Sorry Guys Another Newbie Question

[Bomber1975]

Okay I promise this will be my last stupid question for at least four weeks ( I am headed back off to work for a four week swing on Thursday ) I at the moment am currently cold crashing a Coopers Aussie Pale Ale in my small Kegerator fridge and have a Mexican Cerveza in primary just about settled and being ready for racking. Now my main problem is I don't really have enough room to fit another 20 litre cube in my little fridge. Just wondering if it is okay to use your keg as a secondary. and if so as I said I have 4 weeks away how abouts should I treat it? Should I rack both brews into kegs and force carb them? Do I just rack them into the kegs and burp them and wait till I get home to force carb them? And if I do force carb them before I head off will it mean that when I get home I can just connect up my lines and start drinking?? Yet again sorry guys for asking what are probably stupid questions but it will be a good feeling leaving knowing that when I get home the beers should be good just in time for X-mas. :icon_cheers:

 

[bignath]

Okay I promise this will be my last stupid question for at least four weeks ( I am headed back off to work for a four week swing on Thursday ) I at the moment am currently cold crashing a Coopers Aussie Pale Ale in my small Kegerator fridge and have a Mexican Cerveza in primary just about settled and being ready for racking. Now my main problem is I don't really have enough room to fit another 20 litre cube in my little fridge. Just wondering if it is okay to use your keg as a secondary. and if so as I said I have 4 weeks away how abouts should I treat it? Should I rack both brews into kegs and force carb them? Do I just rack them into the kegs and burp them and wait till I get home to force carb them? And if I do force carb them before I head off will it mean that when I get home I can just connect up my lines and start drinking?? Yet again sorry guys for asking what are probably stupid questions but it will be a good feeling leaving knowing that when I get home the beers should be good just in time for X-mas. :icon_cheers:

There are many schools of thought on how to carbonate a keg. Everyone will have an opinion that will likely be slightly different. It sound like you are familiar with the concept of force carbonating. I basically do this method. If you are familiar with your system, it's very easy to carbonate a cold conditioned keg and be drinking it within an hour. But, you have to "know your setup".

What i would do is carefully transfer (minimal splashing of your wort) to keg and put a low pressure amount into the keg. Burp keg to get rid of the oxygen and leaving a "blanket" of CO2 on top of your kegged wort. I would wait until you get home to force carb. If you are comfortable with carbonating a keg and leaving it at serving pressure until you return, then that's a good way to go also. But as i said it sounds like you know how to force carb, so no rush. Wait till you return, force carb and drink. But as also mentioned, there are those that don't like the concept of force carbing so take this with a pinch of salt.

No such thing as a stupid question....unless i already asked it when i started brewing of course!

 

[enuun]

noob question
is force carbing = to the Ross method?
I am going into kegging soon after swmbo promised me a set-up for xmas =)

 

[amiddler]

noob question
is force carbing = to the Ross method?
I am going into kegging soon after swmbo promised me a set-up for xmas =)

Yes

Bomber, I would set the keg up on gas at serving preasure (natural carb) if you have the spare gas connects for the 4 weeks you are away. By the time you come home you will have conditioned and carbonated beer.

Drew

 

[Brewme]

4 weeks is a long time to leave a connected system unattended.

If a beer line/fitting 'blows' you'll come home to an empty keg, a room with a sticky floor and no gas. A similar thing happened to me when the out post sprung a leak. Luckily, I noticed the problem before too much leaked out through a faulty poppet.

Just leave the gas on for a few hours at carb pressure while you pack and prepare your trip. Turn it off as you're leaving. When you get back it won't take as long to carb it.

I only turn the gas on when the serving pressure drops and only a dribble of beer comes out the tap. A 5 second charge gives me about 4 -5 schooners.

Cheers

 

[Brewlord]

In my experince with kegging I would guess that as long as you have removed as much oxygen from the keg as you can by adding CO2 and burping them you should be OK. A few guys I know have brewed in their kegs, and eventually bottle condition in them as well (the down side being all the sediment left over) and all this is at fermentation temp.

I guess in reality treat it as a big bottle so if you still want more fermentation store it at fermentation temperature. If you want to stop any further fermentation, burp it, fridge it and it will be chilled ready for a force carb when you get home. I have left them at least 14 days before force carbing with no adverse effects. This includes realising that one of the poppets leaked all the CO2 on top. Even this had no adverse effects.

Alternatively I can see no reason why you can't also burp, chill and force carb before you go and as you have said they will be RTD (ready-to-drink) when you get back. I routinely force carb and not touch my kegs for weeks as I bottle as well. (I reckon this clears them nicely as force carbing by rolling on the ground as I do stirs up the sediment). I guess it also depends on how you force carb. As brewme states, if you leave the gas on, it might go pear shaped. If you gas, roll and store then it might be all good.

My 2c. Good luck

EDIT: Just to clarify things and noting your fridge space issue, I force carb and then refridgerate. But, as with my big bottle analogy, I would also think that force carbing and then leaving to go warm (that is outside the fridge) should be OK as the CO2 will protect the beer as it does in a bottle but also as in a bottle you may get some more fermentation as well as your added CO2. I guess the relief valve should protect you from excess gas though. (I stand prepared to be corrected)