Chimay red mini mash conditioning question

[simpleton]

I have a Chimay red mini mash batch (my first mini-mash) from Austin Homebrew Supply that has been in my primary for about 3 weeks. If it had reached FG, can I skip secondary and keg it now and let it age in the keg?

If this is acceptable, how warm can I store the keg for conditioning? My average apartment temp is around 78, is this too warm for conditioning?

 

[paradoc]

I'm new to brewing and will be interested in seeing what others say. 78 seems a bit warm to me for conditioning... but I've got a big kegerator I'm letting my Belgian Dubbel (essentially the same brew) keg condition in my kegerator under pressure... which gives me the added ability to sample it from time to time. In fact... enjoying a glass right now! It was in primary for 3 weeks, and conditioning for 2 weeks. It is drinkable now, but I can tell it will only improve with time.

 

[simpleton]

I was under the impression that at kegorator temps, it really slowed down the conditioning. I just want to make room in my fermenting fridge for another batch.

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

Cold conditioning speeds up clearing and post fermentation conditioning. Basically, you're lagering.

 

[EonBlue66]

I go straight into a keg for conditioning, set the PSI to about 30 ish and let it sit for a week or two @ ambient temps 76-78 degrees. When I have the space I bring the pressure to about 15 and chill. The keg perfectly acceptable place to condition a beer and it can sit forever as long as all the oxygen has been purged.

 

[simpleton]

Just got home and checked my notes... OG was 1.078 on 5-16-09. Today I pulled a sample and the gravity reading was at 1.012, a bit lower that the recipe predicts, but not too far off. Recipe predicts 1.019. Color was lighter than I was expecting and even green it tasted pretty good. The partial mash really does help reduce the "extract wang"

Will test again this weekend and, if the gravity is consistant, I will keg and park it in my kitchen for a couple weeks.

Thanks for your advice on this one, guys.