pressuring keg necessary for conditioning???

hey folks. i kegged my beer a few days ago, for the first time, WITHOUT adding CO2 pressure. i used 1/3 cup priming sugar and sealed it up. will this suffice? and if not, is it too late to add pressure to keg?

Muddy-Waters said:

hey folks. i kegged my beer a few days ago, for the first time, WITHOUT adding CO2 pressure. i used 1/3 cup priming sugar and sealed it up. will this suffice? and if not, is it too late to add pressure to keg?

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Should be OK, but in the future not a bad idea to purge w CO2 first...helps avoid oxidization and infection. No harm in purging the head space now w CO2, but no pressure needed...your priming should ultimately provide that.

Curtis2010 said:

Should be OK, but in the future not a bad idea to purge w CO2 first...helps avoid oxidization and infection. No harm in purging the head space now w CO2, but no pressure needed...your priming should ultimately provide that.

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This ^^^^^. I always purge the air out after racking into the keg. I keep a small (4#) CO2 tank/reg handy just for that purpose.

If the keg isn't hit with 20 -30 psi and checked for leaks, you really don't know if it's sealed. MANY cornies, especially used, have sealing difficulties. If it happens to not be sealed, the CO2 produced by the priming sugar will not build pressure and will simply bubble out of solution and the beer will not become carbonated. If you have the ability to pressurize now then do it, and go ahead and purge a few times for good measure. Maybe some of the O2 is still left in the headspace.

BTW, after cleaning my cornies, I pressurize prior to storage. That way I can monitor the seal integrity of each keg.

ok. got this kegging mechanism figured out. i think. another question. generally, if beer is having difficulty carbonating, either from low priming suger, or keg leaks, can it be rescued by switching kegs, or adding more priming sugar. assuming all is clean, is this doable?

Muddy-Waters said:

ok. got this kegging mechanism figured out. i think. another question. generally, if beer is having difficulty carbonating, either from low priming suger, or keg leaks, can it be rescued by switching kegs, or adding more priming sugar. assuming all is clean, is this doable?

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If you can keg and have CO2, you don't have to add more sugar.

Sounds like a leaky keg is your issue. Get some keg lube and lube up your gaskets. That might fix your leak.

You can switch kegs, but be careful about oxidizing your beer when you transfer. Don't pour. Use your auto-siphon or create a jumper using a liquid line on both sides of a piece of hose. You can use the jumper to move beer between kegs without exposing it to air.

After that hook your keg up to your CO2 tank and you can force carb your beer.

Muddy-Waters said:

ok. got this kegging mechanism figured out. i think. another question. generally, if beer is having difficulty carbonating, either from low priming suger, or keg leaks, can it be rescued by switching kegs, or adding more priming sugar. assuming all is clean, is this doable?

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Most keg leaks are very fixable when they happen (which isn't that often fortunately). Keg lube does wonders. If it won't seal at 12psi, try again with 30psi. Spray Star-San is very handy for many things, including leak check.

Transferring the beer to another keg is a solution of last resort IMO.

thanks everyone!