Is this a crazy idea?

I suspect that it may be.

First of all, here is the problem - I am brewing faster than I can drink the beer. I know. . . a good problem to have; however, I am at the point where I don't have the bottles to keep my brews in. In other words, I need to invite some friends over for a "session" or buy some bottles.

Here is the crazy idea. I have three corny kegs, but I do not have a kegerator or a cold plate. Could I put my brews through a secondary fermentation in a glass carboy until they the yeast and remaining trub settle out and then rack them to a tertiary - my corny kegs for "longer" term storage. I understand that I could keg condition them and store them for some time, but I may not have a kegerator anytime soon.

Theoretically, how long could they remain in the corny keg, uncarbonated (essentially a tertiary fermentation) before I would have to bottle the beer and carbonate. I know this is a wacky idea, but is it viable in any way? What adverse effects would this have on my beer?

Just brainstorming . . . :fro:

either way, if you don't slow down you will have to buy more corny kegs AND bottles!

OR

you could just donate your extra brew to your friends here at HBT

Yeah . . . I do have to slow down . . . an unfortunate fact that SWMBO keeps reminding me of. But this does not solve my problem of having only 1 case of empties and two 5 gallon carboys of beers in secondary

Oh well . . . A few good "bouts" and I should be back on track . . . right?

I think this would be fine (I do this) but I also bleed them off with shots of CO2 to clear off the O2 headspace. With no airlock going, that O2 is just going to sit there. I'd probably recommend getting one of those little portable CO2 units with some cartridges to bleed off the headspace and give them some pressure sealing.

EDIT - or maybe consider purchasing some more 5g carboys?

I will gladly volunteer my liver as a storage facility if need be

Don't a lot of people do this? I'm pretty sure it would be fine...it basically is a carboy, must stainless and more difficult to fit an airlock to. However, at the point you would be racking to the keg an airlock should not be an issue. I definitely agree with purging the O2 with CO2 and enough pressure to get a good seal.

As far as how long it would last like that is really up to the beer. A hefeweizen would lose it's hefeweizeness just like it would in a carboy if aged too long, while a RIS could go for months and months.

sonvolt said:

Yeah . . . I do have to slow down . . . an unfortunate fact that SWMBO keeps reminding me of. But this does not solve my problem of having only 1 case of empties and two 5 gallon carboys of beers in secondary

Oh well . . . A few good "bouts" and I should be back on track . . . right?

Click to expand...

Do what I did offer people at work beer for bottles, I offered up a 6 pack for every case of empties.. I have tons of bottles now

A good possible source for bottles is a local micro if there is one in your area. Of course I am talking about a bottling operation and not a bub, but a bottling micro has lots of glass and often will sell a few cases for a very reasonable price. If you have one around give them a call. The worst that can happen is they say "NO".

Storing as you discuss sounds fine, but the writing on the wall says you need to figure out the consumption end. You are in the same place I am in most of the time. The desire to brew exceeds the ability to consume. You need to become the benevolent beer guy. At the rate you are going you are going to be building an addition just to store your beer!

"Flounder, My advice to you is to start drinking heavily"

I normally have several ales in keg waiting their turn in the kegger. The barleywines never get there, they just sit in a cool place as I sip them.

another good source of bottles are japanese restaurants. most of the bottles are the very usable 22oz size. they are more than happy to keep a box on the ground and save them for you....

of course there might not be any Japanese restaurants where you are, but any restaurant or bar would be a likely source.

just a thought.

Ya'll are missin' the point . . . with 10 cases of bottles sitting around . . . I don't want anymore. I just need to get a kegerator and stop bottling. My finances and SWMBO, however, say differently . . . .

sonvolt said:

Ya'll are missin' the point . . . with 10 cases of bottles sitting around . . . I don't want anymore. I just need to get a kegerator and stop bottling. My finances and SWMBO, however, say differently . . . .

Click to expand...

Well, it sounds like you've made your mind up, so.........??

But, there's nothing wrong with storing the beer for a while in a keg. Just burp off the C02 every once in a while.

You could always get a Co2 tank and a cobra tap. When you're about ready to serve, ice it down and carb it up. Then you'll have some time to save up for a fridge, taps, etc.

You could do what I am doing . . .

I save 1 case of each batch I make. When I run out of bottles I have a party to drink all the cases I saved to get the empties back. It's a good chance to get all your friends over, plus it lets ya free up all them bottles so you can make more and get ready for The next party . . . https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=8536

There are no crazy ideas when it comes to HB!