Keg Storage

[Adam Howard]

G'day all,

I'm about to invest in gear for kegging. Going to start with a Keg King 3 to get used to the process and as a starting point and perhaps branch out to a bigger setup in the future.

I'm keen to buy 4 kegs from CB but the one thing I haven't found info on is how you can treat beer in kegs.

I want to keep as many kegs full as possible but only want to have 2-3 on tap at any one time. Do you carbonate a keg and then transfer to another fridge as storage ready to be tapped or can beer be stored in kegs in a fridge without being carbonated? I have another fridge that I can keep kegs in and I'm currently thinking that I will have two kegs running through taps with one carbonating in the Keg King and then once that other one is carbed, transfer it to my other fridge to carbonate another. Then when a keg blows I just drag out my carbonated chilled ones and hook them up. Is that the done thing?

Cheers,

Adam.

 

[pokolbinguy]

You have a couple of options once the beer is in the keg.

1. Keg beer, chill, force carb, serve
2. Keg beer, chill, force carb, store (best at a cool temp...e.g not 30 deg in the shed, I use my wine cellar which is nice and cool), chill, serve.
3. Keg beer, add priming sugar (dex or similar), store and allow to carb up (2 weeks or so) and store till ready. Chill, serve. This is what I used to do.
4. Keg beer, burp/purge with CO2 to push out Oxygen, store, chill, force carb, serve.

All have their own advantages and disadvantages. I used to use #3 as it worked well when I only had one fridge to cool kegs and was filling kegs rapidly...was good because the beer got time to age which was a huge bonus!! and no need to muck around with force carbonation as the priming sugar took care of that, only had to wait for it to chill then. When ready I could pop it in the fridge and it was ready the next day.

Now I use #1 as I have a freezer that holds 4 kegs and have not had time/$$ to spend alot of time brewing and filling kegs (can't wait to fill up all 15+ kegs again!!), then I could pop the keg in freezer, get it cold, force carb it and then drink ASAP if I want to, but if I have 3 other kegs on the run then I dont have to drink it straight away so it can then age a bit.

Really depends how much you drink, how many taps you have, how many kegs you acquire (you will get more!!) and what your storage is right...find the balance and one of the 4 options will be best for you!!

 

[Goofinder]

If you can keep them cold and carbonated, then that is probably the best way to keep them.

Having said that, I regularly keep kegs uncarbonated and warm because I don't have the room to keep everything cold. All I do is flush the headspace with CO2 (connect gas, pull release valve a few times) and leave them until I have fridge space. I tend to brew more than I drink though, so when I put a keg in the fridge it sits there for a week or so to carb up at serving pressure.

The only thing to remember is that the solubility of CO2 will be different at higher temperatures, so it's best to do your carbonating at serving temperature so you don't end up getting the carbonation levels wrong.

 

[Adam Howard]

2. Keg beer, chill, force carb, store (best at a cool temp...e.g not 30 deg in the shed, I use my wine cellar which is nice and cool), chill, serve.

Really depends how much you drink, how many taps you have, how many kegs you acquire (you will get more!!) and what your storage is right...find the balance and one of the 4 options will be best for you!!

Number 2 sounds like what I'll be doing. I'll be able to fit 3 kegs in the KK3 but will be able to fit 3-4 more in this other fridge I have. Just wanted to know if you carb and then it's as simple as disconnecting and storing cold. I take it when you hook it back up you (start by not shaking it about in transit) and allow to sit for a bit before pouring the first beer?

Will most likely be getting the equipment in the first week of the New Year, with a Coopers Pale and Weizen ready to go straight to tap!!

 

[Brewjohno]

I have about 10 kegs but really can't be bothered half the time.

I use cubes, which basically are 23l camping water jerry cans.

A cube costs less than $20 with a keg costining $60.

Cubes also stack very well and take up less space than a keg.

This way I can use my second fridge for controlled temp fermenting.

I make 43 litres batches every time and cube it. It can condition in the cubes until I'm ready for it.

When I am getting ready I whip the cube into the fridge to drop to 2-3 degrees overnight. This also helps to harden up any residual on the bottom of the cube that has dropped out of suspension. I then siphon it into the keg, then force carbonate. Let that sit overnight and then drink on the 3rd night.

I'm also using the KK Series 3.