Cold keg ageing? NOOB

[DunklesWeissbier]

So I kegged my first batch about five days ago after a 7 days in primary and 7 days in secondary. It is a Bavarian Wheat. I hooked it up to the CO2 at 12psi and figured I'd let it sit a week before I tapped it.

Curiosity got the best of me last night and I had to try it. It tasted a bit off, maybe a little astringent, but the carbing is coming along nicely. I'd say three or four more days and the carbonation will be right.

My question is, the kit instructions said to age for about two weeks at 68 degrees after bottling. Should I have let the keg sit for that long at 68 before carbing in the fridge?

Will the beer continue to get better in the kegerator at 38-40 degrees? Or should I remove it and let it age at room temp?


Good news is it tasted like something I've had in a not-so-great brewpub. So I know it could be worse.

 

[JohnnyO]

Their recommendation for 68F when bottling is so the yeast can be active to eat the corn sugar to produce CO2 in the bottles.

Since you're force carbing, that isn't needed.

You're golden. Enjoy the beer.

 

[kpr121]

It will get better, but may take longer. Yeast can do their thing more efficiently at room temp than in the fridge.

I always seem to just leave it in the kegerator. It'll be fine in a couple weeks.

 

[ThePearsonFam]

I would leave it closer to 68 degrees for a couple more weeks. The yeast are going to remain active and clean up some of the more complex compounds that contribute to aff flavors. As kpr121 mentioned, it'll get better at fridge temps too, but it'll take much longer.

 

[erikpete18]

Yeah, generally a little extra time is always a good thing. Even with wheats (which don't need a lot of aging) some more time can really round them into form. If you've got the patience next time you can use your CO2 to purge the oxygen from your keg and seat the lid, then let the beer hang out for a bit before you cool and carb it. You could achieve the same aging, if not better, by leaving it in the secondary/primary for another week or two.

Since you've already got it cool and carbing, go ahead and leave it in the fridge. If you're anything like me on my first batch (also kegged), you'll notice how much better it gets after a few weeks in the fridge and hopefully remember that for the next batch .

 

[jbrookeiv]

In the future, you could leave it in the primary for 3 weeks and skip the secondary. Main reason to secondary is to clear the beer, and wheat beers are supposed to be cloudy.

 

[DunklesWeissbier]

Thanks for the replys. If it will continue to get better even if cold, I think I will leave it in the kegerator, that way I can have a "test" glass every few days and see how it improves.

I've learned a lot from HBT. I have the next batch (Dark Wheat) already in the fermenter and plan on leaving it in the primary at least a month.

 

[Powers]

i agree that a longer primary would be good for the beer. i usually go 2 weeks, but you can take that as long as a month (even longer according to some sources). alot of the aging has to do with the beer. is it a high gravity beer or a session beer? you're heffe is probably closer to session, and isn't really supposed to be clear, so my guess is you can put it through faster. but the 7 day primary and 7 day secondary and right to keg is pretty fast for any beer.

 

[SoulBrewer]

I can have a "test" glass every few days and see how it improves.

DON"T DO THAT!

I did the same thing to my version of Edwort's Haus Pale Ale (less hoppy), I ended up with a gal or so when the beer was "good enough" to drink.

 

[erikpete18]

I did the same thing to my version of Edwort's Haus Pale Ale (less hoppy), I ended up with a gal or so when the beer was "good enough" to drink.

Yeah, it never fails that the last beer is always the one that tastes the best . But how else is he to learn!

 

[malkore]

honestly you always want the beer on the yeast for 3 weeks...minimum. long primary is fine, especially for people who keg.

if your racking skills leave you siphoning too much yeast from primary to keg, you can just blow off the yeast cake in the first pint.

for bottling beers, I like to do 2 weeks in primary, 7-10 days in secondary to fix my weak racking skills, and then bottle bucket.

 

[DunklesWeissbier]

ugh! This beer still tastes off. I'm wondering if I didn't get the keg completely clean. It was a used keg from MW. I filled and rinsed it three or four times and then filled it with starsan solution and ran it throught the tap.

I'm begining to think I either didn't get it clean enough or that the remaining starsan in the beer lines somehow drained into the keg when i tapped it.

 

[MeatyPortion]

ugh! This beer still tastes off. I'm wondering if I didn't get the keg completely clean. It was a used keg from MW. I filled and rinsed it three or four times and then filled it with starsan solution and ran it throught the tap.

I'm begining to think I either didn't get it clean enough or that the remaining starsan in the beer lines somehow drained into the keg when i tapped it.

The remaining starsan shouldn't do that from what I've heard. What did you use to clean the keg?

 

[ThePearsonFam]

My process for cleaning my kegs is:
1) BLC with water, shake, pressurize with CO2, let a bit out by picnic tap, let it sit 15 minutes, drain and rinse.
2) Same process with PBW.
3) Same process with StarSan

I am WAY OCD but not as much as many others on here. I don't take my kegs apart every time.

 

[MeatyPortion]

Ok so you're thorough with your cleaning process. Let's look at the off-flavor: describe it.

 

[DunklesWeissbier]

The Beer looks good, smells awesome and has just the right amount of carbonation. At first sip it tastes great, but has an aftertaste to it. Sort of dry and bitter

MW says the kegs are cleaned with caustic soda before they are sent out.
I'm wondering if not getting all the caustic soda out of the keg would cause this?

 

[h22lude]

That sounds more astringent. Did you have any steeping grains? What water did you use, tap, bottled spring...?

 

[medboy76]

If you room temperature age your keg for a few weeks, does it matter if you do it pressurized or not? Or should you wait and hook it to the CO2 tank after it's aged?

 

[FireRescueFL]

If you room temperature age your keg for a few weeks, does it matter if you do it pressurized or not? Or should you wait and hook it to the CO2 tank after it's aged?

I'd at least give it a few pounds of CO2 (like around 5-7) and pull the purge valve a couple of times to bleed off the oxygen in the keg. This will keep your beer from oxidizing. Some say that higher pressures (like when you force carb) inhibit yeast activity but I don't worry about that as I always give at least 2 weeks in primary and then 2 weeks in secondary before I keg and force carb it. I've force carbed with the beer warm and cold and haven't noticed a difference in the outcome so far except for the cold beer carbing up faster.

---Chris

 

[ThePearsonFam]

That sounds more astringent. Did you have any steeping grains? What water did you use, tap, bottled spring...?

may or may not be astringent but sounds like it is impacted by the water.

 

[medboy76]

I'd at least give it a few pounds of CO2 (like around 5-7) and pull the purge valve a couple of times to bleed off the oxygen in the keg. This will keep your beer from oxidizing. Some say that higher pressures (like when you force carb) inhibit yeast activity but I don't worry about that as I always give at least 2 weeks in primary and then 2 weeks in secondary before I keg and force carb it. I've force carbed with the beer warm and cold and haven't noticed a difference in the outcome so far except for the cold beer carbing up faster.

---Chris

Thanks!

 

[ThePearsonFam]

Yup... CO2 goes into solution better when the beer is cold. That's why the priming calculators require temperature as an input.

 

[DunklesWeissbier]

That sounds more astringent. Did you have any steeping grains? What water did you use, tap, bottled spring...?

Yes steeping grains came with the kit. Followed instructions and steeped at 155 for 30min. I used bottled spring water for the boil and top off. I did use a small amount of tap (well) water to hydrate the yeast.