Kegging carbanation

[Otterbaub]

Is there better way to carbonate beer over another when it comes to kegging.

For Instance pressurizing the keg with just CO2 Vs. using corn sugar and letting the beer carbonate naturally inside the keg?

[bwarbiany]

I don't personally believe there's any real significant difference either way. CO2 is CO2.

[lexuschris]

Well, I guess CO2 carbing can be faster. It usually takes only a couple of days at pressure & cold temp to get to a good carb level. Especially if you 'force-carb' at a higher level for a day or two first (and rock the kegs periodically). CO2 dissolves faster at colder tempratures too.

Using sugars, requires that you keep the beer at a fermentable temp for a few weeks to get to the good carb level. The small amount of sugar needed to do this is generally not a factor in changing taste/mouthfeel of the beer.


--LexusChris

[backyard brewer]

I always force carb gradually. Priming results in more sediment that I've painstakingly tried to leave in my fermenter anyway and I never seem to get a keg that is quite sealed right. I have noticed that freshly force carbonated beer tends to have a "coarser" carbonation. That usually blends out and I can't tell the difference after a 10 days to a week.

[brahn]

I don't really think there's any difference between the two methods. I do agree that by priming you're adding back sediment that you've worked hard to remove.

There's one case where I'd probably prime in the keg again and that was when I added a fresh pitch of Brett to the keg along with the priming sugar. That resulted in a very tasty beer. You could do the same thing by adding the Brett to the fermenter and letting it finish out, but my fermenter space is more precious than keg space.