How long to keg?

Hey all, im very new to kegging and am looking to keg 1 of 4 different beers that are ready to bottle (except ill be kegging one of them). I need help on finding out how much time each one would take in the keg before its ready in order for me to decide.

Beer #1 - Old Ale - 7.2 ABV
Beer #2 - Belgian Dubbel - 7 ABV
Beer #3 - IPA - 4.2 ABV
Beer #4 - Brown Mild/ Porter - 3.7 ABV

Thanks for the help/ suggestions!

The Brown is most likely to be ready the soonest.

I'd keg That IPA! 2 weeks on Gas and it's going to be TASTY! and it'll get better for a few weeks after that. Oh...and IPA would be the one I'd want on tap...just cause it's my Fave!

BigKahuna said:

I'd keg That IPA! 2 weeks on Gas and it's going to be TASTY! and it'll get better for a few weeks after that. Oh...and IPA would be the one I'd want on tap...just cause it's my Fave!

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IPA's kick butt -

I really just want to know the ballpark figures on all of em, just because I really don't know how much time is needed for kegging beers. I know bottles are practically forever

Generally the higher the ABV the longer aging takes. In all reality its ready when you start drinking it.

EamusCatuli said:

IPA's kick butt -

I really just want to know the ballpark figures on all of em, just because I really don't know how much time is needed for kegging beers. I know bottles are practically forever

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Yeah, kegging is faster than bottling in the procedure, but not the aging process. If anything, the kegs might age a bit slower, because they are really only big bottles when you think about it.

If you keep them at room temperature, they'll age like a bottle will. If you stick it in the kegerator, it'll slow down the aging. So, I'd keep them at room temperature as long as you can stand it. Those are all pretty big beers, except for the mild, and can all use a little bit of aging.

So, I'd go mild, IPA, Belgian, Old Ale (in that order) for drinking.

YooperBrew said:

Yeah, kegging is faster than bottling in the procedure, but not the aging process. If anything, the kegs might age a bit slower, because they are really only big bottles when you think about it.

If you keep them at room temperature, they'll age like a bottle will. If you stick it in the kegerator, it'll slow down the aging. So, I'd keep them at room temperature as long as you can stand it. Those are all pretty big beers, except for the mild, and can all use a little bit of aging.

So, I'd go mild, IPA, Belgian, Old Ale (in that order) for drinking.

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So does this mean that I put the beer in the keg, then keep it carbonating from co2 OUTSIDE of the keg, then actually refrigerate it after that time? ( Assuming 3 weeks). I really dont know much about kegging . . .

Hit it with about 30psi, then put it in storage. You don't need to leave it hooked to gas. When you put it in the kegerator it is already partially carbonated and will only take a few days to finish carbonating at a lower pressure. I normally age mine in the keg for 4-6 weeks. If you go 3, over the next couple weeks you will notice a change in flavor as the aging process continues. Its a good way to understand the importance of aging, but will leave you with less really good beer. I still do it like that when I get impatient.

EamusCatuli said:

So does this mean that I put the beer in the keg, then keep it carbonating from co2 OUTSIDE of the keg, then actually refrigerate it after that time? ( Assuming 3 weeks). I really dont know much about kegging . . .

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Well, you could, but you'd have to carb it at higher pressure. There's a couple of things that you could do- you could prime the keg, and then leave it to condition at room temperature. The downside of that is more sediment in the keg, and when you move it to the kegerator it'll stir up a little bit. It works, though, especially if space is tight.

For fairly young beers, I use the keg as a secondary (sort of). I keg it, then purge the headspace with co2 and seal it up with a shot of co2 and keep it at room temperature for about 2 weeks. By that time, the beer is only 4-5 weeks old. Then, I move it to the kegger and set it at serving psi (I use 12 psi). It takes about a week to carb up. That means the beer is about 6 weeks old when carbed and on the tap. Still young, but for a low OG beer, it's ok to drink it.

The temptation for me is to primary, and keg it, and drink it. Now, of course I know that green beer isn't great beer- but I can't seem to help myself! So, if I keep it aging at room temperature for a bit, I can't drink it too early. Remember that carbonated beer is NOT conditioned beer- you still need some aging for most beers. In a bottle, you won't drink it too early because it'll be flat. In a keg, though, you can carb it up in 30 minutes if you have to! That doesn't mean the beer is close to its peak, though!

Thanks Yooper, purging is so automatic that I forgot to mention that.

YooperBrew said:

Well, you could, but you'd have to carb it at higher pressure. There's a couple of things that you could do- you could prime the keg, and then leave it to condition at room temperature. The downside of that is more sediment in the keg, and when you move it to the kegerator it'll stir up a little bit. It works, though, especially if space is tight.

For fairly young beers, I use the keg as a secondary (sort of). I keg it, then purge the headspace with co2 and seal it up with a shot of co2 and keep it at room temperature for about 2 weeks. By that time, the beer is only 4-5 weeks old. Then, I move it to the kegger and set it at serving psi (I use 12 psi). It takes about a week to carb up. That means the beer is about 6 weeks old when carbed and on the tap. Still young, but for a low OG beer, it's ok to drink it.

