Priming in the Keg

I'm thinking about doing the same thing for the same reasons but haven't tried it yet.

 

It works just as well as priming in the bottle. Keep in mind that you have to add some pressure to seal the keg, so you're not entirely off the hook (the beer will absorb some of that). Some recommend using slightly less priming sugar when kegging. This is to avoid overcarbing - the CO2 will automatically correct undercarbing without you doing anything (I guess that's why it's called 'automatic'), but overcarbing will take an extra step to correct (burping the keg until it's right). I haven't done the math, but my gut tells me that CO2 is cheaper than sugar, at least if you own a 20# tank (the numbers change dramatically with 5#).

 

When I fill my kegs now, I get some fairly cloudy beers for the first few pints. My fear is that keg carbonating will leave me with such a large amount of sediment that I might be drinking a gallon or so of cloudy, sub-par beer. Just to save a day or two of waiting.

 

Essentially tried this today (in addition to fermenting in the keg) by pulling out a # of toasted coconut from a keg of lightly carbonated stout (4 gal) and adding 5 grams of wine yeast to get rid of some of the sweetness. I've got a gauge and bleeder valve hooked up to the keg just in case the secondary fermentation gets out of hand...wish me luck ...cleaning the keg in question should be a real treat.

 

A lot of brewers perform a secondary in the keg. I do it sometimes. It usually does not produce an extreme amount of sediment, but it does produce more than kegging a finished beer. If you know that the keg is going to stay put, it should only produces a couple pints of beer with sediment. Once the sediment around the dip-tube is sucked up, the beer clears up and remains clear unless you subsequently disturb the keg. So keep that in mind.

I have not tried adding sugar, but on a few occasions I have racked a to a keg for a secondary fermentation and allowed it to "carb up". Drinking the lightly carbonated beer is like drinking cask ale. I kind of think of it like that, but obviously it will not produce enough pressure and carbonation to dispense the entire 5 gallons. Even if you add sugar, you're not going to avoid using CO2 unless you’re going to pump the beer with some sort of beer engine. We are just talking about conditioning not dispensing.

 

I've done this several times with success. I like to have a few kegs on standby so there is always something on hand when one of the taps runs dry. I use the standard amount of priming sugar, CO2 to seal, and set it in a closet and forget it. Sediment is minimal and beer is ready to go as soon as you put it on. I'm a big fan.

 

I carb my kegs with CO2 before storing them in a closet to wait for a free tap. They're ready when I am!

 

Why not just get another "T", some gas hose and another gas disconnect?

 

That would be my fear, too: I keep imagine two cases worth of that bottom of the bottle sediment in the keg.

And besides, you can carbonate a keg in about 15 minutes using the shake and bake method, then drink it within a few hours.

 

ditto

I was keeping an eye out for a 5# tank to use as a spare, but found a deal on a second 20#. It was a no-brainer! I can now go 5 years between refills if I'm so inclined, though I actually relax knowing I have a 2.5 year window to get the empty one refilled.

I keep my CO2 in the closet with my kegs. I teed off the line going to the keezer for this purpose (and also for purging, etc. It's a 20' line, so I can use it pretty much wherever I need it). It serves me well

(For some reason, I'm imagining Sofia Vergara's voice growling: "then jou are not a r-r-r-r-real man!" )

 

I'm planning on this top-level but because I don't have the scratch and place for a full kegorator. I'm planning on carving with sugar, and using the party charger for dispensing for the moment, till I have money and space for a full setup.

 

And that's probably the best way to do it. But I'm just saying that if the goal in keg priming is to save time, there are ways of force carbonating that take very little time.

 

I frequently add ~3oz of corn sugar when I keg, just add enough CO2 to seal the lid. It seems I read somewhere that this helps the yeast eat any oxygen that ends up in the keg from racking.

Honestly, the main reason I do it is because I bought 5lbs of corn sugar right before I started kegging and I am trying to use it up But, I figure it can't hurt.

 

I prime with corn sugar sometimes if I won't be adding a keg to the keezer for a few weeks or months. I also have a pound or two of corn sugar at home that I will never use otherwise. I haven't noticed additonal sediment but I'm sure its there.

 

Peter, are you saying that your wife looks like Sofia Vergara!?!

Dude, you are one lucky man!!!

Cheers!