Question - How Do YOU Manage Your Kegged Brew Queue

I'm just getting into kegging and I am wondering how those of youth have experience manage your kegged beer supply?

For example, say you have a keezer (or something similar) that will hold 5 corny kegs. Your keeper has 4 taps. So you have 1 extra keg in the keeper being chilled and carbonated to be ready when a keg kicks.

Now lets say you have 1+ kegs filled and sitting at room temp waiting to go into the keezer when you have room.

What does the process look like from there?

Please feel free to revise the scenario if I'm off track.

Just trying to get a grasp on how this works.

 

I believe you're asking what happens if you have more beer kegged than you have room for in the cooler? If so, you can carbonate it at room temp if you choose while waiting for space. But, you missed the biggest step in the system. Drinking. That's what frees up space for that next batch.

 

I have a second co2 tank and regulator that I use for carbonating kegs that are "on deck" as well as a separate freezer that I ferment/lager in. I cool and carbonate kegs in there while waiting to empty the 4 that are on tap.

 

I have a walk-in cooler that currently has over 70 kegs. I have 14 on tap, and when one goes empty, I just go in and hook another one up. Everything stays chilled and carbonated, so it is very easy and simple to put another keg on. I'm not sure how many others have walk-in coolers though.

 

I am pretty sure we need some pics of this heaven

 

Having only two kegs I try to keep one tapped and one on standby. I also have the next batch fermenting to be ready to go into the keg that kicks. Im looking to get a two tap tower when $$ permits and another keg.

 

I've put some pictures in the kegerator thread that you can look through if you are interested!

 

So if you carbonate at room temp, what happens when the keg gets refrigerated? Does that change the carbonation level?

Also, if a keg is sitting at room temp, is it better to carbonate it of does it matter?

 

http://www.kegerators.com/carbonation-table.php

 

Well screw you!

 

Carbonating your beer is temperature and pressure dependent and given enough time reaches a stable equilibrium determined by these 2 factors. You decide what that target level of carbonation is and control the temperature and pressure accordingly .

Once the beer is carbonated it can be thought of just like a large bottle of beer and treated as such. Stored however you want at whatever temperature you want. The carbonation in the beer will go nowhere assuming you have no leaks (just like a bottle of beer). It does not need to be kept attached to gas once it's fully carbonated and not being served.

I have a two tap kegerator for serving.

I also have a chest freezer with a 10b CO2 tank and regulator for carbonating and storing up to 3 filled kegs. I keep them cold ~34F and calculate required CO2 pressures at that temperature.

Many folks will carbonate these types of "on deck" beers at garage/basement or room temperatures and need to use higher psi accordingly. Either way the beer will reach a stable level of carbonation.

The other option for room temperature storage of "on deck" kegs is to allow them to naturally carbonate via the use of priming solution (just like bottling albeit with smaller required weight of needed sugar)

Lots of ways to deal with the wonderful problem of having a surfeit of kegged beers and a smaller dispensing kegerator than ideal.

 

Once my temp controller gets here I will have a chest freezer for lagering/fermenting/prepping kegs. I have two taps on my Kegerator and then the 'on deck' kegs in the garage staying cold. I have been known to change out a keg at the half way point because Im getting a little anxious to try something new though