How long will carbonation hold in a keg?

[Sully14]

Hello Everyone,
Here's my situation followed by my questions.

I brewed a Russian Imperial Stout that I have been keg conditioning for the last 3 months at room temperature. I pressurized with CO2 and purged the oxygen and have been checking it periodically to make sure the pressure is holding. I put it in the kegerator yesterday and hooked up to the gas today to start the force carb. In about a week I will be transporting the keg to Norfolk, Virginia from Cincinnati, Ohio (About a 10 hour drive). The temperature will obviously not be stable for the trip, and the keg won't be hooked up to the CO2 during the drive.

So my questions are:
How long will the force carbed beer hold it's carbonation under temperature changes, and will the temp change effect the beer?
Also, will I have to do any additional force carbing upon arrival to regain any loss, or should the beer stay pretty stable for the trip duration?

Thank you all in advance for your help, and i apologize if this question has been answered previously in the forums. I did look but couldn't find the answer.
-Chris

 

[mattd2]

Once it is carbed and pressurised you shouldn't have any issues with it losing carb (unless you have a leak somewhere). You might have an issue with moving it kicking up the yeast sediment and get "cloady" (quotation marks there because I don't think you won't really see it in a stout) beer. Most suggest transfering to another keg before transport to avoid this, then purge and pressurise and you should be good to go

 

[Sully14]

Thanks Matt, I appreciate the response. Good to know it should hold its carbonation. As for the clarity, I'm not too worried, It came out pretty clean after secondary. I'm going to run off a few pints in a couple of days when it's carbonated to try to get any sediment out.
Cheers man,
Chris

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

It will hold as long as you don't open it.

If it doesn't, there is a leak.

 

[david_42]

Hard to say, I've never tested a keg past 4 years.

Seriously, pressure will rise as the temperature rises, but it goes back down when you re-cool the keg.

 

[AnOldUR]

As david say, as the keg warms, CO2 will come out of suspension and fill the headspace, increasing the pressure. This is actually good for transporting because it will seal tighter. You may want to let it raise to room temperature a couple of days before traveling. Once it's chilled and settles the CO2 will absorb back into solution and your beer will be ready to drink.



Edit:
It may take a day or so to reach equilibrium after re-chilling.

 

[Sully14]

Thanks everyone, all the input is helpful and very much appreciated.