Keg Aging

[thesweetlycool]

I know that it is necessary to age in bottles for a few weeks for conditioning and carbonation.. however we are about to keg our first batch and I am wondering if it is necessary to age the beer in the keg even after forced carbonation? We're thinking of kegging our stout after it has been in the primary for 2 weeks. Is it necessary to age it another 2 weeks in the keg?

 

[Flyin' Lion]

If you force carb, no. Will it benefit from a couple of weeks in the keg? Probably.

The reason for the extra time in the bottle is for carbonation to occur, you bypass that by forcecarbing. So drink away, but bottle a few and throw them in the closet. You'll notice a big difference between the beers drank early and the ones that benefit from some extra time in the bottle. You can use carb tabs to bottle on a small scale.

 

[jds]

Remember that while your bottled beer is carbonating, it's also aging and maturing. I can (and have) served beers from kegs two weeks to the day after brewing, but a couple more weeks aging in the keg sure seems to help out. Green beer is green beer, whether it's from a bottle or keg.

 

[BierMuncher]

Get yourself an adequate supply of kegs and fermenters.

Once your pipeline is in full swing, you'll have the luxury of hooking up a keg that has been waiting on deck (and conditioning) for several weeks and is ready to serve.

 

[david_42]

Forced carbonation is no substitute for time.

 

[alpo]

How much conditioning occurs at refrigeration temperature? I mean, if you have a keg at 38 F for 3 weeks, does it actually condition at all? As opposed to leaving it at 68 F for 3 weeks.

 

[thesweetlycool]

Right, well we're going to keg in 5 gal Pony Kegs... do these necessarily need to be refrided after kegging? I understand that everything gets better with age.. so would most of you say that you Keg and force pressurize and then sit it in the basement for a week or so before serving?

 

[samc]

Kegging and then letting it sit in the cooler/kegerator/keezer will help clear the beer. Usually after a week or so my beers (what's left of them) tend to get crystal clear. Evidence is left at the bottom of the keg until it shoots up and screws with your last precious glass of beer - twice this week and I am so out of beer!

Must feed the pipeline.

 

[Crash]

I'm not the most experienced brewer, but my last copule of batches were fairly high gravity (8%) I rushed to keg them for a party (2 weeks in primary & 1 in secondary) they were force carbed and stayed refridgerated. I saw a marked improvement as time passed.