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ajr2820

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Just moved my English Brown Ale to secondary this morning. FG 1.008 and it tastes great! I will be carbonating in a corny keg for the first time and have a question: After the beer is carbonated completely, can the keg be stored unhooked from the CO2 (obviously, I would keep it pressurized)? If so, does it have to be kept cold? Or regularly checked to see if the pressure holds even if the keg showed no leaks after filling?
 
Just moved my English Brown Ale to secondary this morning. FG 1.008 and it tastes great! I will be carbonating in a corny keg for the first time and have a question: After the beer is carbonated completely, can the keg be stored unhooked from the CO2 (obviously, I would keep it pressurized)? If so, does it have to be kept cold? Or regularly checked to see if the pressure holds even if the keg showed no leaks after filling?

If you are sure that your keg has no leaks you can unhook to CO2 after it is properly carbed and it will remain that way indefinitely. Make sure the beer is properly carbed, because after you remove the CO2 the keg (system) will find an equilibrium between the head space and the CO2 vol in solution. As far as keeping it cold is up for debate, you'll hear arguments for both sides, but IMHO the best results will come from storing your keg as close to serving temp as possible. The biggest thing I have read and experienced is try to minimize the temp fluctuation. If there is no leak you don't need to check, but if your worried rehook up the CO2 to see if it takes gas if it does you are leaking (make sure the beer is at the same temp and PSI as when you filled it).
 
I have a 20# bottle I keep in my basement that i use for carbonating. I also have a kegerator ( holds two corneys & 5# co2 bottle).

I have carbonated at room temps and in the kegerator. I have noticed NO difference between the two carb methods.

Some people say holding kegs at room temp will help "condition" the beer further. Others argue "cold crashing" will make it smoother.

All I can say is I have noticed no real difference between the two.
 
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