Aging - need to be refrigerated?

[pokey]

I have a batch of Imperial Stout in secondary right now, and am ready to move it into a keg to age for a little while (few months?). Problem is that my beer fridge has been taken over somewhat by my better half, and only has room in it now for one Corny (the one that I am drinking from). Is there any risk to aging beer in a keg without it being refrigerated at constant temp? My garage is definitely cool enough right now, but in the next few months it will start getting warmer.

 

[uglygoat]

cellar it at 50-55 degrees i think? the garage should be good enough, when it gets warmer, move it to the fridge

i don't do the kegs, but i cellar all my bottles in the basement, it varies from 40-55 during the winter and i'm pleased with the results so far.

 

[Glibbidy]

Anything between 40-50 degreees F should be fine. I wouldn't go above 50 though.

 

[Thor]

Anything between 40-50 degreees F should be fine. I wouldn't go above 50 though.

Why is this? I don't keg yet, I bottle. Most of what I've read says to bottle condition at about 70 degrees. Is there a reason that keg conditioning needs to be at a lower temperature than bottle conditioning? Thanks.

 

[wild]

Bottle conditioning at 70°F is perfect Thor. pokey is kegging and it is assumed that he is force carbing and the conditioning step can be skipped. Aging can be done at most any temp between 50°F and 75°F. The higher the temp, the faster the aging and vice versa. Temps between 50°F and 60°F are normally used for cellaring. This slows the aging process down so that ales beers can be stored for long periods to mellow. Since most imperial stouts are fairly large beers, it would most likely benefit from aging at 70°F for the few months that pokey mentioned.

Wild

 

[andre the giant]

All my bottles hang out in the basement until I'm ready to serve them up. The temps range from 55F in the winter to 68F in the summer. My ales seem to age wonderfully in that climate.

Last night, after a full weekend of work on the basement, I popped open a 90 Schilling Scotch ale I made in November, and its just now starting to reach the balance I was shooting for when I made it. It was yummy.

The aging process is very important, and I feel that aging at a very CONSTANT temp is much more important than what that temp is, as long as it's below 72 degrees. (IMO)