Non Fridge Keg Storage And Carbonation

[bconnery]

There's been some discussions recently about carbonation with kegs that are out of the frige, mainly in relation to temprites, but what about longer term?

I've picked up a cheap keg and I plan to use it for funky belgians, brett, souring etc.
I only have room for four in the fridge though.
I do have a place that maintain a reasonable temperature no matter what the outside temp.
The worst it probably gets is 20C if the outside temp is Brisbane summer levels.

Is it feasible to gas it up and store it, checking the gas level occasionally?

Any drawbacks, tips, tricks?

Ideally Id like to keg it chilled, hit it with a dose in the manner of force carbing and then let it be to let the characters develop.
This would generally be after a period of secondary anyway in the case of some.

This might also be used for aging bigger beers in general.
I've got a biere de garde which is already tasting nice but I'd like to leave it alone for 6 months.

Am I dreaming? Would I be better to just finally get around to cleaning up the bottles that sit so forlon in the garage since the arrival of the slightly shiny tubes of beer goodness?

 

[The Big Burper]

Allo,

This is ideal for natural conditioning of the beer. Pinched fom Coopers website,
they shouldn't mind. Note that they recommend purging the headspace with
CO2 .


Natural Conditioning

1. Clean and sanitise the keg thoroughly.
2. Prime with sugar at the rate of 4g per litre.
3. Rack via a piece of sanitised, flexible tubing so that the beer runs to the bottom of the keg. Leave 5 10 cm of headspace at the top.
4. Seal the keg and purge the headspace with CO2 then give it a shake.
5. Maintain brewing temperature for a week, then allow the beer to condition for at least several weeks.
6. Refrigerate for a week then pressurise at required pouring pressure 35 100 kPa, depending on your system. (Fifty litre kegs through a temprite or miracle box may require up to 300 kPa).

This should keep in the keg for quite a few months. Coopers reckon that a naturally conditioned keg will keep longer than a bottle carbed keg.

Let us know how it turned out. If I had more kegs, I'd give natural conditioning a go.

cheers
Dave

 

[newguy]

I've done this unintentionally a couple of times. If you remove the yeast the beer will tend to age more gracefully. If you filter, great. If not, let the keg sit for a week or two, then draw some beer until it flows clear. Shake the keg to stir up the yeast that's away from the dip tube, then repeat in a few hours. The yeast will start to die and give you autolysis flavours and aromas faster at room temp than at serving temps so removing it is a good idea.

The worst treatment my kegs endured was 3 weeks at 27-30C+ in my sister's garage. I brewed most of the beer for my wedding and my sister took my kegs to her place afterward. I couldn't get around to picking them up immediately. The kegs that were half full tasted better than the couple that were untouched. They had started to develop a yeast bite.

Once you force carbonate there is no need to top up the CO2 unless the keg leaks. Breweries don't top up their kegs, and bottled beer isn't topped up either.

It also goes without saying that you should make sure all the air is purged from the keg before long term storage. I will typically do 5 gas & vent cycles over the course of maybe 10 minutes to try and make sure that all the oxygen has been replaced by CO2.