nOOb kegging question.

[BrewinBigD]

Just boiled my 4th batch on saturday, i have 2 fermenting now, and i had thought about kegging last night because of the tedious bottling routine. i dont have a whole lot of cold storage, so my question is if i keg a beer and force carb it, can the full purged and carbed keg be stored at ferm temperature? most likely i will only be able to build a keggerator large enough to hold 1, maybe 2 kegs(time, space contraints, having 4 kids etc). and if i convert to kegging, i can still bottle from keg after the fact if id like 12 packs for travel and stuff right?

 

[gr8shandini]

Yes, kegs can be stored at room temp. A keg is just like a giant bottle. If you're storing at room temps, though, you might as well prime the keg and let the yeast build up the CO2 themselves. The bulk priming rate is a little different, though, so use Beersmith or similar software to figure it out.

As for bottling from a keg, it's very easy and doesn't have to be expensive. Check out Biermuncher's bottle filler:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/we-no-need-no-stinking-beer-gun-24678/

It's about 12 bucks if you have to buy everything, but you might have most of the parts just laying around. I've never used a beer gun or counterpressure filler, but they can't work a whole lot better than this.

 

[TopherM]

At higher temps, you are going to start losing your carb. You would be fine for a short period of time, but I wouldn't leave a carbed keg at 70-80 degrees for more than 7-10 days.

You can certainly store an uncarbed, fermented keg at room temp for quite a while before it starts to go downhill, something on the order of 120-180 days at 70 degrees, about 25% less at 80 degrees. Just use your kegs like a long secondary batch conditioner, then carb it when you are ready to serve.

 

[AnonyBrew]

If you're force carbing the keg at room temp. as long as you use the chart & figure out what pressure to set the gas at for the carb level you desire you won't lose any carbonation. Your settings will just have to be closer to 19-20 psi at room temp as opposed to the normal 10-12 psi when at serving temp.

 

[Yooper]

At higher temps, you are going to start losing your carb. You would be fine for a short period of time, but I wouldn't leave a carbed keg at 70-80 degrees for more than 7-10 days.

I don't understand that. If it's carbed up, and there are no leaks in the keg, where will the carbonation go? I don't buy full kegs of beer, but I buy bottles and I store them at room temperature sometimes. They still stay carbed.

Unless you're talking about serving from them- then of course they would lose some carbonation unless a co2 tank was hooked up. But that's true of cold kegs, also.

 

[BrewinBigD]

Yes, kegs can be stored at room temp. A keg is just like a giant bottle. If you're storing at room temps, though, you might as well prime the keg and let the yeast build up the CO2 themselves. The bulk priming rate is a little different, though, so use Beersmith or similar software to figure it out.

As for bottling from a keg, it's very easy and doesn't have to be expensive. Check out Biermuncher's bottle filler:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/we-no-need-no-stinking-beer-gun-24678/

It's about 12 bucks if you have to buy everything, but you might have most of the parts just laying around. I've never used a beer gun or counterpressure filler, but they can't work a whole lot better than this.

bulk priming sounds more practical for me. so you say there are different amounts of sugar used even though im still priming 5 gallons of beer? and what about headspace? would you reccomend i stil purge headspace with the Co2? surely its not advised to just prime and seal a keg..

 

[Yooper]

bulk priming sounds more practical for me. so you say there are different amounts of sugar used even though im still priming 5 gallons of beer? and what about headspace? would you reccomend i stil purge headspace with the Co2? surely its not advised to just prime and seal a keg..

Yep, you can use about 1/2 the amount you'd normally use for bottling. For me, it's 2.5 ounces by weight.

You definitely should give the keg a blast of co2, purge, and do it again, Then give it one final blast and set it aside. That makes sure the oxygen is purge out, and that the lid is tightly sealed. I always spray some star-san solution around my kegs to check for leaks- I have a couple of kegs that are quirky and don't seal well without the co2 and some keg lube on the seals.

Then, you can set the keg aside for a few weeks, and just put it on tap when you're ready. From moving the keg around, you might stir up some sediment, so just put it in the kegerator overnight and let it sit before pulling out a few ounces the next day. The first 3 ounces will be yeast sediment and stuff, but after that you'll have nice clear beer!

 

[BrewinBigD]

thanks Yooper, Ill be on my way to picking up some cornys later this week!

 

[jbug440]

About 6 months ago I got beersmith and made a clone recipe of sierra nevada northern hemisphere for my wife. She loves this beer so I thought I could make it for her. Being new to beersmith and recipe design I screwed up and had way to many ibu's, the beer was way to hoppy for what I wanted. We drank about half the keg before my co2 ran out of my old ass tank. I couldn't get a refill until the tank was inspected. So I pulled the keg out of the kegerator to make room for bottles in the meantime. A combination of laziness and being busy these past months I finally got my tank refilled. For roughly 4 or 5 months my keg sat in my office with temp. fluctuations of 70-80 degrees. Last week I pulled the relief valve on the keg...no co2...I thought the beer was jacked and literally had the keg at the sink ready to dump when I stopped myself. I decided to put it back on the gas and see what was doin inside the keg, it won't kill me right? So I shot it with 25 psi and put it back on the fridge for 3 days. I backed it off to about 8 psi and bled the keg. It poured about a half a pint of yeast and turned clear so I poured a fresh pint..one of the most crystal clear beers I've ever brewed. The hop bitterness subsided and this beer turned out absolutely delicious. Unfortunately I only have half a keg left, I wish it was full. Just thought is sharey little story with you and it helps you out.

 

[AnonyBrew]

About 6 months ago I got beersmith and made a clone recipe of sierra nevada northern hemisphere for my wife. She loves this beer so I thought I could make it for her. Being new to beersmith and recipe design I screwed up and had way to many ibu's, the beer was way to hoppy for what I wanted. We drank about half the keg before my co2 ran out of my old ass tank. I couldn't get a refill until the tank was inspected. So I pulled the keg out of the kegerator to make room for bottles in the meantime. A combination of laziness and being busy these past months I finally got my tank refilled. For roughly 4 or 5 months my keg sat in my office with temp. fluctuations of 70-80 degrees. Last week I pulled the relief valve on the keg...no co2...I thought the beer was jacked and literally had the keg at the sink ready to dump when I stopped myself. I decided to put it back on the gas and see what was doin inside the keg, it won't kill me right? So I shot it with 25 psi and put it back on the fridge for 3 days. I backed it off to about 8 psi and bled the keg. It poured about a half a pint of yeast and turned clear so I poured a fresh pint..one of the most crystal clear beers I've ever brewed. The hop bitterness subsided and this beer turned out absolutely delicious. Unfortunately I only have half a keg left, I wish it was full. Just thought is sharey little story with you and it helps you out.

Excellent story & good information. Thx for sharing.