Keg Storage

[Maeldric]

Been looking around here a bit and can't find a definitave answer. What i want to do is store my kegs (full of beer) outside the fridge until ready to hook up to the taps. Now what I would like to know is whether it is better to bulk prime and leave em be after purging headspace of O2 or whether I can just force carb then store till ready. Letting it happen on its own would make the first few pours full of crud i would imagine. Is there any benifit of leaving it to go naturally as opposed to force carbing?

Cheers in advance guys.

 

[Pennywise]

The colder you store the beer the better, but I keep mine at room temp because I only have room for 3 kegs in the fridge and haven't noticed any problems even after a few months. If you bulk prime the keg (pointless IMO) you'll end up with crud the first few pours. I just leave mine hooked up at serving pressure and in a week they're good to go, and the kegs outside the fridge I just purge and leave till they get hooked up in the fridge, sometimes they'll sit there for 2 months and they're fine when it come to drinking time.

 

[pokolbinguy]

If you have the time/space to store the kegs for awhile before drinking them then natural carb is the way to go (personally)...seems to give a finer bubble (longer time it takes to get bubbles in...the longer it takes for them to come out in a way) and uses less bottled gas...so may be cheaper.

But it just comes down to personal preference.

Pok

 

[Maeldric]

Thanks for the quick responses. Yeah idealy i would store them in my fridge but only got room for 1 keg atm, sorcing a larger setup. If I understand you correctly Homebrewer, you dont even need to force carb? Just get rid of the oxygen and store. Sounds good to me as i have about 4 brews coming up ready to be kegged but still only the space for one in the fridge.

 

[pokolbinguy]

Yep just purge the air out with CO2...then you can store the keg until you want to force carbonate and drink.

My theory is if you are going to leave it for a few weeks/months before making its way to the fridge you may aswell have it naturally carbonating so when you put it in you can drink it as soon as its cold instead of waiting a week or so to carb up.

Pok

 

[Maeldric]

Thanks pok, my only reservation with bulk priming it is the crud that would be in the bottom of the keg. Do you find it to be a large ammount or is it pretty much gone after the first couple glasses?

 

[pokolbinguy]

it will be all gone in about the 1st glass or less. Don't be concerned.

 

[Pennywise]

Thanks for the quick responses. Yeah idealy i would store them in my fridge but only got room for 1 keg atm, sorcing a larger setup. If I understand you correctly Homebrewer, you dont even need to force carb? Just get rid of the oxygen and store. Sounds good to me as i have about 4 brews coming up ready to be kegged but still only the space for one in the fridge.

Yep, I can only gas up 3 kegs at a time and have 8, most of the time they're all full, so Just purge the kegs and leave them till needed. I even have a keg that slowly leaks though the gas post (I'm talking 3-4 days to let all the gas out that I used to purge it), and I just purge that one and leave it, my theory is that if you have a leaky keg you can still use this purge method as long as you don't go moving the thing around all the time. Because the co2 is heavier it'll protect the beer even if theres no actaull pressure in the keg.

 

[krusty_oz]

If bulk priming you could put a piece of hose on the end of the dip tube so it takes the beer a couple cm above the crud.

 

[Andyd]

Whatevery you're doing with respect to carbonation, keep it as cold as possible. Increased temperatures dramatically increae the rate of staling reactions.

Andy

 

[BusinessTime]

*bump*

Sorry to revisit this thread but I have a question that is related.

I have some space under the floor of my house where I can store things and was wondering about storing my full kegs of beer (as I can only have 2 on tap at at a time).

What do you guys think about storing them full on their side as I don't quite have enough space to store them upright. Will this cause any problems ?

Cheers,
Dave

 

[zephon]

What do you guys think about storing them full on their side as I don't quite have enough space to store them upright. Will this cause any problems ?

I'm no expert on this (I have never tried it with a full keg) but I think you'd be OK. My only concern might be leaving the seals at the top of the keg in contact with liquid for long periods, it's not something that happens when they stand upright. Can you store them at an angle so the seals aren't touching the beer?

If not, there's really only one way to find out...

 

[hughyg]

To start storing kegs of finished beer. I'm a filter guy, so should I fine, filter then store or store then fine and filter?

 

[henderjo]

If bulk priming you could put a piece of hose on the end of the dip tube so it takes the beer a couple cm above the crud.

Another way to achieve the same result is to bend the dip tube just a little so it sits at the edge of the keg