Kegging questions

[wallags]

Only my second time kegging and I have some questions. Here's the background.
-Fermented beer for 14 days.
-Had to filter beer through cheese cloth due to outrageous amount of sediment at the bottom of fermenter.
-Filled two 2.5 gallon kegs.

Questions:

1. How long should I leave in kegs before drinking?
2. Should I pressurize the kegs now or wait until they have finished conditioning?
3. Am I forgetting anything?

Thanks.

 

[jschein]

Did you make sure the beer was finished fermenting with gravity readings? 14 days may or may not be long enough.
You should always siphon above the trub (sediment). Cheesescloth is unnecessary.
You said condition so I guess you are carbing with sugar? If not then there are a few ways to carbonate your beer. The shake, the high pressure - serving pressure and set it an forget it methods.
If you carbed with sugar then it's still the about the same amount of time as bottling, 2 to 6 weeks depending on the style, then chill and set to serving pressure.

 

[wallags]

Fermentation was complete...took 2 hydrometer readings over 3 days with no change. Did not add any sugar. I was planning on leaving the kegs at room temp for 14 days then pressurize or should I pressurize now?

 

[chickypad]

You can go ahead and chill and carb it now, unless it's a style that you want to age for a bit. If you're going to do that I would purge the head space and hit with a final burst of pressure to seal the lid. What kind of beer is it?

 

[Grinder12000]

I would " purge the head space and hit with a final burst of pressure to seal the lid." and then let it sit unless you just want to carb it up slowly (the better way) and let it sit naturally (unless you don't have the space).

So you checked the beer on day 11? The problem is that even though the beer is no longer fermenting it does not mean the yeasties are done working and cleaning up after themselves. It's like a human - we can EAT food and we can digest the food and then we poop the food but the final act is flushing (cleaning up).

Yeasts are done eating and pooping abut have not had the chance to clean up after themselves. You are skipping an important stage of the process.

It's yet another one of those many tiny things that need to be done to make a great beer. Unless you are in a big rush I let all of my beer stand and let the yeast still floating around clean up.

 

[hezagenius]

I'd pressurize now. I don't think the seal is airtight until you put some CO2 pressure on it. And definitely purge the air out. Hit it with CO2 until you hear the gas stop. Turn off the gas. Open the pressure relief valve on the keg lid to let all the gas out. Close the pressure relief valve. Hit it with CO2 again and repeat. I usually do this 3-4 times. Then hit it with CO2 and leave the gas on.

 

[chudsonvt]

I agree with above statements that you probably want to condition longer. Have you tasted a sample? Is it what you expected? If you like it, feel free cool and carbonate (fast or slow) but it may be better if you condition anyway. I hear so many stories of people who rush to keg and drink and end up saying that the end of the keg tastes best.

Also, you will likely have some more sediment due to conditioning. If this causes your keg to clog you may want to think about using a secondary in the future. Many people argue that a secondary is not necessary, especially if bottling. But I do... I ferment in a 6 gallon usually 5 to 14 days and then spend another couple weeks in a 5 gallon secondary. Then, if I wish, I dry hop then and there. If you have the option, cold crash at this point. This really can help remove suspended particles. I do it to everything but my Hefs, if I have space. Rack to keg, carbonate and ENJOY!