kegging but no room in the kegerator!

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Jumboag

Jumboag

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In another week I'll be kegging my second brew (5th overall). The irish red I kegged first came out great (other than I should have been a bit more aggressive force-carbing it. It recovered and got to the right CO2 level after about a week.)

My kegerator holds 2 kegs. I have the homebrew'd irish red in it as well as a commercial 1/6" keg from Breckenridge Brewery. My 2nd corny is sitting empty and ready for use.

I wont be finished w/ either existing keg before it's time to move the new brew from secondary to a keg.

Here are my questions:

1) When I keg #2, it WONT be going in the kegerator immediately. Should I force-carb it when I keg it, or just use enough CO2 to displace any air in it before I fill it (and then as a top off/bleed off several times)?

2) If I dont force-carb it, should I use priming sugar as an alternative since the keg will sit for several weeks before its tapped? Should I not carb it at all and force carb only when I actually put it in the kegerator?

3) My fermenting closet holds the beer around 72-75 degrees. Will that be OK for leaving the beer sitting in the keg for a while, or should I find a way to put it in the garage fridge (I'd have to remove the shelves).

Thanks in advance! The answers/recommendations here will influence how I do beer going forward. Several of the beers I want to try recommend that they sit for a while to appropriately condition before drinking. Would be nice to know for sure the best way to store them.
 
Jumboag said:
In another week I'll be kegging my second brew (5th overall). The irish red I kegged first came out great (other than I should have been a bit more aggressive force-carbing it. It recovered and got to the right CO2 level after about a week.)

My kegerator holds 2 kegs. I have the homebrew'd irish red in it as well as a commercial 1/6" keg from Breckenridge Brewery. My 2nd corny is sitting empty and ready for use.

I wont be finished w/ either existing keg before it's time to move the new brew from secondary to a keg.

Here are my questions:

1) When I keg #2, it WONT be going in the kegerator immediately. Should I force-carb it when I keg it, or just use enough CO2 to displace any air in it before I fill it (and then as a top off/bleed off several times)?

2) If I dont force-carb it, should I use priming sugar as an alternative since the keg will sit for several weeks before its tapped? Should I not carb it at all and force carb only when I actually put it in the kegerator?

3) My fermenting closet holds the beer around 72-75 degrees. Will that be OK for leaving the beer sitting in the keg for a while, or should I find a way to put it in the garage fridge (I'd have to remove the shelves).

Thanks in advance! The answers/recommendations here will influence how I do beer going forward. Several of the beers I want to try recommend that they sit for a while to appropriately condition before drinking. Would be nice to know for sure the best way to store them.
Click to expand...

When I dont have space in my kegerator for another keg, I use priming sugar or brown sugar (depending on the beer) and carb the keg just like a giant bottle...this will allow you to start the carbing process with no need for refrigeration!
 
I too use priming sugar, but only in the summer. Being in Texas you shouldn't have a problem. My house never gets above 60 in the Winter, so natural carbonation takes much longer then it does to get some space in the kegerator.

Also! If you do prime in the keg, you only need 1/2 of what you would using if bottling.
 
Do I need to worry about having enough yeast left to eat the sugar since I 2 stage ferment (2 weeks primary 2 secondary) before kegging?
 
Special Hops said:
I use primin sugar all the time of I know a leg will sit a few weeks. Works great.
Click to expand...

im primin of my leg right now!! aside from that, i always prime a keg when there's no space left in the fridge. why wouldn't you. first pour will be yeasty but so what. don't worry you have plenty of yeast to do the job
 
Jumboag said:
In another week I'll be kegging my second brew (5th overall). The irish red I kegged first came out great (other than I should have been a bit more aggressive force-carbing it. It recovered and got to the right CO2 level after about a week.)

My kegerator holds 2 kegs. I have the homebrew'd irish red in it as well as a commercial 1/6" keg from Breckenridge Brewery. My 2nd corny is sitting empty and ready for use.

I wont be finished w/ either existing keg before it's time to move the new brew from secondary to a keg.

Here are my questions:

1) When I keg #2, it WONT be going in the kegerator immediately. Should I force-carb it when I keg it, or just use enough CO2 to displace any air in it before I fill it (and then as a top off/bleed off several times)?

2) If I dont force-carb it, should I use priming sugar as an alternative since the keg will sit for several weeks before its tapped? Should I not carb it at all and force carb only when I actually put it in the kegerator?

3) My fermenting closet holds the beer around 72-75 degrees. Will that be OK for leaving the beer sitting in the keg for a while, or should I find a way to put it in the garage fridge (I'd have to remove the shelves).

Thanks in advance! The answers/recommendations here will influence how I do beer going forward. Several of the beers I want to try recommend that they sit for a while to appropriately condition before drinking. Would be nice to know for sure the best way to store them.
Click to expand...

Bring it over to my place and stick it in my kegerator, I have two empty taps.

;)
 
I force carbonate mine at room temperature in my basement, 68-72*. You have to set the pressure substantially higher at room temperature, but carbonation tables or apps will get you to the right pressure. I have not used priming sugar since I quit bottling a few years ago.
 
