Kegged Beer Improving While Waiting For a Home?

[leonthebumme]

Hi everyone - long time lurker, first time posting.
I've read a lot of posts about how the last few pints from the keg are often the best. It would seem that the extra time between first pour and the last is great for improving the beer.

With that in mind, assuming one's kegerator is full already, would it make sense to continue brewing and fill additional kegs, purging headspace with CO2 of course, and letting them sit a month or two before rotating into the kegerator when a slot opens up?

If so, how long would be ideal to hold in the keg before serving? How long would be too long?

And would it make a difference whether the kegged beer sits waiting at room temperature versus at serving temperature?

For reference, I brew ales and keep them in primary for three weeks before kegging. My desire is to have a keg ready to go when one runs dry in the kegerator. I'm wondering what the sweet spot is for the kegged beer improving with time, but not sitting too long and getting worse. Thanks in advance!

 

[bleme]

It really depends on the beer. In general, the hoppier a beer is, the better it is fresh. The darker a beer is, the better it is aged. Every beer is different but in general I'd say cream ales peak around a month, brown ales around 3 months, stouts around 6 months, RIS at over a year. I don't want any age at all on my pale ales or IPAs though.

 

[brewcat]

What sort of ales?

For me a lot of beers are best when they reach carbonation equilibrium. We are talking 2-3 weeks.

A beer at warm temperature will age faster than one at cold.

 

[leonthebumme]

Thanks for the info. So far a Columbus IPA and an American Amber (both MoreBeer AG kits), and both were good, but are significantly better a month into drinking.