Timing for 2 wedding beers

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cbird01

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I have created two beers for my wedding on Dec 19th. I would like to know the timing for secondary/kegging within the parameters of my equipment.

Secondary
Brew #1 - SS Winter Welcome clone - was supposed to be big (1.073 OG) and age well, so I did it early. Unfortunately I didn't hit my gravity and ended at 1.060. I brewed on Labor Day and left in primary for 3 weeks and it has been in secondary for a month.(as of Oct 26th). I am pretty anal about leaving yeast cake behind and I used gelatin in secondary to clear up.

Primary

Brew #2 - Kind of a beefed up Amber with a nutty biscuit touch. (a better than Fat Tire clone) I just brewed this beer on Oct 25th. OG is 1.051. Forgot the Irish Moss but will add gelatin to secondary.

1) I do not have any other fermentors, so I will need to send Brew #1 to the keg in order to put Brew #2 to secondary.

2) I do not have any cold storage. It is either 68 ambient of the house or the up and down temps of high altitude northern Arizona outdoors. (Nov avgs are High 51, Low 22)

3) I need to transport 200 miles via automobile to wedding location 2 days before wedding.

I am at t-minus 75 days to consumption.

I would like some advice as to how you more experienced brewers would schedule this out for a monumental occasion. :ban:
 
I just did similar for my wedding (got married 10/10) so congratulations! What I would recommend, is get your beer into the kegs and let them carbonate slowly (rather then forcing it quickly at the last minute).

I had mine in kegs 2 weeks before the event, and let them sit at 12psi for most of that 2 weeks. 3 days before the wedding, I poured out about 1 pint out of each keg (pour till clear) and dumped. Then I sampled them. They were all pretty close to where I wanted the carbonation at, but I cranked up the hefe for one night to get some extra fizz on it.

Then 2 days before, I took my keezer and the kegs all to the reception location and got them settled over there.

Your concern on secondary/keg due to lack of fermenting vessels is not an issue. You can secondary in kegs no problem. As a matter of fact, all of mine were primary > keg.. and all of my beers (except for the hefe, obviously) were nice and clear!
 
Thanks for quick reply. I like the plan. Followup question:

I have no refrigeration and will be putting kegs on ice for the event. Thus, carbonation will have to take place at room temp. Will I have to make any adjustments to pressure during carbonation phase? Should I keep iced for 2 days before wedding while still on CO2 to bring temp to serving temp?
 
Did you register for a jockey box by any chance? That would be way cool. But if that's outta your price range - I think it was Biermuncher with a rolling garbagerator. Or you can treat your kegs to those body glove neoprene suit looking things.
Remember you serve from the bottom, so if you can only ice them down from half way in say one of those camping/fishing coolers - it should still come out ok.

-OCD
 
I am open to DIY solutions. The wedding funds have eliminated the possibility of any beer related purchases other than actual batches.

I used a square cooler for my bachelor party. They are taller and I got 2 ice blocks and cut them in half and put them around bottom of keg. Topped off with regular cube ice and had some of that reflective bubble wrap that I cut a hole in to fit the corny(Can't close the cooler). Topped off with a blanket and I had huge ice chunks left after 72 hours and the temps during the day hit 90. The key is the block ice instead of cubes and that reflective radiant barrier. I may just buy another tall cooler and do the same thing.

Any comments on carbonation at room temperature prior to icing?
 
I am open to DIY solutions. The wedding funds have eliminated the possibility of any beer related purchases other than actual batches.

I used a square cooler for my bachelor party. They are taller and I got 2 ice blocks and cut them in half and put them around bottom of keg. Topped off with regular cube ice and had some of that reflective bubble wrap that I cut a hole in to fit the corny(Can't close the cooler). Topped off with a blanket and I had huge ice chunks left after 72 hours and the temps during the day hit 90. The key is the block ice instead of cubes and that reflective radiant barrier. I may just buy another tall cooler and do the same thing.

Any comments on carbonation at room temperature prior to icing?

I live in Arizona, and during the summer I had 3 kegs in one of those huge white coolers from Costco. They only covered the bottom half of the kegs, but we sat them in shade and beer was ice cold the whole time. No block ice, just tons of regular ice.

If you are going to carb at room temp, I would go "natural". Toss in priming sugar and let it carb up. Plan on a couple weeks for this as well. I can tell you from experience, force carbing last minute can lead to unpredictable results (and changes the flavor a bit). Just put priming sugar in, purge the keg like normal and keep in a cool spot (just like if you were bottling). It should take the same amount of time to get to your preferred level of carbonation. Again, before you move them (at all) pour off the first pint or so to get rid of the sludge, that way when you move them for the wedding, they are clear. Just don't forget pressurize them back up after purging, and make sure to leave the co2 hooked up at the wedding location for those 2 days prior.
 
Do you think there would be enough residual yeast in my 1st batch (brewed on labor day) considering it was primary for 3 weeks, and secondary for 2 months. I also was very careful to not disturb the yeast cake when going to secondary.

I was not going to force carb...was going to leave on CO2 at serving pressure for 2 weeks.
 
Do you think there would be enough residual yeast in my 1st batch (brewed on labor day) considering it was primary for 3 weeks, and secondary for 2 months. I also was very careful to not disturb the yeast cake when going to secondary.

I was not going to force carb...was going to leave on CO2 at serving pressure for 2 weeks.

Many people carbonate in the bottle after doing a secondary. There is still yeast in the beer, even if it appears pretty clear. I am sure others can speak more specifically on this.

I have never carbbed at room temp with either method. I know it has been discussed here, however, I would hate to offer bad advice on that front.
 
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