Storing Kegged Beer (pre fridge)

[sullydavid]

I am about to keg my fourth batch. Yaaaayyyy!!!

I only have three taps so far. I am wondering if I should add sugar to let it carbonate or just let it sit.

My thought is that I might as well throw some sugar in and after about two weeks toss it in the fridge and it will be ready to go once it is cold.

Any flaws in this logic?

[O2 Mash]

Here's what I do..... find out how many volumes of CO2 you need, hook up the CO2 to the keg, sit on the couch, watch Seinfeld, shake keg in lap for 10 minutes, put keg in fridge, watch Cheers, then maybe another Seinfeld re-run, then go pour a newly carbonated beer....... follow that up with maybe another Seinfeld on another channel.

[YamahaXS]

Your logic is sound. You can use slightly less sugar than if you were priming for bottles.

1/2 cup is what I seem to think of for priming kegs.

BTW, this thread could resurrect flames of infinite proportions.


(i might be exaggerating on the last point)

[Fast_Eddy]

Originally posted by YamahaXS
...
BTW, this thread could resurrect flames of infinite proportions.


(i might be exaggerating on the last point)

*Fingers in ears*

La, la, la, la, la, la ---- I can't hear you ------ la, la, la, la, la

[Steve16823]

I have a similar dilemma. I'm new to kegging -- in fact I just kegged my first batch about two weeks ago. For now, I only have room in the 'fridge for one keg at a time. I force carbonated the first keg and it worked great!

Now, I've got a second batch sitting the the secondary (it's taking FOREVER to clear though) waiting to be kegged and a third batch I started on Sunday still in the primary.

If I keg the next batch and add priming sugar to naturally carbonate, I've committed myself to at least a 2 or 3 week wait while the yeast do their work and settle out. What if I run out of cold, carbonated homebrew by then??!?? So, i'm thinking about kegging it, purging the airspace with CO2 and then pressurizing it to about 30 or 40 PSI and let it set, disconnected from the CO2 cylinder (which is in the fridge). In fact, If I repressurize it every couple of days to 30 psi (or whatever the temp/pressure charts recommends) it should be carbonated in a week or so -- and perfectly stable at room temperature. Right?

[I'mRocketMan]

These are GREAT questions! I want to be able to have 3-4 kegs ready to chill and carbonate while the 4 in the kegerator are going. I would pressurize to seal the lids and purge the headspace. How long would the beer last at room temp?

Cheers! Rocket

[Fast_Eddy]

Originally posted by Steve16823
....
In fact, If I repressurize it every couple of days to 30 psi (or whatever the temp/pressure charts recommends) it should be carbonated in a week or so -- and perfectly stable at room temperature. Right?

Yes - I've done this very thing several times. I usually only go up to 25 psi for about a week.

[Fast_Eddy]

Originally posted by I'mRocketMan
These are GREAT questions! I want to be able to have 3-4 kegs ready to chill and carbonate while the 4 in the kegerator are going. I would pressurize to seal the lids and purge the headspace. How long would the beer last at room temp?

Cheers! Rocket

As long as there isn't excessive sediment then homebrew at room temp has a pretty long shelf life - depending on the style. A bright beer under CO2 would last a couple of months before it was noticeably changed for the worse, I'd guess.

[YamahaXS]

You can force carbonate at room/cellar temps. Expect that when you cool the beer down, you will lose some carbonation. A simple repressurization and you are back to normal within a day or so. I don't know why, but have seen this happen many times.