Storing Kegs (Carbed, Uncarbed?)

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Hey guys,

Brewed my first 10 gal batch. Plan is to get two kegs, one to be on draft, and the other to put away for another time. Usually, I force carbonate over 2 weeks and serve. My question is, for the 2nd keg that won't be on draft quite yet, should I fully carbonate prior to storing it away? Or can I just clear the head space, and carbonate prior to putting on tap as usual? Wondering if the C02 helps protect the shelf life. Or does it not matter either way..?

Let me know thoughts.

- Jeff
 
Hmmm. Depends. If it was a stout or brown ale, I would let it sit uncarbed. And ... So it would be ready on time, I would cold crash and carb and be ready to serve when keg #1 is 80% + gone. No down time.

If it was a lager or a pilsner.... I'd carb and store.
 
Here's a keg of cider and a keg of oatmeal stout. They were chilled and force-carbed and left under pressure according to the popular carb-chart. As I have full confidence in my O2-excluding cleaning/sanitizing/purging practice, they'll be sitting in my constant 68° basement unitl called for, needing only to cool again. This has been working ideally for me.
IMG_1662.jpg

:mug:
 
Hey guys,

Brewed my first 10 gal batch. Plan is to get two kegs, one to be on draft, and the other to put away for another time. Usually, I force carbonate over 2 weeks and serve. My question is, for the 2nd keg that won't be on draft quite yet, should I fully carbonate prior to storing it away? Or can I just clear the head space, and carbonate prior to putting on tap as usual? Wondering if the C02 helps protect the shelf life. Or does it not matter either way..?

Let me know thoughts.

- Jeff
It just occurred to me to look at your other posts and from that I gathered that you're comfortable with either bottling or kegging... All the replies here fundamentally boil down to "Treat it like a big bottle" because that's all a keg really is. I did note though, that you don't appear to be using an O2-excluding line such as EVABarrier and even though miniscule, you likely have more than ideal the amount of O2 going into the keg. If this is the case, you may wish to follow the priming advice to clean some of that last bit up.
Just my 2-cents.
:mug:
 
I have just recently started doing 10 gallon batches. If I plenty on tap; I prime the two split 5’s with sugar and let them carb naturally. I also use floating dips when doing this.

If I will be needing one soon, I will force carb it, and sugar prime the other.
Just kegged a full 10 gallons in a half- barrel keg and force carbing it while it sits in the kegerator.

I would say that you have options; match them to your needs. 🤷🏻‍♂️
 

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