeks before putting in the fridge. Usually have my fridge set at 0 degrees. Never had a problem with over carbonated beer. Pouring pressure set at 5-10 PSI

 

[gdupagne]

Leave in fridge for minimum 48 hours before connecting lines

 

[Benn]

I've found that my kegs don't always seal the best at low pressures. I'd like to try carbonating in the keg but I reckon the Co2 would escape through the seal unless I pressurised the headspace first. Is that the norm for keg carbing?

 

[barls]

you connect and purge the headspace, and this seals the lids.

 

[michaeld16]

I do this regularly due to the fact that I'm a long drive away from a co2 refill place so im tight with co2 from what i understand homicidal teddybears reason is why you half the amount of dex. I give it a shot of co2 from the bottle to seal the lid

 

[RdeVjun]

Yes Benn, that is indeed the norm. I concur with barls & Co, never rely on CO2 generated by the priming sugar to seal the Corny lid- always give it a squirt of bottled gas to seal it positively, plus take that opportunity to purge the headspace. I've learnt this through past disappointment...
Occasionally I use this method of Corny priming and carbonation when my kegerator has no free slots but I need to package a beer out of the fermenter and get the next batch underway. Oh and it saves a few grams of bottled CO2 as well, so the tightarses amongst us should revel in it.

 

[kanemcg]

Thanks for the replies.

Main reason I am doing it this way is I having only ever bottled my beer, but I now have a 9.5L party keg and tap that uses the little 16g CO2 bottles and I don't plan on getting a big CO2 tank just yet.

 

[Yob]

Get one, bulbs are a pita and much more expensive in the long run.