Question about Kegging

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

motorider

New Member
Joined
Dec 11, 2011
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Location
Chula Vista
This is my first post, so if it is in the wrong section let me know. I have an IPA that I brewed on 11/24, I left it in primary fermentation for 10 days then am planning on leaving it dry hopped in secondary for 21 days. I know that if I bottle it then (around 12/26) it will need to spend 3 weeks getting carbonated. However, I'm thinking about taking this out to my brother-in-laws house around new years and wondered if I kegged it to carbonate if it would be ready to drink. So my real question is, if it spent 3 weeks in secondary fermentation, will it still need another 3 weeks or so to condition?
Thanks in advance.
 
There is no cure for green beer -- other than time -- regardless of your carbing method.

That being said, you can force carb in 2-3 days. In my limited bottling experience (~50 gallons), it'll be properly carbed in 7-10 days, the extra 14 days is more to let the flavors settle.
 
There is no cure for green beer -- other than time -- regardless of your carbing method.

That being said, you can force carb in 2-3 days. In my limited bottling experience (~50 gallons), it'll be properly carbed in 7-10 days, the extra 14 days is more to let the flavors settle.

So I can't trade off the time the beer spent in the secondary fermentation, for the conditioning it would get in the bottle?
 
So I can't trade off the time the beer spent in the secondary fermentation, for the conditioning it would get in the bottle?

Not quite. I'm assuming you are dry-hopping and that is where the problem is. Once you get the wort off the hops, it'll stop imparting the hop flavor. Based on your timeline, you need to get it carbed or bottled ASAP to be ready for new years. From my limited IPA experience, hoppiness usually starts to level out around day 14 which would give you some more conditioning time in the keg or bottle.

I'd taste it every two days starting on the 10th in the secondary. When it hits your desired hoppiness, or is the hop flavor has maxed out, get it carbed then instead of letting sit for the full 21 days.
 
So you're looking at 4 weeks in fermentation and then wanting to drink 5 days after kegging it. I think you'll be okay, keg it on 12/26. Put it in the fridge at 20 psi for 24 hours and then adjust the pressure down to serving pressure. Let it there for the remainder of the time until you are ready to drink it. I would try a pint or 2 the day before you serve it just to be sure. It will be a little rushed, but I would think drinkable. The hop character should be pretty prominent, that will fade pretty quick with an IPA so drinking it early may be the way to go. If it were me, I'd leave it in the primary the whole 4 weeks and add the dry hops in there. Keeping it on the yeast cake the whole 4 weeks could help get rid of any off flavor compounds a little quicker but that's just me.
 
Back
Top