How long should I wait to keg

[SAM Brewer]

I made a 2 1/2 gallon brew of irish ale 11 days ago. Fermentation stopped after 3 days. I did use a 1000 ml yeast starter (used 100 g of DME) so I assume the yeast really went to work quickly. It's been over a week since visible fermentation stopped 8 days ago. Can I can keg now or wait at lest another week before I keg. This is the first time I fermented in the primary fermentor and didn't transfer to a carboy. THX

 

[RCope]

Keg it! You could take a hydrometer reading to see if it's close to expected, but after 8 days of no action I'd keg it with no worries. The main concern for packaging too early is for bottling.

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

Cold crash, fine with gelatin and keg!

 

[Golddiggie]

Depending on the OG, I typically go at least three weeks before my brews go to keg/can. Granted, 4-5 days of that is cold crash/carbonation time (in fermenter). I still would give it a full two weeks (minimum) before moving it. Just because the yeast is done with fermentation doesn't mean it's not still doing things to make the beer better. Not the least of which is flocculating so that you get clearer beer into your glass.

For reference, most of my lower OG (below 1.060) batches are finished fermenting in about 4-5 days. I don't use an airlock to decide that but more solid methods. I still give them two weeks before I chill to harvest yeast (45-50F), then chill to carbonating temperatures (35-38F). Which means at the three week point the batch is actually ready for drinking.