Keeping Beer In Kegs Outside The Fridge

[Taswoods]

No. If you're keg is sealed then all that gas should still be in there. You'll just need to hook up to the serving pressure to push the beer out.

Thanks!

 

[Lionman]

Apologies for resurrecting an old thread but this conversation has been very helpful for a new kegger and I just wanted to ask one more question.

For my first few brews I have been force-carbing at 30psi for a couple of days before serving.

If I were to store a keg at 30psi for a few weeks after after purging, should I repeat the force carbonation when it's time to tap the beer?

You shouldn't need to recarbonate the beer. Once the beer is carbonated, the net volume of CO2 in the keg should remain constant. If it doesn't, you have a leak.

Note that 30 psi at room temp will not be the same as 30 psi at serving temp. At 20c You will need about 23 psi for a week or two to get the volume of CO2 up to serving.

If the beer is going to be warm for 2 weeks or more, I recommend naturally carbonating the keg. About 1/3 cup of sugar added to the keg will be similar to priming bottles. The keg is just a big bottle really. Some of the best beers I've tapped I've made like this, but usually I dont have time (patience) to wait.

 

[Fro-Daddy]

If you cold crash (2°C), will raising the temperature to ambient again for storage mess with any flavours?

 

[Taswoods]

If the beer is going to be warm for 2 weeks or more, I recommend naturally carbonating the keg. About 1/3 cup of sugar added to the keg will be similar to priming bottles. The keg is just a big bottle really. Some of the best beers I've tapped I've made like this, but usually I dont have time (patience) to wait.

Thanks mate - I think I'll give this a try. So put the sugar in then give the keg enough gas that the seal won't break? Which would be how much?

 

[Grott]

If you are going to store your kegs for a couple of weeks plus, I personally wouldn't chill and force carb then take out of the fridge and allow to warm up to room temp for storing. It's not the best for the beer plus you are wasting some fridge "chilling power".
Just purge your keg, pressure to 30psi and store. When needed, chill and then carb as you want and away you go.

 

[Taswoods]

If you are going to store your kegs for a couple of weeks plus, I personally wouldn't chill and force carb then take out of the fridge and allow to warm up to room temp for storing. It's not the best for the beer plus you are wasting some fridge "chilling power".
Just purge your keg, pressure to 30psi and store. When needed, chill and then carb as you want and away you go.

Thanks - that's very clear and the advice is much appreciated.

 

[Lionman]

If you cold crash (2°C), will raising the temperature to ambient again for storage mess with any flavours?

It is not ideal for beer to go through big changes in temp. For big hoppy ales it could reduce the flavour and aroma, for more subtle beers or malt forward beers it will be less of an issue.

Thanks mate - I think I'll give this a try. So put the sugar in then give the keg enough gas that the seal won't break? Which would be how much?

I purge the headspace of air at normal serving pressure, around 10psi or so. This is just for convenience though as I usually grab a line temporarily from a keg in the fridge. Seems to work fine. You could use higher pressure if you wanted to.

Aside from purging air from the headspace of the keg, adding pressure to the keg and then disconnecting the line and storing without priming is probably somewhat futile. Most the CO2 will probably be absorbed by the beer, reducing the pressure.