Keg Storage

I've been homebrewing for a while and have been kegging in Sanke kegs since the beginning. The one issue I have though is developing a pipeline. Usually, I just try and time my fermenting to match when my kegs on tap will blow, but even if I do this right, there's maybe 3 days or so where my taps are "dry" while I force carb the kegs.

So, I'm thinking about buying a second CO2 Bottle and associated equipment, then kegging/force carbing the kegs before storing them somewhere prior to moving them into the kegerator. After force carbing the keg for a few days, I would disconnect them for storage.

My question is, how long would the beer stay good with this kind of pipeline setup? What about storage temperatures? I don't currently have excess refrigeration space to store excess kegs. If it's paramount that I store them at serving temperature, I could always buy a chest freezer and modify it with an STC-1000, although I'm not sure how cool my wife would be with more stuff in the garage.

Thanks.

I have a 'charging' station in my basement. It's a 20# CO2 tank with a 'spider web' of gas lines. I carb my beers warm. Needs a little higher PSI, but no worries. Depending on the beer, you can go months with storing in a 'not too warm' place. My basement hovers in the 60's, so no worries there. Perfect way to keep a pipeline. Figure a keg is just a big bottle. Most bottlers don't keep all their beer in the fridge. It's conditioning.

Excellent, that's pretty much what I was looking to do but wasn't sure it would work that well. Do you leave the kegs on the line in the 'charging station' until use, or just carb and disconnect?

My basement is typically around 68F, not sure if that's too warm but it's far from hot.

Further follow on question, with Sanke keg couplers, is there any way to easily block out the beer outflow so the CO2 can force carb the keg without pushing beer out and up a line that then needs cleaning?

I'm guessing it would take a specialized coupler that's not readily available.

I just naturally carb in my sankeys, no extra equipment

A lot of people place a coin in the outlet to block beer flow. No specialized coupler required!

zachattack said:

A lot of people place a coin in the outlet to block beer flow. No specialized coupler required!

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Now that, well, that's genius! Ordering a set of parts momentarily. Thanks.

Hauger said:

Excellent, that's pretty much what I was looking to do but wasn't sure it would work that well. Do you leave the kegs on the line in the 'charging station' until use, or just carb and disconnect?

My basement is typically around 68F, not sure if that's too warm but it's far from hot.

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68 degrees will be fine. I usually leave the kegs on the gas for three weeks then disconnect. But, as long as you have your CO2 set for the right pressure it won't hurt to leave them hooked up.

Hammy71 said:

I have a 'charging' station in my basement. It's a 20# CO2 tank with a 'spider web' of gas lines. I carb my beers warm. Needs a little higher PSI, but no worries. Depending on the beer, you can go months with storing in a 'not too warm' place. My basement hovers in the 60's, so no worries there. Perfect way to keep a pipeline. Figure a keg is just a big bottle. Most bottlers don't keep all their beer in the fridge. It's conditioning.

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How do you share the gas among those lines? A manifold? How many can you connect?

Yes, there is a manifold that has 5 'whips' coming off of it. Works great to keep my pipeline full. I have the capability of keeping a cold extra keg in my keezer. Nothing better than blowing a keg, simply hooking up another carbed/cold keg, removing the empty and replacing with a carbed warm one. Next day, I'm ready for the next one to blow.

I've been thinking about this as well. If I carb at 12 psi at 68 degrees, will it eventually get there? Or do I need to go higher due to the higher temps?

bcrawfo2 said:

I've been thinking about this as well. If I carb at 12 psi at 68 degrees, will it eventually get there? Or do I need to go higher due to the higher temps?

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Depends on what "there" is. If you look at our friendly carbonation table and extrapolate a few degrees below the end of the 12 psi column, "there" would be around 1.35 volumes of CO2. Very low level indeed. otoh, if you crank the pressure up to around 30 psi, "there" would be in the vicinity of 2.4 volumes, which would be good for a wide range of brews...

Cheers!

Useful thread. I also have Stanley's which aren't often discussed here.

day_trippr said:

Depends on what "there" is. If you look at our friendly carbonation table and extrapolate a few degrees below the end of the 12 psi column, "there" would be around 1.35 volumes of CO2. Very low level indeed. otoh, if you crank the pressure up to around 30 psi, "there" would be in the vicinity of 2.4 volumes, which would be good for a wide range of brews...

Cheers!

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If you're beyond the temp range or carb level on the chart, there are several calculators out there that will give a more precise figure. Here's one-
http://www.brewersfriend.com/keg-carbonation-calculator/

Thanks. I drink a lot of seltzer. I'm gonna try to carb at 4+ volumes at 65 degrees. Charts read 50+ psi. At least it will get it close

bcrawfo2 said:

Thanks. I drink a lot of seltzer. I'm gonna try to carb at 4+ volumes at 65 degrees. Charts read 50+ psi. At least it will get it close

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The pressure relief valves on corny kegs are typically set to vent pressure at 60-65 psi. There are other calculators that will go above 50psi, but I'd suggest keeping it under 50 if at all possible.

I figure if I let it carb at 50 or so psi at room temp for a week or so, it should be pretty easy to get that last half volume or so once I chill down to 35-36F