I've got three kegs in the kegerator, four lagering in the back up Keezer, and
eight aging/waiting in my office, taking up space. And, I'm brewing Friday...

If the beer is a Lager, I stick it in the Keezer and hook up 12psi of CO2.

If the beer is an Ale, I hit it with 30psi for about 24 hours, then stand it against the wall with the rest of the kegs.

:ban:
 
I just put in at like 30 PSI for a day or two like Kirks does and then just leave it until I need it. I guess it's up to you whether or not you want to prime it or not.

I wonder if priming kegs would be better for kegs that you actually want to age a bit (e.g., Belgians) before hooking up to the taps?
 
coypoo said:
I just put in at like 30 PSI for a day or two like Kirks does and then just leave it until I need it. I guess it's up to you whether or not you want to prime it or not.

I wonder if priming kegs would be better for kegs that you actually want to age a bit (e.g., Belgians) before hooking up to the taps?
Click to expand...

I have given thought to priming kegs of Hefe. The extra yeast would not be a drawback.
 
Do you see much yeast growth with adding priming sugar? I would not have expected it, since you are not re-oxygenating to let them make the sterols and such needed to make more cell walls for replication. I don't generally cold crash or filter, and have been impressed by the amount of yeast found in the bottom of the kegs when they are emptied. I assumed that adding priming sugar would give those yeast a little more to ferment before checking out. I just haven't bothered with it, as it's another opportunity for contamination. A little StarSan spray on the gas-in connectors, and that's not a significant concern.
 
One other thought, depending on just how much you've got left in the keg you've currently got on tap and how much other fridge space you've got: bottle the remainder of that keg and put the new one on tap right away!

I just read someone else making that same suggestion last week, and realized that I was waiting for a pair of nearly empty kegs to kick so I could put on a pair of kegs I've had waiting in the wings for some time... I just bottled them up tonight and they were even closer to kicked than I thought. Do a quick search for the BMBF, or a thread called "We don't need to stinking beer gun" - you can MacGuyver together a bottle filler that'll let you pretty easily fill a 12 pack or two off a keg in no time. If that's something you're interested in doing, anyway.

If not, as folks have said, priming a keg is definitely an option so long as you remember to adjust the amount of priming sugar accordingly!!!
 
stratslinger said:
One other thought, depending on just how much you've got left in the keg you've currently got on tap and how much other fridge space you've got: bottle the remainder of that keg and put the new one on tap right away!

I just read someone else making that same suggestion last week, and realized that I was waiting for a pair of nearly empty kegs to kick so I could put on a pair of kegs I've had waiting in the wings for some time... I just bottled them up tonight and they were even closer to kicked than I thought. Do a quick search for the BMBF, or a thread called "We don't need to stinking beer gun" - you can MacGuyver together a bottle filler that'll let you pretty easily fill a 12 pack or two off a keg in no time. If that's something you're interested in doing, anyway.

If not, as folks have said, priming a keg is definitely an option so long as you remember to adjust the amount of priming sugar accordingly!!!
Click to expand...

I have a net laundry bag of cleaned PET bottles, various sizes, that I use for that. I made a "beer gun" out of a rubber grommet, some vinyl tube and a busted carbonator cap.

Picture003.jpg

Picture003.jpg


A regular plastic PET bottle cap, with a hole drilled in it, should work just as well.
 
I recently used the BM Beer Gun to fill an keg I didnt want on tap anymore. Worked really well, got a case of bottles, and opened up the fridge for a better brew.

Kirks: I like the attachment for PET bottles. I've got to get some of those bottles to take to sporting events and the like where you are allowed to bring in food/drink as long as it's not glass. I'll tell them its homemade soda ;)
 
coypoo said:
I recently used the BM Beer Gun to fill an keg I didnt want on tap anymore. Worked really well, got a case of bottles, and opened up the fridge for a better brew.

Kirks: I like the attachment for PET bottles. I've got to get some of those bottles to take to sporting events and the like where you are allowed to bring in food/drink as long as it's not glass. I'll tell them its homemade soda ;)
Click to expand...

For "stealth" homebrew, I use Mountain Dew bottles.
 
Keg it and have it ready. Purge with CO2 and leave it at 30psi in the closet. I don't and would not recommend priming with sugar. It only takes a few days to force carb when you are ready. I also have removed a beer from the kegerator when I wanted another one instead and put the removed beer back when I wanted that one. Doesn't seem to affect the beer at all.
 
Cpt_Kirks said:
I've got three kegs in the kegerator, four lagering in the back up Keezer, and
eight aging/waiting in my office, taking up space. And, I'm brewing Friday...

If the beer is a Lager, I stick it in the Keezer and hook up 12psi of CO2.

If the beer is an Ale, I hit it with 30psi for about 24 hours, then stand it against the wall with the rest of the kegs.

:ban:
Click to expand...

So after 24 hr, then what? Bleed it down to serving pressure?
 

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