Using a 5 gal keg as a giant bottle...help

[meodes]

here's the deal, i've got to get my brew outta the fermenter. i don't have all the parts for my keg setup, and not enough bottles. so i primed the entire batch and put it in the keg with no co2 and put it in the fridge. the fridge is not on at the moment and the ambient outside temp has been ranging from mid 30s to mid 50s, fridge is in the garage. the beer is an extract coopers irish stout. had spent 3wks in the primary. any advice here is greatly appreciated. as for what i'm gonna do here im not sure, thought that if i don't have my co2 setup complete soon, then i would try to bottle outta the keg as soon as i can. figure a week in the keg wouldn't hurt anything, am i wrong?

 

[Golddiggie]

Let it sit as close to 70F as you can get it for 2-3 weeks to carbonate in the keg... If you don't have all the parts to dispense from the keg by then, you could use one of the small cartridge CO2 chargers and a tap right on the keg to dispense. Or just wait until you do have the hardware to push via CO2 and then connect it up and start serving...

 

[meodes]

So ditch the bottling altogether? That's kinda what i was thinking, needed some reassurance. Thanks good advice.

 

[Golddiggie]

You have options... I wouldn't toss your bottles, but if you're getting ready to keg and serve using CO2, no reason to not just let the keg carbonate fully and serve from it...

I would make sure you didn't use too much sugar to carbonate the keg. You use less in a keg than you would via bottles...

 

[IrregularPulse]

bring the keg indoors while it's carbing for a warmer environment.