Need help figuring out a kegging schedule

[swallace]

The goal here is to minimize space required and to have a continuous supply of keg'd home-brew.

I brew 5 gallon batches. I'm planning on primary fermentation only, for about a month long.

I just purchased 2x2.5 gallon kegs (so I can fit 1 in my refrigerator). I'm thinking I may brew a batch every month or so, but it may be less frequent. I figured I would probably have to buy 2 more kegs to keep a constant rotation but I haven't quite figured it all out yet.

I bought the 2.5 gallon kegs thinking that I could keep one in the fridge at all times but after doing more research, I'm discovering this may be a bit more complicated than I originally thought.

I plan on purging the oxygen and adding enough co2 to seal the lid in any keg I don't plan on refrigerating right away. Will this be enough to 'age' the beer if left this way for 3+ weeks? Could I just do a quick, force carb when I'm ready for the beer after that?

Has anyone attempted this and figured out a routine?

thanks in advance.

 

[Golddiggie]

I can tell you how I do it...

I have a brew fridge that can hold four 2.5 or 3 gallon corny kegs. I have the CO2 tank outside of the fridge (allowing me to use larger tanks, and have all the space for beer). I have a dual body regulator feeding the fridge via two bulkheads which each supplies a different manifold. This allows me to have different kegs at different pressure sets (at least two different pressures). I have three taps in the fridge door, fed by the kegs. This allows me to carbonate one keg at all times.

So, as I'm enjoying three different brews over X weeks, I have a keg carbonating, or ready to be put on tap when a spot opens up. I kicked a keg just the other night (my dark cream ale). I already had my maple porter carbonated (14+ days at serving pressure). I moved it to the formerly occupied spot, cleaned and sanitized the beer line and put the maple porter on tap.

Now, since I get 6 gallons from each batch, I fill two kegs. I only put one of a batch in the fridge at a time. So, my second half of the batch is simply sealed, purged (same as the other part) and then gets set aside until a spot opens up. It does tend to age a bit, since it's at room temp right now (that will change once I move). I have tried carbonating a keg at room temp, but have had mixed results. I've since stopped trying to do that. I do make it a practice to check the pressure a keg is at before moving it to the fridge. I make sure it's at no more than the pressure it will go under once in the fridge. I also make it a point to let it chill down for a day before connecting the gas feed to the keg for carbonating.

The only 'issues' can be if I'm drinking more, or sharing more, and more kegs kick sooner than I expect. Still, I'm sure to have at least one, or two, kegs with beer left in them to hold me over until more kegs are carbonated. Worst case, I can use one of my other CO2 sources to speed up the carbonation of additional kegs. Although I would prefer to NOT do that.

Beer Fridge inside:

Taps:

Some of my CO2 bottles/tanks:

Questions??