Keg Conditioning Homebrew

[Johnny_Ds]

I have what I think is a simple question, yet I haven't been able to get a straight answer searching the internet and forums, so I'm going to ask.

Aging my homebrew in a keg? What are the guidelines/rules here?

I've brewed for two years (extract) and have only bottled my beer until recently. Since then I've gone to AG brewing and kegging.

Bottle conditioning beer always has recommendation for aging. One beer I made had a six month conditioning period.

Does this work the same with kegged beer? Why do I see so many articles about going straight from the fermenter to the keg, force carbing for a day to a week then serving?

I realize that bottle conditioning times vary based on gravity...... is it the same for kegging? I would assume it would be.... someone clue me in.

 

[invictusbrew]

See my comments in red below:

I have what I think is a simple question, yet I haven't been able to get a straight answer searching the internet and forums, so I'm going to ask.

Aging my homebrew in a keg? What are the guidelines/rules here?

I've brewed for two years (extract) and have only bottled my beer until recently. Since then I've gone to AG brewing and kegging.

Bottle conditioning beer always has recommendation for aging. One beer I made had a six month conditioning period.

Does this work the same with kegged beer? Yes, if you would like to age in the keg, the timelines will be the same as if aging in the bottle. Why do I see so many articles about going straight from the fermenter to the keg, force carbing for a day to a week then serving? Most styles do not require any aging whatsoever, except to carbonate (usually 1-2 weeks in the bottle, as little as a day or two in the keg)

I realize that bottle conditioning times vary based on gravity...... is it the same for kegging? I would assume it would be.... someone clue me in.Yes, generally this is the case, but there are a lot of other factors as well. It's all about melding the flavors, sometimes that can be really quick, and sometimes it can take a few months.

 

[zachattack]

Some styles are great fresh, others aren't. In that respect there's no difference between kegging and bottling, but the great thing about kegging is that if you want a beer to be ready very quickly, it can be. And if you have a high ABV beer, there's no worrying if/when it will carb up if you're force carbing it.

It's all style dependent.

 

[itsme6582]

Conditioning in kegs work great. Bottle conditioning isn't really a good name for carbing with priming sugar. Conditioning is aging and carbing is really a separate process that happens to go on at the same time when bottling. You've got yeast in there either way and they'll continue to clean things up whether you add priming sugar or not.

You can still carb naturally in a keg but you need to hit it with gas first to get a good seal on your lid.

 

[Johnny_Ds]

So for grins I made what was supposed to be a Bud clone.... (don't ask)... not a high gravity beer. I brewed on Aug. 12. Fermented in a primary for 3 weeks then kegged it. It was a 10 gallon batch. One keg I immediately force carbed at 20psi for 6 days then tapped it. The other one I just bled out the O2 and left enough CO2 pressure in it and put it in my fridge. This was about the time I left for Europe for three weeks.

I got back to the states Oct 2.

So 3 weeks fermentation and 3 more weeks at about 36degrees, one carbed the other not carbed. The first keg that was immediately carbed had a distinct green apple off flavor which I know is common in a "Young" beer. That keg finished up this past Saturday and I tapped the second keg that still needed to be carbed. It tasted better, but not 'good'.

Did I do anything wrong here?

 

[chapman_164]

Did I do anything wrong here?

Yeah, you brewed a Bud clone

 

[Johnny_Ds]

Fair enough... I chose that recipe because it was inexpensive and I didn't want to waste good material on my first experiment.

...So back to the question.

 

[zachattack]

Personally, as my brewing has improved I've found a lot of the "green" flavors becomes much less common. Especially with lighter beers. Oxygenate well, pitch plenty of yeast, actively control the fermentation temperature and suddenly everything tastes great once it's carbed and clear.

Not saying your process is at fault (I know nothing about it) but there's a reason professional breweries can go grain to glass in a couple weeks consistently.

 

[UndeadFred]

If I have time, I prefer priming my kegs with sugar. It also has a side effect of taking out most, if not nearly all the O2 in the headspace. Since I'm the only drinker usually in my household of the homebrew, I am convinced that helps with longer term stability.

Now, in some cases, like an IPA it can be contraindicated and force carbing can be better. But for something lager like (Kolsch?) or a Amber or darker low IBU beer I am convinced it tastes better and holds up better long term. I'm not Brulosophy and have not done a triangle test of 6 month old kegs.. so it's my not so humble opinion only.

The trick to doing this correctly is to use a priming sugar calculator just like you are bottling but reduce the sugar 15% or so. Let sit two weeks at room temperature. This slightly undercarbonates the beer but it still eats the O2 in the headspace. You make the rest up in a day or two by force carbonation.

I still gelatin fine. I made up a little gizmo from a 1/2 pint freezer mason jar that pushes in the gelatin via the gas line. Very little O2 goes in that way if you preboil the water and stop short of pushing in all of the liquid.

Though if it's a Bud clone, what you really might need is to lager the beer for a month or two at cold temps. If that is the case then you could hook up a gas line to it at the same time and force carbonate it. I'd have to taste it to know. As flavorless as adjunct laden American lager is it will show ANY flaw. Aging/lagering it might be a solution but it might not be either.

 

[brewcat]

Even force carbing it still takes a bit for the carbonation to balance. Higher gravity stuff can take longer for carbonation to smooth out where you have a nice head. But you can easily get "good enough" carbonation after a few days.

As far as aging goes it just depends on the beer. I brewed a bitter this morning and know I'll tap the keg a few days after fermentation. The flavor doesn't necessarily better with age and the carbonation will be fine after a few days.

My other tap has a dubbel that has been kegged and aging for a month. The carbonation is good but I think the flavor will improve a bit more in the next couple weeks. This particular keg is aging at fridge temps so aging is slower than higher temps.