Keezer & Keg Question

[DxS12]

Hi Homebrewers,

I just bought two corny kegs and have a 7 cu ft chest freezer arriving next Tuesday. I have plans to set the keezer up after I get back from my honeymoon in August, but I do have a batch of IPA that I'd like to transfer to a keg instead of bottle. My question is, what should I do with my IPA in the meantime? I'd prefer not to run the chest freezer through July while I'm on gone (to save on energy costs).

I could always empty my fridge and keep it in there. If I add sugar to carbonate the keg, do I keep it at room temperate or do I still need to store it in a cold location?

Thanks for your help!

 

[tx-brewer]

You could use sugar to carb it up and store it at room temp, its just like a giant bottle. Or you could carb it up with co2 then store it at room temp.

 

[DxS12]

Thanks, tx. So storing it at room temperature won't have any detrimental effects on the brew?

I found some info that said if you carb with sugar, the keg may not seal completely because there isn't enough pressure. Has that happened to anyone?

 

[Hello]

Thanks, tx. So storing it at room temperature won't have any detrimental effects on the brew?

I found some info that said if you carb with sugar, the keg may not seal completely because there isn't enough pressure. Has that happened to anyone?

Well I think you still want to purge any oxygen with CO2; that is what I do currently. However, it's a big bottle and what I think what the information was saying was that if you just stick the lid on and do not purge with CO2, you won't be able to check for leaks. Can you purge with CO2 after racking over priming sugar?

Also, I use 1/2 of the sugar I am supposed to because that is what seemed to be the consensus. I've done 3 beers now like this and carbonation was great in two; the other is bulk aging in a keg today.
Kegs are great for aging actually. Free of light and if purged with CO2, they should be 100% sealed.

 

[Howhownow]

Just think of it as bottle conditioning, which can be done at room temp. You can (and should) give the filled keg a few puffs/bleeds of CO2 to both seal it and purge the headspace of O2 to prevent oxidization. This applies to both force carbing and sugar priming scenarios.