Corny Keg as Unitank (Autolysis?)

[Pehlman17]

I'm curious as to whether anyone is successfully fermenting, carbonating, and serving from a single vessel without the ability to dump yeast. I've been fermenting in corny kegs for a couple years now and like it very much. I recently picked up a Clear Beer Draught System (floating dip tube), and used it in my primary fermenter but still transferred to a separate serving keg. It got me wondering if anyone has had any luck with leaving the beer in primary from start to finish. I've been wanting to play with spunding a bit as well. I don't do pressurized fermentations (yet) but I do tend to seal the keg with a couple gravity points left before cold crashing. I only brew about 3-4 gallons per batch and typically drink/share the entire batch within 6-8 weeks of brew day. Is that short enough to avoid any noticeable autolysis issues?

 

[Pennine]

I have done this with the last 10 batches or so, I do notice that beers tend to get worse, probably related to autolysis, after about 2 months in the keg. Fermenting under pressure seems to accelerate the degrading flavor quicker than when not fermented under pressure. I don't use floating dip tubes, I just cut an inch off the dip tube so you may not notice as much until you get to the bottom of a keg?

 

[Pehlman17]

I don't use floating dip tubes, I just cut an inch off the dip tube so you may not notice as much until you get to the bottom of a keg?

I was doing the cut dip tube thing for a while but decided to switch to the floating dip tube. I do wonder if that could make a difference. I would be curious as to whether drawing from closer to the yeast cake vs the top of the beer would affect the lifespan of the beer.

 

[RM-MN]

I only brew about 3-4 gallons per batch and typically drink/share the entire batch within 6-8 weeks of brew day. Is that short enough to avoid any noticeable autolysis issues?

I've left beer in the fermenter for 9 weeks before bottling. No autolysis noticed with that. The beer was in the bottles for a few month before it was all gone. Still no autolysis noticed. Autolysis is not at all common until you get a huge batch of beer in a conical such that the large amount of yeast collected can start heating.

 

[theredviper]

I have been using corny kegs to ferment and serve for a while now, it's working well. I went straight to floating dip tubes (with a filter on top) and it has been great.

I also pressure ferment. I usually let things go with a blowoff tube for about 48 hours then put a spunding valve on and watch it or set it to 25 psi or so. When you cold crash, it's already carbonated to the right level, give or take.

Cleanup is a pain later on, but it's a lot of hassle saved overall IMO. Less risk of any oxygen getting in, etc.

I should add, the beer is gone within a month, it doesn't stick around. Those damn elves keep drinking it overnight I think!

 

[Pehlman17]

Autolysis is not at all common until you get a huge batch of beer in a conical such that the large amount of yeast collected can start heating.

I don't worry too much about it either when it comes to beer just passively sitting on top of the yeast for a while, but I do start to wonder if anything would come about once pressure gets introduced for carbonating.

 

[RM-MN]

I don't worry too much about it either when it comes to beer just passively sitting on top of the yeast for a while, but I do start to wonder if anything would come about once pressure gets introduced for carbonating.

One would think it might but I have left beer in the bottle for 2 years without autolysis.

 

[Pennine]

I was thinking about that too, it could also be the extended time your beer is sitting on trub too, with bottles it's a much smaller amount of yeast.

If I was drinking the kegs in less than 6 weeks I wouldn't worry about it at all.