Advice on Keg Conditioning

[Vongo]

Has any one ever stored beer after kegging and purging at room temp? Can I just hit it with gas purge take the gas off and put it away for a little while?

 

[Ace_Club]

Sure. That's what people who naturally carb their kegged beer do all the time. I keg up my beer, add the priming sugar, purge a couple times with CO2, hit it with 30 psi to form a seal on the lid and then stash it away in the basement until I'm ready to tap it.

No problems at all.

 

[Arneba28]

Yes you can. just carbonate it like normal., Then pull it out to room temp and let it condition. The only deal is that when you want to cool this again to serve, you will have to leave it cold for a few days to get the carbonation to re-absorb

 

[Vongo]

so just treat it like a bottling bucket but with less priming sugar. Would the same rule apply in terms of the amount of time/temp it would take for bottles to carb?

 

[Ace_Club]

I believe so on the conditioning time. I honestly haven't tapped a keg before two weeks of conditioning.

But yes, you can treat it like a bottling bucket with less priming sugar. Just remember to use plenty of keg lube and hit it with 30-40 psi after purging the O2. You need that pressure to ensure a good seal on the lid.

 

[brewha]

So why do people chill their kegs when they force carb but you dont have to chill when you use sugar?

 

[Kieran]

So why do people chill their kegs when they force carb but you dont have to chill when you use sugar?

If you chill when using sugar, you would kill the yeast and have flat, sweet beer

 

[ChandlerBang]

If you chill when using sugar, you would kill the yeast and have flat, sweet beer

.......and CO2 absorbs better at colder temps, therefore, the beer needs to be cold to force carb.

 

[Scooby_Brew]

Just remember to use plenty of keg lube and hit it with 30-40 psi after purging the O2. You need that pressure to ensure a good seal on the lid.

Why would you purge the O2? Don't the yeasties need the O2 to start working again and turn sugar into alcohol and CO2?

 

[Ace_Club]

Why would you purge the O2? Don't the yeasties need the O2 to start working again and turn sugar into alcohol and CO2?

They need some O2, but not all the O2 that would be present in the headspace of the keg. You won't be able to fully purge all the O2, so I just get the excess out. Haven't had a problem yet.

Rough calculations show ~23 cu. in. of headspace in bottles (2 cases, 1" headspace) vs. ~127 cu. in. in a keg (1 keg, 2" headspace).

 

[shortyjacobs]

You can force carb at room temp too, just takes higher reg pressure. And you purge the O2 to prevent oxidation of the beer. Yeast need O2 to reproduce, but don't need it to turn sugar into beer. There's plenty of yeast in your beer to carbonate it, so you don't need them to reproduce any more, so you don't need more O2.

 

[mforsman]

I'm about to step in to the kegging game in a month or two. I was wondering if I use the priming sugar to carbonate, can I lay the kegs down to slide under a bed or store on a deep shelf instead of standing upright?

 

[Ace_Club]

I'm about to step in to the kegging game in a month or two. I was wondering if I use the priming sugar to carbonate, can I leg the kegs down to slide under a bed or store on a deep shelf instead of standing upright?

You could. Although I wouldn't chance the potential leak issue. It would really suck to have 5 gallons of beer slowly leak out under your bed. :cross:

 

[mforsman]

Thanks Ace. I suppose that's where buying good used kegs from Sanco and tripple checking them every day comes in to play. Or just figuring out a place to store them upright. Living in New York has some major disadvantages when it comes to space and brewing.

 

[ChandlerBang]

I'm about to step in to the kegging game in a month or two. I was wondering if I use the priming sugar to carbonate, can I lay the kegs down to slide under a bed or store on a deep shelf instead of standing upright?

Also, if you naturally carb on the side, all of the sediment will be resuspended when you go upright. Probably not a deal breaker, but you will have to allow extra time after uprighting to let that settle back out.

 

[mforsman]

Ah good point. The real goal is to build a kegorator with a single tap but room for two corny's. Carb one beer while the other is being served. Of course, that all depends on what the CL gods will give me when it comes time.

 

[Ace_Club]

Ah good point. The real goal is to build a kegorator with a single tap but room for two corny's. Carb one beer while the other is being served. Of course, that all depends on what the CL gods will give me when it comes time.

Remember that if you are carbing with priming sugar, you want the keg at room temperature.