Force carbonation to Petainer KEG

[mi...@turbodsl.lt]

Dear All,

I got 3x used 30 liters Petainer Keg’s. I found out how to “fix” the
kegs head for multiple uses. It might last for couple refills.  And I’d
like to fill them for future storage/use with my oak barrel fermented
cider which is from my taste of view is nice (not excellent), but I have
some doubt about force carbonation and bottle condition style in the
Keg. So, I have some doubt about:

1. I fill them with 31ltr of cider, add 50ppm of SO2 (just in case) and
put in the fridge for couple of days to get it as cool as possible.
Connect it to CO2 and force gas to enter at ~2,5Bar (Petainer Geg
withstands max 3 Bar pressure). Shake it and leave it to dissolve. For
how long should I leave in this stage prior to use? Or should I repeat
force carbonation of CO2 one more time? Could anyone give short advice
how they do force carbonation of the still cider in their Kegs? I
understand that is not the same as bottle condition cider, what I make
most with priming sugar in the bottles.
2. As I found out, too much carbonation for cider is not a good idea
(from my taste of view), my priming sugar goes at max 3g (~half of the
tea spoon) for 0,5ltr beer bottle. Same I’d like to do with this cider
too 180g of sugar for 30ltr fill. But again, my cider was maturing from
last autumn and I guess all yeast cells died out. Should I add some in
to keg, what about SO2? Or should I wait to start naturally, but it
might take too much time (also less sediment), other bacteria might do
some job? Actually, I’d like to consume all cider to the end of this
summer.


Thanks in advance for the future thoughts.

Mykolas, LT