Sorry for the lengthy post, skip to the end for my questions and midway for my plan.
So, I have been kegging for around 2 years, and unfortunately I just don't drink enough beer or throw enough parties to get rid of the beer! The kegs typically sit at 1/4 to 1/2 filled waiting to be bottled (which never happens because I have new beer on tap to keep me distracted). Right now all of my 8 kegs have some amount of beer that needs to get bottled.
As such, I have been mulling over the decision to go back to almost entirely bottles, which would allow me to pawn off my extra beer to friends and family. Unfortunately, I really dislike the idea of bottle carbing and I have been thinking about starting to filter my beers.
MY PLAN:
1) Ferment in buckets (as normal)
2) Condition in kegs at room temperature (as normal)
3) Filter from keg to keg (either gravity fed or CO2 pressured)
4) Carbonate in keg (either diffusing stone, or let the keg sit for a few days)
5) Bottle from keg when carbonated
I would also get rid of my kegerator, and then do everything at room temperature except for the ferment which would be done in my fermentation chamber.
MY QUESTIONS:
1) Will I run into any issues doing this process at room temperature (not really asking about taste, mostly about logistics)? Will the kegs and bottles be fine with the increased temperature and pressure? Will the bottles be under carbed due to loss of CO2 during the bottling procedure?
2) How should I go about carbonating? Should I just let it sit, or should I do the shake method, or use a diffusing stone (the Breckenridge Brewery tour got me excited about carbing with a diffuser, it also might be nice to bottle the same day as carbing and filtering)?
3) What sort of filtering options are there available? My GF says her lab filters by creating a vacuum on the destination side, but I think they have more expensive equipment than I am willing to buy.
4) Any other suggestions?
So, I have been kegging for around 2 years, and unfortunately I just don't drink enough beer or throw enough parties to get rid of the beer! The kegs typically sit at 1/4 to 1/2 filled waiting to be bottled (which never happens because I have new beer on tap to keep me distracted). Right now all of my 8 kegs have some amount of beer that needs to get bottled.
As such, I have been mulling over the decision to go back to almost entirely bottles, which would allow me to pawn off my extra beer to friends and family. Unfortunately, I really dislike the idea of bottle carbing and I have been thinking about starting to filter my beers.
MY PLAN:
1) Ferment in buckets (as normal)
2) Condition in kegs at room temperature (as normal)
3) Filter from keg to keg (either gravity fed or CO2 pressured)
4) Carbonate in keg (either diffusing stone, or let the keg sit for a few days)
5) Bottle from keg when carbonated
I would also get rid of my kegerator, and then do everything at room temperature except for the ferment which would be done in my fermentation chamber.
MY QUESTIONS:
1) Will I run into any issues doing this process at room temperature (not really asking about taste, mostly about logistics)? Will the kegs and bottles be fine with the increased temperature and pressure? Will the bottles be under carbed due to loss of CO2 during the bottling procedure?
2) How should I go about carbonating? Should I just let it sit, or should I do the shake method, or use a diffusing stone (the Breckenridge Brewery tour got me excited about carbing with a diffuser, it also might be nice to bottle the same day as carbing and filtering)?
3) What sort of filtering options are there available? My GF says her lab filters by creating a vacuum on the destination side, but I think they have more expensive equipment than I am willing to buy.
4) Any other suggestions?