Kegging Conditioning Questions

[vidarien]

Ok, im going to be making the jump to kegging and i want to clear some facts up that i was unable to resolve researching the forum.


1.) After pulling the beer out of the primary and racking it to the keg, will it condition better at room temperature or kegerator serving temperature?

2.) As a follow-up to number 1, will the better condition better pressurized or not (Removing O2 is a given).

3.) Should keg conditioning times be roughly equivalent to bottling conditioning times?

4.) As a follow-up to number 3, is it better to just force carb the beer as opposed to natural carb with corn sugar?


So i guess im looking for an ideal procedure here. Should I go ahead and pressurize and chill for conditioning, or just pressurize, or just chill, and for times equivalent to what i usually do with bottles? (I know light ales will need far less time to condition than a double hopped IPA)

 

[Yooper]

Ok, im going to be making the jump to kegging and i want to clear some facts up that i was unable to resolve researching the forum.


1.) After pulling the beer out of the primary and racking it to the keg, will it condition better at room temperature or kegerator serving temperature?

2.) As a follow-up to number 1, will the better condition better pressurized or not (Removing O2 is a given).

3.) Should keg conditioning times be roughly equivalent to bottling conditioning times?

4.) As a follow-up to number 3, is it better to just force carb the beer as opposed to natural carb with corn sugar?


So i guess im looking for an ideal procedure here. Should I go ahead and pressurize and chill for conditioning, or just pressurize, or just chill, and for times equivalent to what i usually do with bottles? (I know light ales will need far less time to condition than a double hopped IPA)

1. Beer ages faster at room temperature, but cold conditioning has advantages too. For a beer that tastes "green" or young, you might want to keep it at room temp a week or two.

2. Doesn't matter

3. Well, not necessarily. But possibly.
What I mean by that is some beers need more time, and it could be roughly the same length of time as it would be for bottling conditioning. For a hoppy beer, some of my APAs are better in a shorter length of time. I'm drinking a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone at this moment it was brewed on October 7, and it's GOOD! If I was bottle conditioning, I wouldn't even be able to crack one open for another couple of weeks. Some beers, like milds, can be ready, grain to glass, in 10 days. Some beers, like a barley wine, might be ready in 9-12 months. It really depends on the ingredients- roasty, bitter, tannic, and alcohol-heavy beers need more time to mellow whether in a bottle or keg. Some beers are ready to drink as soon as carbed up, though age may improve them a bit as well. It really depends, is what I'm trying to say.

4. Uh- see #3.
If you're going to leave the beers out of the kegerator for three weeks anyway, you could use priming sugar and naturally carb if you want to. I do that occasionally, but I usually have room in the kegerator. It really doesn't matter if you naturally carb or force carb, so do whatever is your preference.

 

[kanzimonson]

I have a house brown ale, an irish red, and a pale ale that are all in the 1.055-1.060 range that I can brew, keg, quick carb, and drink within 10 days... sometimes as little as 6! Yes, the beers definitely taste better after some aging, but I like to taste their evolution as well. My aging occurs right in the cold kegerator.

And I hate yeast bite so even though CO2 is more expensive than priming sugar, I'll never prime a keg because I don't want the sediment.