keg info

I have 2 pale ales that just finished fermenting for 2 weeks they have haven't dropped in gravity at all in 3 days. If I keg them today can I drink them in 3-4 weeks or should I let them sit in 2nd ferment before kegging? Buddy of mine says he takes his from 1st to keg and they turn out great but, im a little nervous about putting my babies in a keg without letting them clear up in a carboy.

you could let them clear up in the primary if you want.

They'll do the same thing in a keg as they will in a secondary, you'll just pull off a few cloudy pints, then it should be clear beer from there. Can you cold crash the beer while in primary? I like to do that for a few days before racking to the keg, and it helps clear it up quickly. Also, a little gelatin added to the keg before you rack will work wonders in getting everything crystal clear.

What they said.

Carboys don't have any magical properties. Any vessel can be a secondary. If you have legs available, why not save a bunch of work. Kegs are sanitary, sunlight resistant and they have handles. It's almost as if they were designed to hold 5 gallons of liquid.

Just think of one less carboy to clean.

TrainSafe said:

What they said.

Carboys don't have any magical properties. Any vessel can be a secondary. If you have legs available, why not save a bunch of work. Kegs are sanitary, sunlight resistant and they have handles. It's almost as if they were designed to hold 5 gallons of liquid.

Just think of one less carboy to clean.

Click to expand...

That reminds me of a quote from Palmer on a podcast: "Its not like the yeast at the top of the primary are looking down at the yeast cake and saying 'nah, its too crowded down there, let's hang out up here for a bit."

Thank you for this thread!! I put myself in a predicament by jumping the gun a bit. I've got a lager in my secondary (carboy) and an ale in my primary (carboy). My ale will be ready for secondary BEFORE my lager will be ready for racking. However, my kegs should be here Monday!!! I was hoping to secondary in one of my new kegs, but wasn't sure. Thank you for answering my question!!!
Should I still hook up an airlock??

No need for an airlock with a keg, since it is a completely sealed container. You'll want to purge the oxygen in the keg before racking, and purge any oxygen that may have made it into the headspace after racking. Check out the bottling/kegging forum stickies, they'll tell you all you need to know.

Thanks!!

I would leave the ale in primary until it tastes ready for the keg. I would NOT rush brew into the keg/bottle, giving the yeast any time they need to do all they can to give you great brew...

IMO/IME, giving the brew an extra week, or two, or the time you would have racked to another fermenter in primary does wonders. It's also easier on you, and reduces the risk of contamination that you open up when you rack to the other vessel for a week or two (before going to keg/bottle)...

Once it's in keg, you put it on gas and let it carbonate. I do think you'll be better off letting more yeast flocculate out of it in primary before kegging it though. Give it that extra two weeks there, then keg it. Why waste pints when you don't need to?? :rockin: