Moving to kegging- hopefully. Couple of questions.

[Ludesbrews]

Hey all. I am moving from bottling to kegging, as I currently have 25 gallons of beer and cider fermenting, and there is no shot I will have enough bottles. Also, I am just sick of bottling.

A few questions for whoever can help.

1) If I put my finished beer in a keg, how long will it stay in the keg? Can I fill a few kegs and swap one for another when I am done with one?

2) If I can store the beer in the keg, do I need to keep it refrigerated?

3) If I want to keg 3 gallons and bottle 2, is that possible?

Thanks in advance,

Ben

 

[bracconiere]

1) beer will stay in a keg for a long time, kegs are not disposable...so yes

2) unless you like warm beer

3) they sell smaller 2.5 gal kegs and the like, so yes...(traditionally though, i believe most people, myself included, bottle from the kegs so there isn't sediment)

 

[BrewInspector]

3) yes, of course. I usually brew six gallons and keg 1. Head space isn't much of an issue for less than 5 gallons as long as you use a closed transfer or at least purged the keg with CO2 after transfer.

 

[cswant88]

1) I would say it would depend on the beer, same as bottling. It should last as long as bottled beer would. Ideally, you want do a close system transfer to avoid O2, and make sure you carb them up enough to keep the kegs sealed and the baddies out.

2) I think the cooler the better for shelf life purposes. Again, it would depend on the beer. A high gravity beer bulk aged at room temp will be good for a long time. If you are going to have a high volume of beer and limited kegerator space or gas distribution, you can bulk prime and carbonate naturally in the keg just like you would in a bottle. Your first few glasses will have some sediment.

3) yes you can do whatever you want.

 

[FunkedOut]

1) Think of a keg like a big bottle. It’ll stay good in the keg as long as it will stay good in a bottle; maybe longer due to the better beer to headspace ratio. Yes.

2) No. Nothing special about the keg requires it to be cold. Do you like keeping beer in a bottle warm? (see #1)

3) Yes. A large amount of headspace requires better measures to keep oxygen out. Purging, displacing, eliminating headspace are all practices you shoul look into.

 

[Ludesbrews]

Thanks for all the replies. So essentially when my beer is done fermenting, I can rack to kegs and let it hang out until I have the whole setup?

 

[Ludesbrews]

1) Think of a keg like a big bottle. It’ll stay good in the keg as long as it will stay good in a bottle; maybe longer due to the better beer to headspace ratio. Yes.

2) No. Nothing special about the keg requires it to be cold. Do you like keeping beer in a bottle warm? (see #1)

3) Yes. A large amount of headspace requires better measures to keep oxygen out. Purging, displacing, eliminating headspace are all practices you shoul look into.

Thanks for all the replies. So essentially when my beer is done fermenting, I can rack to kegs and let it hang out until I have the whole setup?

 

[day_trippr]

Thanks for all the replies. So essentially when my beer is done fermenting, I can rack to kegs and let it hang out until I have the whole setup?

Yes, with the caveats noted above: avoid cold-side oxidation like your beer depends on it (it does), preferably store cool-ish (basement?) to prolong shelf life, and if you're going to be more than a few weeks before your kegging setup is ready you might want to avoid filling all your kegs with neipas...

Cheers!

 

[Redpappy]

As I am new to kegging as well, here is my 2 cents,

1. I have had a pale ale in a keg for about 2 months with out any issues( kept in a fridge entire time). Once it’s empty, I rinse out the keg, through some star San in till I use it again, usually in a few days.

2. My plan is to when I do fill my 3 rd keg and not have it in my fridge to carb it naturally ( with sugar) until it is time to place it in the fridge. But will be storing it in my basement.

3. I’m still working on the set up, but I have done a small attempt at bottleing from my keg, and it really wasn’t bad at all. The idea from
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/we-no-need-no-stinking-beer-gun.24678/

 

[Ludesbrews]

As I am new to kegging as well, here is my 2 cents,

1. I have had a pale ale in a keg for about 2 months with out any issues( kept in a fridge entire time). Once it’s empty, I rinse out the keg, through some star San in till I use it again, usually in a few days.

2. My plan is to when I do fill my 3 rd keg and not have it in my fridge to carb it naturally ( with sugar) until it is time to place it in the fridge. But will be storing it in my basement.

3. I’m still working on the set up, but I have done a small attempt at bottleing from my keg, and it really wasn’t bad at all. The idea from
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/we-no-need-no-stinking-beer-gun.24678/

Awesome thanks all. I plan on getting a few owned ball lock kegs, cleaning and sanitizing them, storing some beer/cider in them, and carbonating them when I get my other components down the line. Should work, as I can keep all full non carbed kegs in my cold (ish) basement.

 

[NitrogenWidget]

1) I would say it would depend on the beer, same as bottling. It should last as long as bottled beer would. Ideally, you want do a close system transfer to avoid O2, and make sure you carb them up enough to keep the kegs sealed and the baddies out.

2) I think the cooler the better for shelf life purposes. Again, it would depend on the beer. A high gravity beer bulk aged at room temp will be good for a long time. If you are going to have a high volume of beer and limited kegerator space or gas distribution, you can bulk prime and carbonate naturally in the keg just like you would in a bottle. Your first few glasses will have some sediment.

3) yes you can do whatever you want.

If I let a keg sit in my basement because of lack of space in the keggorator I bring down an empty keg and my co2 and transfer it.

Then, I can drink it right away.
Otherwise me dragging it up the stairs just turns it into a cloudy mess that needs to cold crash for a week or two before drinking.

just like when I take a keg camping. I transfer so it is nice and clear when I get there.

 

[NitrogenWidget]

As I am new to kegging as well, here is my 2 cents,

1. I have had a pale ale in a keg for about 2 months with out any issues( kept in a fridge entire time). Once it’s empty, I rinse out the keg, through some star San in till I use it again, usually in a few days.

2. My plan is to when I do fill my 3 rd keg and not have it in my fridge to carb it naturally ( with sugar) until it is time to place it in the fridge. But will be storing it in my basement.

3. I’m still working on the set up, but I have done a small attempt at bottleing from my keg, and it really wasn’t bad at all. The idea from
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/we-no-need-no-stinking-beer-gun.24678/

If my empty kegs don't get warm as in I leave them in the keggorator I do the same, rinse out, spritz with starsan and refill.
If they are taken out I pull the connectors and let everything soak overnight in some oxyclean then rinse real good and spritz everything before assembly and filling.

I worry about bugs in the summer heat.
probably don't have to but.....

 

[Redpappy]

Awesome thanks all. I plan on getting a few owned ball lock kegs, cleaning and sanitizing them, storing some beer/cider in them, and carbonating them when I get my other components down the line. Should work, as I can keep all full non carbed kegs in my cold (ish) basement.

I would suggest carbing them up naturally if you do not have a co2 bottle and connections, or connecting your keg to a co2 to purge all oxygen out.