BrewinUpNorth

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OK guys, I just got back into brewing after a 10 year hiatus...have gone to grains, and want to go to kegging. I got my hands on 5 old corny kegs and 3 big Co2 tanks from a closed bar. I saw a tap set up that was directly on the corny keg at my LHBS. My wife (not the enthusiast that you or I are) will shoot down a beer fridge/keggerator so my question is this. Can I keg beer and store it at room temp, then bring it out, put it on ice, and tap it for a party? How long can I leave it in my basement at 65 degrees in a keg? I dont necessarly want my beer on tap all the time for the lushes in my sub. Do I prime it with sugar? Do I blast it with Co2 and leave it? Do I need a keg fridge? How do I clean out the keg seals (ball valves)??

Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

ArcaneXor

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www.northernbrewer.com/documentation/Kegging.pdf <--- this should answer many of your questions.

Generally, it's no problem to store kegs "warm", but dialing the carbonation in that way can be a bit of a pain. You can force carb or use priming sugar; the latter will give you slightly more junk at the bottom of the keg. Also, it'll take LOTS of ice to chill the keg down for drinking each time.

__________________
The Fiesty(sic) Goat Brewery est. 2007 & Clusterfuggle Experimental Ales est. 2009
Planned: Fat Man Brown Porter (Pro-Am #2), WLP 351 Hefeweizen, WLP 860 Munich Helles
Primary: Centennial Falcon IPA (Pro-Am #1), sLambic I
Secondary: Flanders Red
Kegged:Himmel un Ääd Kölsch #8, Farmhouse Session Saison Pilot Batch, Chocolate Milk Stout, Pale Ale, Chili Smoked Porter, Berliner Weisse w/ Brett #3

BrewinUpNorth

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Thanks Arcane, any tips on how to clean out the ginger ale, tonic water and coca-cola? I am thinking immersion in a bathtub with bleach water.

ThePearsonFam

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Welcome back!!!

Bummer!!! Is it because of cost or space? Both?

Yes, absolutely.

This is a fairly tough question since it depends greatly on your process and the beer style you've brewed. I'm going to assume that you are really good about sanitation since you're asking about cleaning the kegs. So, since you're good about cleaning/sanitizing, you should pick styles that last accordingly... Hefes, Wits, and the like have shorter shelf lives than IPAs and other hoppy/strong beers. It helps that your basement is stable at 65 since temp fluctuations are really bad for stability.

too funny...

You can but don't have to. Priming with sugar will result in more yeast sediment in the bottom of your keg. Not a big deal if you're not worried about clarity (I'm not). I prefer to force carbonate though... I'm lazy and it's easier.

Yes, pretty much... I purge my keg with CO2 and siphon my beer into the keg (after cleaning/sanitizing). I'll pressurize with CO2 and bleed some off through the relief valve to get rid of any O2, and then I'll add CO2 while gently shaking to help force CO2 into solution. I'll crank the pressure up to 30 psi while shaking. I only do that for 5 minutes or so and it's totally optional. I then crank down on the pressure until I'm at the pressure needed for the CO2 volume for the style beer I've kegged.
You should really determine the pressure required to force carbonate to your desired volume of CO2 for the style you've brewed. I use Beersmith and it has a function to determine the pressure needed to carbonate to a given volume at a specific temp.

If your wife is reading this over your shoulder, then yes, you absolutely need a fridge... Otherwise, no, you don't NEED one, but they're a great addition.

How OCD are you? I'm fairly OCD and I don't break them down to that level... I simply mix some beer line cleaner with water, pour it into the keg, shake it, let it sit, shake it, let it sit, pressurize it with CO2 and pump it through the pick-up tubes and line. I catch it in a container, put it right back in and do it again. I scrub with a carboy brush if I need to and do it again. Once it's clean, I just rinse it and run some StarSan solution through to sanitize using the same method. I reuse my StarSan, so I catch that as I pump it out. Once sanitized, I simply pressurize the empty keg with CO2 and purge it to get O2 out. It goes on the shelf until needed.
Now, if they were previously used for soda, you'll have to work harder to get the residue out using the methods I stated above...

Good Luck! Let us know if you have more questions.

ThePearsonFam

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Ugh... I was a day late and a $$ short... see above

BrewinUpNorth

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Pearson, my wife was reading over my shoulder, but still no luck.

Should I get a tap to clean and purge as you do, or can I just use old lines with a shut off valve?

Do you think an IPA will last 6-12 months?

Why does beer not last as well in a keg as a bottle? I am brewing whit beers now for summer consumption, but wont they last in a bottle for 12 months plus?

And yes...I am totally OCD about sterility....I cannot pour my heart, soul, and yes, love into a batch of beer to have it turn contaminated!

ThePearsonFam

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tell her, "pretty please" for the fridge. Craigslist is your friend. I bought a nice side-by-side and set up a keg setup in the door of the fridge side. I can fit three Cornies in there if I'm really careful (with a 5lb CO2 tank). Tell her that she can use the top of the fridge and the whole freezer... Of course that's just a ploy... It'll end up 90% brew fridge over time. Trust me... what could go wrong?

I had a picnic tap on hand so that's what works for me. The hose material is pretty cheap. If you already have the quick connect for the top of the keg, then you could, even without the faucet, connect the hose to the 'out', the CO2 line to the 'in' and slowly turn on the CO2 (at low pressure) until the liquid flows out. It'll just be tougher to control. If you're going to serve from an ice bath, then you'll need picnic taps or a draft box setup (like this: http://www.midwestsupplies.com/ball-lock-draft-box.html - you can make one for yourself).

As for an IPA lasting, yes, definitely... Like I said, it's tough to know since I don't know your process. Even your Hefes and Wits will last in a keg for a very long time if your process is good. I say 4-6 months because they typically are better as 'fresh' beers from a bottle too. If you're able to get longer storage than that out of bottling, then your process is probably really good. If you are as careful when kegging, then you should be able to get really long stability from kegging too.

Mikethepoolguy

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I convinced my wife that we needed a new fridge for the kitchen. After all it was 15 years old and could break anytime right? Now its in the den with the barrels of grain. Do your best to support her hobby and she may change her tune.

__________________
Wahoo Hunter

ArcaneXor

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Don't use bleach on your kegs - it'll destroy the stainless steel. Use hot PBW instead, and replace all your o-rings.

__________________
The Fiesty(sic) Goat Brewery est. 2007 & Clusterfuggle Experimental Ales est. 2009
Planned: Fat Man Brown Porter (Pro-Am #2), WLP 351 Hefeweizen, WLP 860 Munich Helles
Primary: Centennial Falcon IPA (Pro-Am #1), sLambic I
Secondary: Flanders Red
Kegged:Himmel un Ääd Kölsch #8, Farmhouse Session Saison Pilot Batch, Chocolate Milk Stout, Pale Ale, Chili Smoked Porter, Berliner Weisse w/ Brett #3

BrewinUpNorth

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soaking the o rings in b-brite is not good enough?