Priming In Keg?

[Fingerlickin_B]

Ok, search function gave me no useful results (although I'm sure this has been discussed before)... :huh:

If I carbonate beer with sugar in the keg should I even bother purging it's atmospheric gasses with Co2, or just pretend it is a giant bottle (i.e. add beer, add sugar, seal and leave it)?

PZ.

 

[JimD]

Well it certainly won't do any harm!

But that said, I never bother to purge my barrels and I've never had a problem.

I reckon the beer gives off a certain amount of CO2 when you transfer it, so that probably fills the air space at the top before you get a chance to put the cap on the keg.

 

[FNQ Bunyip]

I prime all my 50L brews with sugar , never purge anything and never had a problem . the thing with sugar primed kegs is you dont need to get them cold to gas them ... so you can set them up with a temp rite and save on fridge space ..

Cheers fnqbunyip

 

[Bazza]

What difference have you guys found with naturally carbonated kegs? I would anticipate the bubbles would be finer than by force-carbonation with CO2. Is this correct?
I'm going to try it on the next keg...I just have to empty one.

Dang, life's tough.

Cheers.
Baz

 

[pint of lager]

I bulk prime all my kegs, but have found I need to drop the amount of dextrose back, around 120-150 gms dextrose per 19 litre keg. I always purge the headspace too.

Have often seen people discuss the fineness of bubbles depending on carbonation method.

I think that dissolved carbon dioxide is dissolved carbon dioxide, no matter how it got into the fluid and it is the composition of the fluid and the cause of the CO2 coming out of solution that determines the fineness of the bubbles, rather than the priming method.

Bubbles form in the beer from dissolved carbon dioxide due to change in pressure and changes in temperature. They also form at nucleation sites, we have all seen what happens when you pour drinks into a dusty glass, the dust particles are where the CO2 starts forming gas. Same with the frosted glasses.

We have all seen the fineness of bubbles in a good beer, kegged or bottled. Also the coarseness of bubbles in soft drinks and poor quality beer. This may also be due to excess carbonation. In Brewing Techniques, there is an interesting article on the chemicla discussion of the formation of bubbles, head formation and head retention.

 

[Fingerlickin_B]

Cool, thanks for the replies fellas

PZ.