joemuggs

Recipes 

How long do you need to keep the CO2 on a keg ? Is it possible to ''charge'' and then store it for later use?

Taliesin

Recipes 

I've not actually kegged a brew yet (brewing a batch to keg this Sat), but it seems to me that as long as the seals on your keg are in good condition, yes, you should be able to charge it and store it. Ultimately, if there is no CO2 leaking from the keg, then the CO2 in suspension in the beer should stay there. If, however, in d/c the CO2, you substantially reduce the pressure in the keg (because of a gas leak before closing valves, etc) then the CO2 may come out of suspension and fill the lower pressure space at the top of the keg.

Make sense? As I said, I have no practical experience...just giving my opinion based on the physics of the matter. Hope it helps, and hope someone doesn't come along making me look like a moron.

Mcsuck

Recipes 

If you hit the keg with some CO2, bleed it (to release the O2 from the head space) and then hit it again and you see that it holds pressure, it can be stored off of CO2 for an extended period of time, no need to keep it on CO2. With that being said, the beer inside the keg will not carbonate without CO2 being constantly pushed into the keg as the CO2 in the head space of the keg dissolves into the beer. Hope that made sense and helps.

Golddiggie

Recipes 

Once it's fully carbonated you can remove it from the gas feed and store it, if you wish. How long that takes depends on the method you use. If you remove it before it's fully carbonated, then you'll need to give it more time when you connect it again to finish carbonating.

Personally, I partially carbonate my kegs before i start chilling them. Mostly due to only having room for four kegs in the brew fridge. This means the kegs finish carbonating a bit faster once in the fridge. I still use the two week 'set and forget' method. Some use the rapid force method, but that can be tricky and you'll still need to balance the carbonation with some time. Bobby_M has a tread about doing a hybrid method that can work too, you just need to be careful and find the balance point there.

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Hopping Tango Brewery

"Do you wanna get hiiiigh?" - Towelie

On Tap: MO SMaSH, English Brown Ale, Dark Cream Ale
Waiting/Carbonating: MO SMaSH, Caramel Cream Ale
Primaries
K1:
K2: Mocha Porter
K3:
K4:
K5:
Aging: Wee Honey MkII, mead and maple wine, mocha madness II, Old Ale (on medium toast cherry wood)
On Deck: Lickah (English IPA)
Mead [bottled]:Oaked Wildflower Traditional, Mocha Madness, Wildflower Traditional, Blackberry Melomel