Party Pig

[BruDaddy]

My 2nd batch of brew is in the fermenter and after the 'fun' of bottling my first, I decided to try kegging for #2. The party pig looked to me like a simple and economical way to go, so I have 2 pigs waiting. The question that comes up now is how long I should cure the kegs before refrigeration (I have a pale ale in the carboy). I just tasted the first bottle of my first batch and it clearly needs more time, a bit too bitter for my tastes so I plan to let them sit for another week or so before cooling another. This is no problem with bottles since I can chill them one at a time until the taste is to my liking. But with the party pig, I'm comitting half my batch to a taste test. So, what advice do folks have? I'm thinking that maybe I can have a taste at room temp before deciding to chill, is that OK?

By the way, my 46th birthday is this Saturday so I get a real kick out of being a 'junior' anything these days!

 

[david_42]

If you fill the pig from your clearing tank, the usual 3 weeks would apply. If you rack straight from the fermenter, make that 4-5 weeks. One real plus of a pig or keg, you can take small samples to track the progress and not have to burn a full bottle. And you know the rest of the batch will taste the same.

[since I'm coming up on the double nickel, "Enjoy it while you can, boy!"]