Storing kegs alongside commercial craft cans and bottles

[ImGeekAndILikeBeer]

Hi,

Merry Christmas to y'all!

I just started kegging my beer and due to space concerns, I would like to keep my kegs in the same fridge I use for my own bottled beers (in the near future a thing of the past, yay!) and the commercial craft bottles and cans I buy. I read everywhere that the optimal temperature to store IPAs is 8-10ºC and kegs is 2-4ºC.

Can I keep my fridge at 9ºC and set the keg PSI higher to accommodate for this? Or should I definitely keep kegs and commercial craft beer separated?

 

[McKnuckle]

There is no optimal temperature for kegs in a generic sense. You typically adjust the temperature for beer styles, not types of container. A keg is just a big metal bottle.

Most of us who brew multiple styles are forced to compromise.

For example, English ales are traditionally casked and served from 10-13ºC. I brew a lot of those, but I also brew German lagers, which appreciate being a bit colder, 3-4ºC. So I keep my keezer at 6ºC (43ºF) and it's a good balance.

You should adjust the PSI to achieve the desired volumes of CO2 given the temperature. Again, this is style-dependent but you're forced to compromise. My pressure is set to 12 psi, or ~2.34 vols. CO2 at 6ºC.

Put it this way: You can let a beer warm up in the glass. But you can't make it colder. So err on the cold side for storage by a little bit.