Keg conditioning

[manowarfan1]

Well part of the problem is I only have the ability to keep two kegs on the gas, and they are both in the fridge now. I was hoping to be able to maybe hit this with the co2, take it off (and put back on one of the serving kegs) and let it sit for a while at garage temps.
If that won't work, should I add sugar if I can't keep it on gas the whole conditioning time?
Thanks again
jeff

 

[Newsman]

You can do it that way. I don't, but it's a perfectly acceptable way to do it. You'll tend to have more trub in your beer when you serve from the keg if you naturally carb it, from what I"ve read, which is why I don't do it that way.

 

[Kingbogart]

You can just seal it up with 30 psi and let it sit. Though if the beer isn't carbonated yet, the 30 psi will slowly push into the beer to create equilibrium. As a result that 30 will slowly diminish, if you were to come by and re-add CO2 every day or so you could probably keep it under pressure, but might risk over-carbing in the long run. I would think if you're planning on letting it sit for a couple weeks and you can't keep it on the gas, it would be easier to just toss in some priming sugar, purge the headspace, and call it a day. Your first pint or two will be full of yeast nastiness, but after that there shouldn't be much difference.

 

[Simon_Speed]

I have a keg that has consistently tasted just horrible for the last few weeks. Finally, it's been tasting more and more acceptable. This has happened to me a few times now. I have come to realize that I need to let the kegs sit for a little while to allow the flavors to balance out to carbonation equilibrium, and conditioning them a little dosen't hurt.

I too am still a little confused about the difference between conditioning in a keg with co2 from a tank vs. allowing it to age in a carboy. But, meh! Result are results I hope!

 

[schokie]

If you're aging in the keg with no CO2 there's no difference.

The beer will take a while to carb up. That can take a couple weeks depending on your carb method and PSI. The carbonation will change the perception of the beer, so you need to give it time.