Can you keg without a refrigerator? (plus another question)

[Thor]

I am considering getting into kegging shortly. As I do not yet have a fridge I could use, my hope is that I could keg, condition the kegs in a closet or the like at around 70 degrees, and chill in a cooler when ready to drink. Is that feasible, or do you have to condition kegs in refrigerators?

I only brew ales, not lagers, at this point, FYI.

Also, can you put kegged beer into bottles, for example, for traveling? If so, are there any issues with carbonation, etc?

Thanks!

 

[kneemoe]

you *can* do it, but i hope you drink heavily or have a lot of friends coming over (or maybe just using 2.5 or 3 gal kegs)
the beer will go bad without refridgeration, only takes as long as a 'real' cask when you're doing it this way (3-5 days tops)
you can bottle kegged beer, you'll just need to carbonate it somehow (priming sugar, etc)
all my kegs sit in the closet (62-68) until a couple days before they go online, then i force carb them in the kegerator.....

 

[Darth Konvel]

You sure can. I just left my kegs down in the basement before I got a firdge. It doesn't get very cold down there, but it was cold enough to drink.

The biggest pain was differences in pressure. At warmer temps, you need to but the beer under higher gas pressure for it to carb properly. Then to serve, you need to turn down the pressure to something reasonable and vent off excess pressure. Then once done serving for the night, turn the pressure back up.

In theory, if you force carb it at the right pressure for the temperature in your closet, and then get it completely chilled before serving, you won't have to vent any pressure, just adjust the regulator to serving pressure.

All in all, the fridge is nice because you just leave the pressure the same all the time. Just hook it up, dial in the pressure, and let it be.

As for bottling, try searching for counter pressure bottle fillers.

 

[Thor]

Thanks for the reply. Why, though, would kegged, pressurized beer (assume I am either using a CO2 tank or priming) go bad so fast? That is, my original thinking was that a keg's shelf life at 70 degrees or so would be about the same as bottles at the same temperature.

Appreciate the help!

 

[Darth Konvel]

As long as your using CO2, your beer will be fine. If you use a hand pump (or anything that introduces oxygen) then thats another story.

 

[Mikey]

Thanks for the reply. Why, though, would kegged, pressurized beer (assume I am either using a CO2 tank or priming) go bad so fast? That is, my original thinking was that a keg's shelf life at 70 degrees or so would be about the same as bottles at the same temperature.

Appreciate the help!

It doesn't go bad, I have no idea what the other poster was trying to get at with that comment. I've got beers that are getting on to being a few years old that are just starting to reach their peak.

 

[TheCheatOSX]

What is the minimum equipment needed to use Kegs? I was thinking along the lines of priming for carbonation and using just a tube with a picnic tap and some sort of small pellet-gun-size co2 canister to dispense it. Maybe set up a homemade draft box to cool it down if not cold enough. Will yeast sediment be a problem with priming? Has anyone used this minimalist set up? I'm tired of bottling!

-Cheat

 

[ajf]

I also brew ales and keg most of them, but I wouldn't think of using a fridge to chill them, any more than I would chill a red wine. My favo(u)rite ESB tastes great at 55 to 60 degrees (which just happens to be the temperature in the basement during the winter). - But I learned to drink in England.

-a.

 

[ajf]

What is the minimum equipment needed to use Kegs? I was thinking along the lines of priming for carbonation and using just a tube with a picnic tap and some sort of small pellet-gun-size co2 canister to dispense it. Maybe set up a homemade draft box to cool it down if not cold enough. Will yeast sediment be a problem with priming? Has anyone used this minimalist set up? I'm tired of bottling!

-Cheat

I used to use a plastic barrel with a small CO2 cartridge to help dispense the beer. It worked pretty well for English Bitter (which has very low carbonation rates). That set-up had a tube inside the barrel attached to a float, so the beer was drawn off from the top to avoid any sediment. I now use Cornelius Kegs with a CO2 bottle and regulator. The first 1/2 pint from each keg gets a bit of sediment, but the rest is fine.

If you use the small CO2 cartridged, you mey not be able to get enough pressure to keep the brew carbonated to your liking. No problem for me, as I like it almost flat.

-a.

 

[TheCheatOSX]

Now this is what I'm talking about! 2.5 gal corny with a ball lock tap and a little cartridge for dispensing. I could fit this in the beer fridge (or a friends for poker night which is what I want). But way over priced. I'll have to try to make my own.

http://www.morebeer.com/product.html?product_id=18191

-Cheat

 

[Darth Konvel]

That is kind of steep ^^; If you can find a small keg for a good price, the rest should be easy enough to come up with. The biggest problem is that those little kegs are a bit on the rare side.

 

[Spoonta]

I cant remember who it was on this site but thay were toying with the idea of using a preasure cooker as a little keg

 

[david_42]

Short cornies are a real rip. This time of year I keep most of my ales in the garage where it's about 55F. In the summer, I keep extra kegs near the A/C vents in the house. Mostly I use party taps on them and give them a shot from the main CO2 bottle as needed. My friend in California uses the little cartridge for pressurization. There isn't any regulator and when the keg it full, it is easy to pop the relief valve (130 psi).

 

[DeadSquirrel]

THIS is what you should pay for a keg!

http://www.stewartsplace.com/3.html

Or Ebay. You can get a new keg for 91. Used for cheaper. Pony taps, etc.

Good luck!

 

[Trapaddict]

Soooooo..... If I'm reading this correctly, my keg is properly sanitized and I drop right from my secondary into my keg with half the normal priming sugar. I then hit it with a blast of CO2 from my hand held to insure a good seal. The beer should last as long as bottled beer would if kept at 60 or below?

 

[Brewsmith]

If you are using CO2, you don't need primimg sugar. The CO2 carbonates the beer. And back to the original question, no you don't need a fridge. It just helps to keep it cold. If there is no oxygen in the keg and it is sanitized, it is pretty much just like a secondary, just pressurized. My only keg is currently unrefrigerated. Ambient temp keeps it about 50-55. It's perfect for the English Brown I have in it.