Keg Maturing

[Mclovin]

Allright, I have just made a brew in the fermenter checked FG reading and shes ready to go. If i keg the beer how long will it take untill i have a product that is as good as an 8 week bottle?

What is a good time to mature a keg in comparison to bottling?

 

[paul]

Less than a week.

 

[Adamt]

As soon as it's carbonated it is ready to go. Keg maturation is generally much different to bottle maturation for many reasons (temperature, no further yeast activity if you keg, etc), so you can't really estimate a "maturation time" per se.

 

[Back Yard Brewer]

Allright, I have just made a brew in the fermenter checked FG reading and shes ready to go. If i keg the beer how long will it take untill i have a product that is as good as an 8 week bottle?

What is a good time to mature a keg in comparison to bottling?

When ferment is finished I generally rack and cube for around 5 days. Then rack to keg, chill and force carb. I have found that the beer will taste a whole lot better after at least a few days. Example being a kit apple cider I made. It smelt like s##t and probally tasted like it as well but after a rest in the keg for say a week, I am getting rave reviews.

BYB

 

[durgarth]

Let it chill for 48 hours, force carb when carbonation is right I then let it sit in the fridge for several days. You can drink it after a week, two is much better.

 

[dc59]

Hey I was wondering if this is also the case for beer made with a bottom fermenting yeast like w-34/70?

Just asking because I know books and people generally recommend longer maturing times for lager yeasts when you bottle them.

Dave.

 

[steve.m]

I had recently experimented with a draught and some orange and lemon zest and juice. When i kegged it, it tasted like crap. Almost bad enough to write it off. Anyway i left it in the fridge for a few weeks and finally got around to throw it out and wash the keg for another offering. I gave it an eleventh hour taste and it was like a completely different beer. Even to the extent that i checked that i hadnt mixed it up with another one in the fridge. It was crisp and clean with a subtle zesty after taste. Very nice beer. The blokes that sampled it fresh didnt believe that it was the same beer.

Maturing can have a significant effect of the finish of the beer. I've read that some blokes will let a beer mature in the keg for a few months or more once its carbonated. They just let it sit at shed temp until they are ready to get stuck into it. i actually have 80lt of a SQ golden ale that i plan to have for my 40th in October. I will keg it and mature it until then. Should be bloody beautiful

 

[fifteenbeerslater]

I recently pulled apart an old bar i had and discovered one of my old kegs which was nearly full and still had gas. I filled the keg on 24/3/06, thats over 2 YEARS OLD and i thought i had better taste it. Hooked it up thru my chiller and was drinking a beautiful beer with full flavour and a great head 2 minutes later.
Just goes to show the life of a beer. I normally cant keep a keg for longer than a month.
BTW, the keg was stored behind a fridge at room temperature!
Cheers 15BL

 

[mckenry]

I filled the keg on 24/3/06, thats over 2 YEARS OLD and i thought i had better taste it. Hooked it up thru my chiller and was drinking a beautiful beer with full flavour and a great head 2 minutes later.
Just goes to show the life of a beer. I normally cant keep a keg for longer than a month.

Thought I'd share my 'find'

Was cleaning out the garage the other day and found a batch of bottled beer. Went back through my brew register and found it was a wheat beer i did back in early 2004. So i popped a few in the fridge for a couple of days. Cracked one on the weekend. It was great! - if you like port :icon_vomit: Poured with no head and really had a distilled look about it.
As any hopeful homebrewer would do - I am yet to throw the batch - gonna give it another shot this weekend. Maybe it was a bad bottle :huh: Doubt it though...

 

[justsomeguy]

Thought I'd share my 'find'

Was cleaning out the garage the other day and found a batch of bottled beer. Went back through my brew register and found it was a wheat beer i did back in early 2004. So i popped a few in the fridge for a couple of days. Cracked one on the weekend. It was great! - if you like port :icon_vomit: Poured with no head and really had a distilled look about it.
As any hopeful homebrewer would do - I am yet to throw the batch - gonna give it another shot this weekend. Maybe it was a bad bottle :huh: Doubt it though...

I doubt it too. Wheat beers do not last. Its best to consume them as fresh as possible. I've tried storing them before with no success. Other beers last longer. Wheat beers don't.

I've got a robust porter I brewed and kegged 18 months ago that is still going strong. Very very nice drop !

gary

 

[cloudy]

i think 2 weeks for a lager. obviously depends on the beer.