Kegging Question

jmadway · 10-25-2011, 06:04 AM

Ive got a 5-gallon batch of American Amber fermenting. When she's ready to go, I've got two 3-gallon Corny Kegs that I will fill evenly. My kegerator can only fit one at a time, so my question is this: with the keg I am not drinking right away, should I pressurize at force carbonation levels and refrigerate? Or should I just let it age in a pressurized keg but not refrigerate it, and just use it as a secondary fermenter?

I guess what I'm asking is should I be doing anything in particular with the keg I am not drinking first?

MikeYoung · 10-25-2011, 06:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmadway

Or should I just let it age in a pressurized keg but not refrigerate it, and just use it as a secondary fermenter?

That's what I would do. The tacitly implicit fact of the matter is the tapped keg isn't quite mature yet as you drink it. The required patience becomes easier as you brew more, and the pipeline becomes filled beyond your ability to drain it.

(I am currently out of kegs, bottles, and even 2L bottles are becoming scarce, with another 10 gals still sitting on over aged yeast cakes in their secondaries. Despite this, I've managed to become beer-stingy, as my friends and neighbors have one by one proven themselves not beer-worthy. What to do... what to do...)

**scrambledegg81** · 10-25-2011, 07:02 AM

x2 for aging. Purge the oxygen out of keg #2, and let it riiide.

dregus · 10-25-2011, 07:33 AM

I concur, let it age and purge the O2. The second keg will be better than the first. Now just brew more and you will have to age it all

**birvine** · 10-25-2011, 12:03 PM

I have left full kegs sit for weeks if not months with no adverse flavours.

Brent

jmadway · 10-25-2011, 01:22 PM

And no refrigeration necessary?

**scoundrel** · 10-25-2011, 02:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmadway

And no refrigeration necessary?

Nope. I store kegs at room temp all of the time. I pressurize it at 30psi for a week or two, then let them sit for months. When its time to serve, I throw it in the fridge and 24 hours later, they're chilled, perfectly carbonated and ready to serve.

**Yooper** · 10-25-2011, 02:18 PM

What you could do is prime the second keg with corn sugar, so that as it sits it carbs up and when you stick it in the kegerator (if it's been about two weeks), it'll be carbed up, conditioned, and ready to be consumed.

**scoundrel** · 10-25-2011, 02:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yooper

What you could do is prime the second keg with corn sugar, so that as it sits it carbs up and when you stick it in the kegerator (if it's been about two weeks), it'll be carbed up, conditioned, and ready to be consumed.

That's a nice alternative if you don't have dual regulators or a second co2 tank. I like it!

**Golddiggie** · 10-25-2011, 03:10 PM

I wouldn't prime the keg with sugar, just hit it with about 30psi to get it to seal up nice (after you purge the atmospheric air from it). If you hit it with sugar to prime, you'll need to use less than if you were bottling the same volume. You'll also have much more sediment in the bottom of the keg.

IMO/IME, carbonating with CO2 gives you much tighter control over how much carbonation you'll have in the brew. Much more so than when using sugar to prime.

What size kegorator do you have that can only hold one keg? I can fit four into my brew fridge. Most kegorators can easily fit at lease two kegs, plus CO2 tank. I have my tank(s) outside the fridge, with two bulkheads installed (to feed two pressure sets to manifolds).