Storage pressure

[Bruinpilot]

I am lagering a beer in the keg and am totally new to kegging. I sealed and bled it with between 10-15 psi. Can i leave it for a few months to age at that pressure? Should i force carb it now, or just prior to drinking? I currently have the gas disconnected. Is this ok for lagering/storage or should i leave the gas connected and at what pressure? Thanks!

 

[wi_brewer]

I would keep CO2 on it, at least for a couple weeks.

If you put CO2 on it once at 10-15 PSI and take it off then all of the CO2 you put in there will quickly dissolve into the beer. This means that there isn't any head pressure left in the keg.

 

[Bruinpilot]

So should i just go ahead and force carb it up to the level i want?

 

[Roland_deschain]

I would keep CO2 on it, at least for a couple weeks.

If you put CO2 on it once at 10-15 PSI and take it off then all of the CO2 you put in there will quickly dissolve into the beer. This means that there isn't any head pressure left in the keg.

I'm not sure that is entirely correct. If you pressurized the keg at 15psi and the beer was uncarbonated, then the pressure should achieve equilibrium. 7.5psi would go into solution and the other 7.5psi would remain in head space. Either way you end up with less headspace pressure than if you left it hooked up.
Ain't science fun? Lol

 

[Bruinpilot]

That makes complete sense, but it leads me to ask then, what is the optimum pressure in the headspace for lagering 4-6 months, and should i leave it hookd up to CO2 the whole time?

 

[cilestiok]

I'm not sure that is entirely correct. If you pressurized the keg at 15psi and the beer was uncarbonated, then the pressure should achieve equilibrium. 7.5psi would go into solution and the other 7.5psi would remain in head space. Either way you end up with less headspace pressure than if you left it hooked up.

Ain't science fun? Lol

This also is not true. If the beer is not carbonated and the headspace (unknown volume) is pressurized with a given pressure, that volume of carbonation will absorb into the beer until the partial pressure dissolved in the beer equals the partial pressure of the headspace. You'd be looking at a minuscule fraction of 1 psi in the headspace once the gas is absorbed into solution in this case.

 

[Bruinpilot]

I'm still clear as mud. I'm just going to leave it hooked to the regulator and set it at 10 psi and call it good for now...

 

[Bruinpilot]

And then what if I unhooked it and increased the temperature? Wouldn't some gas come out of solution and pressurize my headspace?

 

[cilestiok]

Why would you want to increase the temperature if you are intending to lager (and then serve, presumably) this beer?

 

[Dolomieu]

Bruinpilot, here is what i would recommend. Google carbonation chart, they will tell you the pressure you need for the temp of you beer. find the temp of your beer on said chart and fine the pressure that gives you the volumes of co2 you are looking for. Set the CO2 regulator to that and let it sit hooked up to gas. If your not in a rush leave it hooked up for a few weeks. by then you can remove the gas and have carbonated beer. You can carbonate while conditioning/lagering.

 

[Dolomieu]

Also after kegging i usually purge with 30 psi this also helps set the lid. after checking for leaks, i do what i have written above.

 

[eluterio]

I am lagering a beer in the keg and am totally new to kegging. I sealed and bled it with between 10-15 psi. Can i leave it for a few months to age at that pressure? Should i force carb it now, or just prior to drinking? I currently have the gas disconnected. Is this ok for lagering/storage or should i leave the gas connected and at what pressure? Thanks!

You can lager your beer with or with out pressure. You might change the flavor of your beer if there is O2 in the and we all know what O2 will do to a beer.

My typical lagering technique is to push 30 psi into a freshly kegged lager beer and purge out O2 with a few burst. I do this to make sure I get a good seal on my kegs. I then will put that into my refrigerator to lager. For the first few days I will check it to make sure there is pressure in my keg. I have a gage with a co2 ball lock on it to tell me the pressure. If I have 1 psi in there I will push more co2 to reach 15psi. This is what I do when I have several lagers and not enough co2 line to pressure them all.

If you have the means to keep co2 on the line do it and lager all at the same time. Just make sure you put the right amount of co2 per temp of your beer.

hope this makes sense.

 

[Bruinpilot]

It makes perfect sense. Thank you all for the answers. The reason i asked about changng the temp, is i am considering fermenting another lager in my kegerator which would cause me to have to raise the temp in there into the 50s for a week or so while it finishes primary. Does that pose a risk to my carbonating and conditioning lager?

 

[eluterio]

It makes perfect sense. Thank you all for the answers. The reason i asked about changng the temp, is i am considering fermenting another lager in my kegerator which would cause me to have to raise the temp in there into the 50s for a week or so while it finishes primary. Does that pose a risk to my carbonating and conditioning lager?

I wouldn't worry its just a week ive done this when I needed to. Some say higher temps will help things age quicker so keeping it at 45-55 could help it mature faster. I really would worry about Carbonation until you get it back down to 32-40.

If you have a garage and or if you can find a spot that is a constant temp 32-45 I would just store it there until your done. Maybe you could ferment 2 lagers now instead of one!