Corn sugar in the keg

Hi all,
I will be putting beer into 3 gallon kegs. Obviously from a 5 gallon batch one will be full, the other 2 gallons.
I like corn sugar carbonation rather then force carbing.

How much sugar should I put into the keg PER GALLON, if I want to carbonate ? Just an average assuming a medium carbonation for a pale ale (I can adjust if necessary depending on style)

Thanks

Dont force carb just carb it, sugar carbing takes 2 weeks minimum, just regular carbing a keg takes about a week. If you have the means to carb beer with a tank and a regulator why would you sugar carbinate?

I like the carbonation better that way, plus I have more kegs then I do connectors.

Force carb for me means plugging it into a tank....nothing at high pressures.

bazowie said:

Dont force carb just carb it, sugar carbing takes 2 weeks minimum, just regular carbing a keg takes about a week. If you have the means to carb beer with a tank and a regulator why would you sugar carbinate?

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+1 on this. The proprietor of my LHBS swears that "natural" carbonation produces a superior result. I'm a skeptic.

Moreover, I don't understand how i'd get my Corny refurbs to naturally carbonate. The lid seal on many of my kegs won't properly seat until gas is running into the keg. Often, I turn on the gas, hear CO2 escaping, and pull up on the lid to get a good seal. If I carbed naturally, CO2 production would be far too slow to seat the o-ring.

Here is a calculator you can use to determine how much priming sugar to use in each keg. It depends on the desired volume of CO2, type of priming sugar, and temperature.

choosybeggar said:

+1 on this. The proprietor of my LHBS swears that "natural" carbonation produces a superior result. I'm a skeptic.

Moreover, I don't understand how i'd get my Corny refurbs to naturally carbonate. The lid seal on many of my kegs won't properly seat until gas is running into the keg. Often, I turn on the gas, hear CO2 escaping, and pull up on the lid to get a good seal. If I carbed naturally, CO2 production would be far too slow to seat the o-ring.

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I don't think I thought of that, thank you.

I may seal them with CO2, then allow them to carb with the sugar. I may just end up trying to put all 6 kegs on co2 at the same time (somehow)

Thanks for the help

Problem with the CO2 seal approach is that the beer will absorb the initial CO2 you add, reducing the pressure and (potentially) disrupting the seal. Also, your beer will be partly carbonated from the sealing addition of CO2.

I carb my kegs with corn sugar cuz I usually have them sitting around for a month or two until I have room in the fridge. I want to be able to put 'em in, chill 'em and drink 'em later in the day. I've been experimenting with the amount of corn sugar I use. Seems like many sources say to use half the amount you would normally use for bottling. I don't think this is enough, my first few batches were a little undercarbed so I've increased to about 65-75% and that seems a little better.
I mix my sugar in filtered water and boil for 10 minutes or so, transfer my beer into the kegs while the sugar mixture is cooling then pour it into a sanitized measuring cup, add an equal amount into each keg, clamp the lid on and purge with CO2, pressurize to 30 psi to get a good seal then set 'em in my cool room 'till ready to drink.

lpdjshaw said:

I carb my kegs with corn sugar cuz I usually have them sitting around for a month or two until I have room in the fridge. I want to be able to put 'em in, chill 'em and drink 'em later in the day. I've been experimenting with the amount of corn sugar I use. Seems like many sources say to use half the amount you would normally use for bottling. I don't think this is enough, my first few batches were a little undercarbed so I've increased to about 65-75% and that seems a little better.
I mix my sugar in filtered water and boil for 10 minutes or so, transfer my beer into the kegs while the sugar mixture is cooling then pour it into a sanitized measuring cup, add an equal amount into each keg, clamp the lid on and purge with CO2, pressurize to 30 psi to get a good seal then set 'em in my cool room 'till ready to drink.

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Wow, I could have wrote this post! I also leave mine sitting around until I have room in the fridge, use 75% of corn sugar, transfer, and purge as you.

I find it still needs just a day or two on gas to really get used to it. Also, I release some co2 before I hook it up to my system (don't want it to be super high pressure and bust my guage).

brewbush said:

I don't think I thought of that, thank you.

I may seal them with CO2, then allow them to carb with the sugar. I may just end up trying to put all 6 kegs on co2 at the same time (somehow)

Thanks for the help

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I to have 6 kegs and only 4 CO2 hookups, I can fit 5 in the frig now with one heavy stout on the floor outside (it can take the garage temp) and I will round robin the hookups daily or bi-daily or once a week if it is a beer that has been in there a while and is already carbed. But it you appreciate a corn sugar co2'd beer then that is your preference and who are we to stop ya. However you do it good brewing to you!!

williams brewing suggest using 1/4 cup of their beet sugar when carbing in a keg.
i have used this amount with beet sugar or corn sugar with success.
i'm on the band wagon with you about the difference in the quality of carbonation using this method. the first half of the keg is creamy almost like nitrogen mixed . be prepared for some sludge/trub in the first few glasses. i've experienced the cleaner the beer the less sludge. you may want to try pressure fermenting in a keg. i have used this method as a secondary fermentation. racking over into the keg from the primary carboy when the gas slows down to one bubble a minute. add 1/4 cup of sugar, wait 5-7 days and WA-LA...carbed without the use of bottled CO2. some folks cut 3/4" off the keg p/u tube to avoid sludge p/u. you can monitor the gas build up with a spunge vavle or just release thru the manual valve on the keg lid every so often. my spunge valve has a 40 lb auto blow off and the pressures have never reached that point. remember to release most of the pressure before you tap OR you will have a foam fest.
cheers
GD

choosybeggar said:

Problem with the CO2 seal approach is that the beer will absorb the initial CO2 you add, reducing the pressure and (potentially) disrupting the seal. Also, your beer will be partly carbonated from the sealing addition of CO2.

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A second or two of gas in at 30 psi isn't going to have any detrimental effect of the natural carbonation taking place.

bazowie said:

Dont force carb just carb it, sugar carbing takes 2 weeks minimum, just regular carbing a keg takes about a week. If you have the means to carb beer with a tank and a regulator why would you sugar carbinate?

Click to expand...

I've naturally carbonated about 20-30 kegs now and all but one (which was a 9% BGSA that didn't have enough yeast left in suspension to do the job) were ready to go in 5-7 days. Taking all this time to naturally carbonate is a myth in my hands. I naturally carbonate, just like another member pointed out, because I only have two taps. When a keg kicks, I like to simply put one in the fridge - in about 24 hours it's cold and already carbonated - much quicker than force carbonation. Also saves me money in CO2 cylinders.