Racking beer and Natural Carbonation

[Hogarth]

Darn, second time this has happened ... I recently racked a brew from fermenter to king keg, with 70g of sugar, but there's no sign of any secondary fermentation. I'm assuming it's because the beer was already clear, meaning that hardly any yeast went into the keg. I know it's not a leak because I've had to add some CO2 from one of those ungodly gas cylinders and the barrel has kept its pressure.

The questions.

1) If the beer's dropped bright in the fermenter should you add some of the yeast cake to the keg when racking? And if so, how much?

2) What about aeration? I've been scrupulously avoiding post-fermentation aeration, but does the secondary fermentation actually need a little?

[Dr. Dextrin]

What I do is:

1) No aeration. You want anaerobic fermentation to produce alcohol and CO2.

2) If the beer is very clear I briefly dibble the syphon tube into the yeast just to suck up a small amount and put it into suspension. You don't need very much at all.

3) Make sure the beer isn't too cold or priming can take an age. I normally go with 18 to 20C as I happen to have a cupboard at that temperature.

I've never had a problem doing it this way, but maybe I've just been lucky with my choice of yeasts.

[yashicamat]

Is it possible the king keg isn't sealing properly? The amount of yeast needed for conditioning is tiny and the beer would have to be very bright for there not to have been enough suspended in it, so I doubt that the problem is lack of yeast.

[Hogarth]

Thanks chaps. I really don't think the barrel has a leak. It's holding steady at 6 psi since being force-carbonated last night. (Though I suppose it might be simultaneously fermenting and leaking.)

The beer was very bright, despite being only five days old. Perhaps if there's only a miniscule amount of yeast, and no oxygen, then not much will happen because the yeast won't be able to multiply. Not that I know much about it. Next time I'll try dibbling as you suggest, Dr D.