Aging Big Stout in a Corny Keg?

[Hwk-I-St8]

I think I read about someone doing this. I plan to brew a RIS in a month or so that I'll pseudo barrel age with oak cubes soaked in bourbon.

If people have done this (age in the keg), can you provide some guidance?

I was thinking I'd rack straight from the primary to the sanitized keg that already had the oak/bourbon in it, then connect C02 to the keg and purge a number of times to remove O2 (or maybe do a pressure transfer to a purged keg like I do with my IPAs).

I'd finish that process by opening the PRV to get to zero or near zero pressure. At that point can I just seal the keg and stick it in a place at a reasonable temp? Do I need to worry about pressure building up if some additional fermentation kicks in? Can I just connect a tap to draw off samples periodically?

Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

 

[kh54s10]

The oak should be added for the length of time you need to get the flavor you are looking for, then removed. You should now be at FG and get no additional fermentation. Transfer to the keg, purge.

I would leave a little pressure to be sure the lid stays seated.

You can draw off samples. Depending on how much co2 was introduced before aging, you get flat beer in your samples. You might also need to add pressure to get a sample.

 

[stonebrewer]

I would connect a tap and a spunding valve. This allows you to draw samples and monitor pressure caused by fermentation. I would leave it pressurized to 5-10 PSI. You might want to protect your out post from clogging with stainless steel mesh or the like. Clogged posts are the biggest issue I have had when fermenting or aging in a keg and I find the mesh does a great job of eliminating that issue. Is your keg out post flush with the bottom or cut?

 

[b-boy]

I generally do the oaking/bourboning in a carboy. I just add the cube/bourbon to the fermentation vessel. It takes ~2-3 weeks to get it to where I want it.

Next I xfer to a corny, pressurize, and store for ~6 months.

I've never had any problem with pressure. Cornies can take a lot of pressure, so I'm not too concerned.

I bottle right from the keg. I draw off a pint or 2 to get rid of any trub, open the keg lid, add sugar and some champagne yeast, replace the keg lid, pressurize and purge, give it a shake to mix up the sugar, and bottle. I push the beer using CO2 and a homemade bottle filler.

 

[DurtyChemist]

I did my barrel aging using an oak spiral soaked in Whiskey and added it straight to the carboy. About 2 months later, mostly due to availability, I kegged it and it's sitting with 15 psi on it to keep everything sealed up. It seemed much easier to do it this way than have to fish the oak parts out of a keg or worry about the dip tube clogging.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

I would connect a tap and a spunding valve. This allows you to draw samples and monitor pressure caused by fermentation. I would leave it pressurized to 5-10 PSI. You might want to protect your out post from clogging with stainless steel mesh or the like. Clogged posts are the biggest issue I have had when fermenting or aging in a keg and I find the mesh does a great job of eliminating that issue. Is your keg out post flush with the bottom or cut?

Right now it's just a factory dip tube.

I'm not sure what a spunding valve is. I'll google that to learn more.

The main reasons I wanted to secondary in the keg are:
1) No issues with light
2) easy to prevent oxidation
3) I don't need to get another carboy
4) I have 4 kegs and only have one serving, so there's extras

As far as duration, I was planning on using the oak cubes (which I've read are less overpowering than the chips) and leaving them in for a few months at least. The plan is to brew in July, transfer to secondary with oak/bourbon/spices in August and bottle in late november or December depending on how it's tasting.

 

[b-boy]

A few months on oak cubes is a long time. I'd taste it frequently. I've found 2-3 weeks is plenty.

 

[JBOGAN]

A few months on oak cubes is a long time. I'd taste it frequently. I've found 2-3 weeks is plenty.

I agree with this. Just had a RIS on bourbon cubes, at four weeks it was amazing!