Fermenter to Keg - Too much time overkill?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
Aug 7, 2007
Messages
1,110
Reaction score
14
Location
San Jose, CA
I'm kegging my next batch of beer for the first time, and I have some lingering questions. I've searched around, but haven't really found the answers I'm looking for. Plus, this might be an interesting discussion for beginners and/or those of us looking keg for the first time.

I've always left all my basic beers (say, non-wheat beers under 6% ABV) in primary for two weeks and two weeks in clearing tank, even if my hydrometer tells me I could move it earlier. Then, as a bottler, my beer got 3 - 4 weeks at room temps conditioning. I had no space issues, so I liked giving the beer plenty of time.

Is this overkill for kegging typical American style ales? I'm moving my process from a huge indoor closet to a fermentation freezer in the garage, so I'll either have to speed up the process or brew less often.

Should I save the room in my fermentation chamber and go from primary straight to cold crashing and into the keg in two weeks or so? If I do this, should I pull the keg out and leave it at room temps for a couple weeks to condition, or are most beers fine going straight into the keggerator after a couple weeks?
 
I usually do 21 days in Primary, straight into a keg. Depending on my pipeline, I might pop it into the fridge and carb it within 3-5 days, or it could very well sit around sealed, and condition warm for 1-10 months before being put on pressure.

My Mint Pale was the clearest beer I've ever done, that one sat on the yeast cake for 4 weeks. It went into a keg, sat warm for 2 days (while I drank the dregs of what was in the fridge), then immediately went into the fridge and onto the gas.

I would say that 2 week (maybe 3?) primary, straight into a keg, straight onto gas, should be fine for most sub-6% beers.

My 10der&Mild Mild for the swap will be 7 days primary and 3 days hi-pressure in the fridge. :D
 
I usually do 21 days in Primary, straight into a keg. Depending on my pipeline, I might pop it into the fridge and carb it within 3-5 days, or it could very well sit around sealed, and condition warm for 1-10 months before being put on pressure.

My Mint Pale was the clearest beer I've ever done, that one sat on the yeast cake for 4 weeks. It went into a keg, sat warm for 2 days (while I drank the dregs of what was in the fridge), then immediately went into the fridge and onto the gas.

I would say that 2 week (maybe 3?) primary, straight into a keg, straight onto gas, should be fine for most sub-6% beers.

My 10der&Mild Mild for the swap will be 7 days primary and 3 days hi-pressure in the fridge. :D

This is great info for me as a new brewer...

I'm still trying to find out what is the appropriate (as compared to minimum) amount of time in primary and then in bottles or a keg until it's ready.

Looking forward to brewing my first extract this Sunday and starting the adventure.
 
Back
Top