First time kegging

[Wfu1bunn]

I will be kegging a Russian Imperial Stout in 3 days. I need to age it for 8 months. Should I turn off carbonation once carbonated or keep it under constant CO2?

 

[Ramitt]

I don't see how it would hurt to leave it on gas, but if you want to free up the line just attach it once a week to insure it stays at pressure.

 

[zoomzilla]

For that length of aging I would cask carbonate just like you would in a bottle. Throw some priming sugar in while racking, seat the lid with a few seconds of CO2 and put it somewhere at room temp for the next 8 months.

 

[bobeer]

yah, what zoomzilla said. Might as well carb/condition naturally if it's going to sit for that long. If it were me, I'd also bottle a gallon and age it for even longer.

 

[Zepth]

+1 for natural carbing. I did it with a couple kegs that only aged a couple months before serving and it worked out great in the end. Little more yeast in that first pint, but it was still alright. The yeast will also use up any O2 in the keg to prevent oxidizing. Or you can purge and the yeast will still carbonate. Key to this is making sure that your keg is good and sealed with a solid blast of CO2, or it won't carb properly and increase potential infection.