Keg as conditioning vessel / secondary

So, I just got my first corny kegs and my kegerator project is under way. Yay!

I have two batches that have been sitting in primary for 10 days now, an APA and an experimental Apple Weizen. Fermentation is well over and most yeast has already settled down..

Normally I would transfer to the secondary at this point, but since I have the kegs now I thought of using them as conditioning vessels. I would transfer each batch to a keg instead, prime with dextrose and seal the kegs. I would then let age of 3 weeks.

By this time the kegerator should be ready and I'll tap them. I expect a few pints of yeast first, but then it should be ok? What do you think?

yes this will work, you may need to hit the keg with a shot of C02 to get it to seal properly, but it will carb up and age nicely. You really only have to add about 1/2 of the sugar you would normally to carb up a keg.

Also be sure to put the keg in the fridge for a day or two before taking the first pint off to allow the yeast to settle out. The first pint will be full of yeast from the bottom of the keg, but after a pint or two it will all be gone and clear beer will result.

I actually recently got rid of most of my secondary containers, and use kegs as secondaries for aging, it does of course mean I need to keep a lot of extra kegs around.

Donasay said:

I actually recently got rid of most of my secondary containers, and use kegs as secondaries for aging, it does of course mean I need to keep a lot of extra kegs around.

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That sounds like a cross to bear. I'll be happy to help out. PM me for my shipping address, and I'll help you with those extra kegs.

:cross:

A lot of people use a keg for secondaries.

There's really nothing wrong with that, but in some situations I don't think this is a good idea.

For instance, my keezer is located in the garage. If I condition outside the keezer then move the keg inside the keezer I will be rousing the sediment off the bottom making the brew cloudy again.

Once the brew is ready I (my situation) have to move the keg downstairs into the kegerator, rousing more yeast and making the brew cloudy again. All this is wasted time.

If you can tap the keg where you store it then there should be no problem. I think this is the case for many of the people who crash cool to assist the yeast from falling out faster. Even with that method, racking to another keg would leave most of the yeast behind.

Other than that I recommend using a secondary for clearing so you can rack a relatively clear brew to the corny. In my book, the clearer the brew going into the keg the cleaner it is coming out.

I visited a fellow homebrewers set up, and he showed me his Black Saison in secondary, in a corny keg. He had a blow off tube set up. Is an airlock/blow off necessary for using a corny/sixtel for a secondary?

Kegs dont use airlocks / blowoff tubes since they are sealed.

Sometimes you don't even need a blow-off tube.

I primary(and secondary) in keg. For the primary, I do use a blow off tube. I just use the gas in connection, but you have to be careful it doesn't clog with krausen (spelling?). I just experimented with a 'sure screen' from northern brewer and am anxious to see my results. The sure screen is a stainless steel screen that goes on the dip tube- I just transferred this into a new keg two nights ago and was happy to see all of the grog and yeast sediment left behind. I am hoping this will be a fairly clear beer. If you use a keg as your secondary/final, be sure to cold break it good. Your first pint or two will probably be cloudy from sediment, but it's worked great for me (limited room for stuff in my apartment- plus less transferring and chance for oxygen exposure).

Chef Stress said:

I visited a fellow homebrewers set up, and he showed me his Black Saison in secondary, in a corny keg.

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If a Saison is a Pale Ale, how do you wind up with a "black" one?