The temptation for me is to primary, and keg it, and drink it. Now, of course I know that green beer isn't great beer- but I can't seem to help myself! So, if I keep it aging at room temperature for a bit, I can't drink it too early. Remember that carbonated beer is NOT conditioned beer- you still need some aging for most beers. In a bottle, you won't drink it too early because it'll be flat. In a keg, though, you can carb it up in 30 minutes if you have to! That doesn't mean the beer is close to its peak, though!

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Oh, trust me, I know the difference between carbed and conditioned! I just recently have learned more patience in not drinking my green beers

So lets go through a scenario, because if I understand kegging like I think I do now then Im going to buy a few more kegs. I will only have one tap to start off with, btw. - My IPA is ready to bottle (keg) after 5 weeks in the primary/ secondary. I transfer it to the keg, and prime it with 30 or so psi (not sure how long this takes?). I then take it off the Co2 and sit it in a closet for 2-3 weeks. After 2-3 weeks at room temp., i stick it in the kegerator and re-connect it to Co2 at serving temp, 12 or so psi. After it gets cold, Drink! Correctomundo??

- so technically, if im right, I can prime as many full kegs of beer as I want at one time then transfer them to a closet for aging, even with one Co2 tank line and tap? I would def. buy 4 kegs and put ALL those beers in them if all they were going to do is sit in bottles aging for months anyway! A keg would take up less space and be less of a hassle IMO.

hitting it with 30psi is just to make sure you set the seal. If you prime them with dme or priming sugar then you can let them sit. If your length of beer hose will allow a serving pressure of 12psi, then it should be carbed if chilled and left to sit on the gas for about a week.

Well, I don't see why that wouldn't work. I only have two taps, so I sometimes prime the kegs with corn sugar while the other two kegs are on tap, so that I just move the next in line into the kegerator when one blows. You can force carb pretty quickly, so I don't know that you "need" to force carb them before storing, but I think it'll work.

YooperBrew said:

Well, I don't see why that wouldn't work. I only have two taps, so I sometimes prime the kegs with corn sugar while the other two kegs are on tap, so that I just move the next in line into the kegerator when one blows. You can force carb pretty quickly, so I don't know that you "need" to force carb them before storing, but I think it'll work.

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Oh, so when you guys say prime you mean with corn sugar, just as if it were a big beer bottle?

- the way I saw it was that you put gas through the keg at first, then you take it off and it feeds off of that gas for the 2-3 weeks it ages at room temp. Then after that its good to go for the kegerator. So youre telling me that I should be putting priming sugar in these things still? Wouldnt that be sort of overkill on the carbing though?

Gah, sorry im not getting this right away but its just new to me.

Im my homebrew vocabulary "prime" means add fermentable sugar (DME, priming sugar, etc) to bottle/keg condition and naturally carbonate.

The advantage to kegging is you can omit the additional "Priming" sugar and force carb the batch by one of several methods:
1) Set it and forget it (Set it to serving pressure and wait anywhere from 1-4 weeks for the CO2 to get into solution)
2) High pressure and shake where chill the keg set the pressure 30psi and shake until you stop hearing the CO2 enter the keg. Wait and hour and repeat. Wait an hour purge and test, if good let it sit overnight, if it needs more hit it high and shake again.
3) Medium/High pressure with out shake for a week then purge and adjust to serving temp and let it sit until ready (testing along the way).

Either way you carb (naturally of forced) most keggers, after they siphon the beer into the keg will hit the keg with 30psi then pull the release valve to purge the O2, then hit it again with 30psi to set the lid. Although corny keg lids have an oring and mechanical lever to close them, most keggers hit them with the pressure to set the seal.

I hope this helps.

Eamus, ya I noticed you were using the word prime in place of pressurize. Yooper was saying you could do it either way (primming with sugar and let sit at room temp, or pressurize (30 psi)and purge the relief valve to let the O2 out, then disconnect and let it sit at room temp) most people pressurize and age so they don't have as much sediment in the keg. Even if you prime its a good Idea to hit it with a little gas then purge so you dont have any O2 in the keg. Priming will produce a blanket of CO2 in the keg but it may take several days for it to form exposing your beer to O2 during those first few days.

beerthirty said:

Eamus, ya I noticed you were using the word prime in place of pressurize. Yooper was saying you could do it either way (primming with sugar and let sit at room temp, or pressurize (30 psi)and purge the relief valve to let the O2 out, then disconnect and let it sit at room temp) most people pressurize and age so they don't have as much sediment in the keg. Even if you prime its a good Idea to hit it with a little gas then purge so you dont have any O2 in the keg. Priming will produce a blanket of CO2 in the keg but it may take several days for it to form exposing your beer to O2 during those first few days.

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Okay I see now, well then it just seams easier to pressurize rather than prime when I need them to act like giant beer bottles sitting in a closet and aging (im so sick of priming sugar). So if that is how it works then I think im going to buy a few more kegs and put all the beers in them and store em, seems like if all goes to plan that when one keg dries up there should be another one ready soon after.

- Thanks for all the help everyone!

Kegging is great except for portability. Check out BeirMunchers bottle filler (BMBF) as an easy way to bottle already carbed beer. It works great if you need to take a sixer with you.