Keg travel and carbonating

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NoNothing

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While my first batch is fermenting right now (woke up to the sweet noise of bubbles in my airlock :D) I will be traveling 500 miles after I rack to keg.

I know this will re-suspend anything in the keg. But Im wondering if I travel with the beer and then force carb 1 or 2 days after I arrive is my beer going to still taste fine? Would I be better to just relax and prime with sugar?

Im wanting to force carb and drink since a lot of my friends are traveling from far away to celebrate my birthday (Aug 29th) up at school with me and I would love to be able to serve them a (couldy) fruit of my labor and new hobby. But if conditioning and slow carbing is what my beer needs I dont mind hoarding it all to myself/roommates.
 
It will be fine. I took a couple of kegs to Cincinatti and back this year. The hot car was the only issue- I had to keep my car locked for a few days on the trip down, and it was really hot. The beer was ok, but not as good as it was before the trip. Still, moving it wasn't the problem and your beer will be fine on the trip.

I would force carb, not prime it. The reason is just my preference- you'll have some trub stirred up anyway. If you prime, you'll have way more stuff to stir up again.

You'll be drinking green beer if you're planning on drinking by August 29, though, if it's fermenting right now.
 
You'll be drinking green beer if you're planning on drinking by August 29, though, if it's fermenting right now.

Yuck... I guess I should just tell my friends to come up a month later if they really want to drink some beer :).

Or serve them green beer and have the good stuff for myself!

With force carbing does the beer need to condition in the keg at all still?
 
With force carbing does the beer need to condition in the keg at all still?

Absolutely- carbonated doesn't mean conditioned. Most "regular" beers are pretty good about 6-8 weeks after brewing, but if you put it in the keg and in the fridge, it'll take longer to condition. There are some advantages to cold conditioning, too, of course- like clearer beer. A good way to do it is 2 weeks in primary, and then 2-3 weeks in the keg, then put it in the fridge for a week or two (on the gas so it will carbonate) and then serve. That's not written in stone, of course- you could just leave it in the fermenter for 3-4 weeks at room temperature before kegging for the same results. There really isn't any substitute for time.
 
Thanks Yooper!

I always assumed force carb == drink it now and it tastes the same. Im still learning about kegs. I didnt know I was going to be kegging untill a local friend gave me a keg and some other keg gear. So I decided to skip bottles all together.
 
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