keg as secondary no carbonation

[Stingo]

Hi all,

Wondering what I did wrong.

I brewed a pale ale with OG about 1.042 and racking gravity of 1.022.

I never tried this before but decided to avoid the secondary fermentation in a carboy and rack from primary to the keg. I purged with CO2 and added 2 1/2 oz corn sugar in boiling water to encourage secondary ferment.

I did not put any CO2 pressure on the keg at this point hoping the secondary ferment would provide just enough so I would only have to use C02 to dispense at about 2-4 volume.

After one week of secondary in the keg in my basement, about 70 degrees average I moved the keg to my Chicago garage and at what I thought was ideal clarifying temp of about 40 degrees average.

I never checked gravity again after racking and assumed one week was enough time.

When I tapped keg about 15 days after racking I found there was no carbonation at all.

Should there have been some? In the past I have done a secondary in glass then to keg and vigerous shaking in keg to get carbonation but always wound up with too much carbonation for my liking.

Is the procedure I outlined more for a real ale keg set up and not the conrnelius keg I am using?

Should I have just put 14 volumes or so on the keg just to carbonate and be done with it? I was trying to avoid shaking the keg to force carbonate and also of course eliminate the secondary carboy and time involved. Was I in too much of a hurry?

Any advice is appreciated.

[fuji6100]

If you didn't put a "burst" of co2 into the corney to seal the lid, it is very likely that all of your co2 escaped through the lid. They don't seal well without a little pressure holding the seal tight.

[spencer]

I think fuji is right on; however I wonder if the corn sugar - even without leaks - would pack enough punch to push a keg. The thing with Co2 is that it replaces liquid when you pull suds from you keg & I'm not sure of the science behind a few cups of sugar would create enough pressure to push a keg from start to finish...

[danno]

fuji has it dead on. I secondary in cornies all the time, and I also never hit them with co2 to seal the lid. I get self-carbonation about half the time. the other half, I just force carbonate at 10 psi for a couple of weeks, both methods turn out just fine...

if you don't want to seal the lid with co2 each time, you can increase your odds with some keg lube...

spencer, the corn sugar isn't to push the whole keg, just to get it carbonated. it will push the first little bit, but you'll still need a co2 source to push the self-carbonated beer...

[Stingo]

OK, thanks for the info. Now in a related matter; like a fool I hooked up CO2 to keg out and hit it with CO2 just long enough to hear it bubble and realize I had just upset the sediment at the bottom. NOw what I get is a fresh apple cider looking beer, heavy sediment and cloudy.

What finings can I add if anything at this stage to clarify? IS it Gelatin that I need?

Thanks!!!!

[danno]

i've never used any post-ferment finings. Time is one option, it will settle back out and clear eventually...

[fuji6100]

I agree with danno. It will settle out given a few days to a week. Your beer still needs to condition to smooth out the rough edges, and if you are planning on letting the yeast carbinate, you will be letting it sit for 2-3 weeks anyway.

Some brewers force carbinate by putting the initial co2 into the "out" connect so that the co2 bubbles up through the beer and the gas gets more contact with surface area of the liquid. (better have a check valve on your air line if you do this though! beer in a regulater = bad)

It will turn out fine.