Not a typical keg vs bottle question

[sirbrewsalittle]

Here is my problem. I have a 5 gallon corny keg, just no where to put it to keep it cold. My fridge is full and I have no room in my freezer. Should I still keg it (like i want to) and hope it gets cold enough outside in my garage or should i just suck it up and bottle it? I live in Colorado and the temps aren't looking like they will drop to much. Thanks for any help.

 

[morticaixavier]

Here is my problem. I have a 5 gallon corny keg, just no where to put it to keep it cold. My fridge is full and I have no room in my freezer. Should I still keg it (like i want to) and hope it gets cold enough outside in my garage or should i just suck it up and bottle it? I live in Colorado and the temps aren't looking like they will drop to much. Thanks for any help.

you can use the keg to make the bottling easier!

purge your keg with co2, I like to fill it to the brim with star san and push it all out with co2.

get all set up to rack to the 'bottling bucket', your priming sugar boiled and cooled, any extra yeast ready to go, etc.

then pop the top on the keg and add the priming sugar and any extra yeast you wish to use.

rack the beer on top and seal it up. purge the headspace one more time and then shake it up. you can actually be pretty rough at this point because it's in a near 0 o2 environment. everything will get nicely distributed.

now attach your bottling wand to the end of the cobra tap like this

and push the beer into bottles with co2. it's a little change in procedure that makes the whole process much easier.

the other option is to keg with the priming sugar and let it naturally carb up then ice it down for service.

 

[tmendick]

I store my kegs at room temp when carbing sometimes and had no issues. You will just have to chill it for a few days before serving.

 

[Yooper]

The problem with kegging and no way to keep the keg cool or cold is more during dispensing- foaming and such when trying to dispense at a different temperature than the carbonation level supports. It would be a huge pain to try to carb the keg, have fluctuating temperatures, and to try to dispense it.

 

[TrustyOlJohnson]

Use the keg to condition the beer? And serve it when you can!!


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[IslandLizard]

+1 to what morticaixavier said.

Knowingly, I take the chance of getting blasted for this...
But I prefer most of my craft beers not so damn cold. Honestly, I can't smell or taste much when they are ice cold, like 42°F, come on! It's great for beers that don't have much flavor or the ones you don't really want to taste (e.g., BMC, skunky Grolsch, lawnmower beer). For most craft beers I much better like cellar temps, 54-57°F and even a little bit above (!). A basement, cellar, utility room, or cold closet could be the ideal place.

 

[beersk]

I use the same method as Jonathan when I bottle and it works fantastically. I've often considered going back to bottling and strictly using that method. Crash cool beers for a week or two, add priming sugar and co2, shake up to distribute sugar, and bottle. Kegging is pretty bad ass, but conducive to drinking beer too soon and drinking too much! I just haven't had the cojones to go back since I've already got the kegging setup and a sweet kegerator. I like opening bottles - that psst sound is satisfying. I know the obvious answer is to bottle off the keg. Not the same I guess. Saves co2 the other way and it's more natural.
For now, I'd say you should bottle it if you know it's going to be a while before you are able to drink it. Otherwise, if it'll only be a couple weeks, just keg it, put gas in it to seal the lid, and let it sit for a bit.

 

[sirbrewsalittle]

Thanks for all the tips and help!

 

[solbes]

If I understand correctly, you are just looking for a place to store it until a spot opens up in the tap fridge. In that case, just store it at room temp. Give it 2-3 days in the fridge before tapping once a spot opens up.

I sugar prime most of my kegs to conserve CO2, and they will store almost indefinitely at room temp as long as you purge the oxygen with CO2. They self carbonate, I chill them for 3 days, and pull 1/4 pints for a couple of days to clear out the yeast.

 

[sirbrewsalittle]

Solbes- No i don't have a tap fridge yet. I only have the one fridge which i can't convice SWMBO to let me put my keg in there. I don't have the finances to buy a fridge at the moment.

 

[solbes]

Ah, then put that baby in the garage in the coldest spot. Looked at Denver temps, and the 10 day forecast looks to be between 30 and 60 for most days. I'd put it right on the concrete, and wrap a towel around it to help lessen the temperature swings. Maybe put some freezer packs next to it during the warm days. Should work for the next 3 weeks or so and then this will probably get too warm.

If it's your first kegged brew, you gotta tap it. It may take longer to force carboate with slightly higher temps, but so be it.

Craigslist has lots of used or free fridges, so keep an eye out for one.

 

[TrustyOlJohnson]

you can use the keg to make the bottling easier!



purge your keg with co2, I like to fill it to the brim with star san and push it all out with co2.



get all set up to rack to the 'bottling bucket', your priming sugar boiled and cooled, any extra yeast ready to go, etc.



then pop the top on the keg and add the priming sugar and any extra yeast you wish to use.



rack the beer on top and seal it up. purge the headspace one more time and then shake it up. you can actually be pretty rough at this point because it's in a near 0 o2 environment. everything will get nicely distributed.



now attach your bottling wand to the end of the cobra tap like this

and push the beer into bottles with co2. it's a little change in procedure that makes the whole process much easier.



the other option is to keg with the priming sugar and let it naturally carb up then ice it down for service.

Thats genuis!!


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew

 

[BubbaLove]

I also live in Colorado. My basement holds 60- 63 in the winter and 65-70 in the summer. I store extra filled cornys in the basement till room in my 10 tap kreezer opens up. I carbonate when I keg and make sure the oxygen is forced out when carbonating. Beer will condition in the keg and be fine if not better when you are ready to tap it. Higher ABV longer you can condition.