Storing Backup Kegs

[TeiaMarcus]

Fairly new to kegging, but adding 4th tap on our bar very soon. The hardest thing so far is keeping up with demand. We are adding our last tap, but have three additional batches that we will be kegging soon. What is a good way to store kegs until they are ready to be consumed- not waiting for them to carb?

Ideally, we would prefer to kill a keg and simply switch out another keg (after cleaning & sanitizing the lines/tap) and have the keg ready to go without waiting for the new keg to carb. I have considered using priming sugar, but would prefer not to use it. We have an extra fridge in the garage, so keeping them cold is not an issue. Could I pressurize to 30-40psi and disconnect from CO2 tank & store in spare fridge and let the CO2 balance into the beer? My thinking on that is, may have to burp before hooking up, but would be quicker than waiting after hook up....

Basic summary....now that our taps & kegs are in place, we are planning on brewing for back stock rather than use. Just searching for a simple way to have the backstock carb'd when ready to use.

 

[TexasWine]

Get a second CO2 bottle, another regulator and some gas connects. Carbonate in the spare fridge.

 

[atom]

what texaswine suggest is ideal, but if you don't have all the extras you can carb at room temp as well...my basement sits around 65-70 so i just hit a room temp keg with 30 psi every other day ...give it a few weeks and it will be carbed up. disadvantage is you'll have to wait for it to chill before you can drink it.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

^^^ Beat me to it.

I have a 20# tank in my garage that I leave a keg hooked up to (at serving pressure) when it needs to be aged or there isn't tap room yet.

 

[stpug]

Get a second CO2 bottle, another regulator and some gas connects. Carbonate in the spare fridge.

^^That. Set-and-forget force carbing using a separate tank regulator at normal serving pressures is optimal if you have the time (~2 weeks) for them to sit in the carbing fridge. If you don't then play with elevated pressures for various durations.

 

[eric19312]

Carb with priming sugar at room temperature. I like to use a bit less than will be needed for a full carb then let it come the rest of the way up to carb on serving pressure.

I tell myself the natural carbonation will scrub any oxygen that got into the beer when I kegged it to improve shelf life.