Storing full corny kegs when there's no room to cool

[jollster101]

So I brew using FWK's, I rack, I drink, I brew again and so the cycle continues. I have a 3 font kegerator and 5 corny kegs and a single ferment fridge that can fit my fermentasaurus in.

I am trying to get to the point whereby I always have 3 kegs on the gas and drinking, a fourth (and maybe the fifth) that's full with fermented beer and "resting" so to speak. I would expect that whilst this is happening I have something in the FS so I end up with a bit of a rolling stock.

What I am trying to understand is what is the best way to be able to store the beer in the 2 spare kegs as I don't have enough room to be able to keep them cold. Is storing them at room temp ok to do and if so is there something that you should do to ensure the beer remains ok?

Also, in order to have rolling stock ready to drink, if there is an option to store the spare kegs at room temp, would they be able to be carbonated at the same time? I presume sugar could be used but if that was the case how much would be needed?

Any guidance would be welcome.

Cheers

 

[Moog]

60 g is what I add when I keg condition it takes 1 1/2 to 2 weeks to carbonate

 

[Grmblz]

Oxygen is the enemy, upon kegging add campden tabs (sodium/potasium met) and force carb if clear beer is required, a better way imo (shared by Coopers btw) and Moog's suggestion is to have a secondary ferment in the keg, it scrubs the oxy and carbonates at the same time, downside is less than crystal clear beer and a couple weeks before it's ready (no problem in your scenario) my process is 100gm dex, which is a little too much, fit spunding valve set to whatever psi your serving pressure is going to be and leave it at room temp, 2 weeks later remove valve and job done (within reason) Another thread here deals with pitching onto yeast cakes and the dangers of infection, I've discovered quite accidentally that 3 out of 7 of my brews had some sort of infection, they tasted fine using the aforementioned method BUT! they were consumed within a month of kegging, if I had left them for an extended period before tapping maybe the infection would have been noticeable, or then again maybe not, or even a new "sour beer" whatever the hell they are? Sorry guys dinosaur here.
btw use the KL spunding valve (blow tie or whatever they call it) don't bother weal I've got both and the KK doesn't even come close to accuracy (in fact it's a piece of !!! by comparison)
Cheers G

 

[MHB]

If you want to know how it really work read Braukaiser Accurately Calculating Sugar Additions for Carbonation
Even better is to read the whole fermentation section in Braukaiser.

Personally I would be avoiding Campden, some people are more sensitive to SO2 than others, I find it takes very little to take the fun out of beer for me.
You need to know your target amount of dissolved CO2, the amount already in the beer from fermentation and the fermentability (Sugar 100%, Dextrose-91%...) of what you are using for priming. Work in g/L rather than the old Volumes, in fact the calculations are usually all done in g/L then converted to Volumes so why bother.
Mark

 

[jollster101]

Thanks all. So based on the info from everyone I can add x amount of sugar to reach the desired carbonation level. From what Grmblz said it is also ok to store the beer at room temp as well which is the key thing I wanted to understand. Is there a time period that is generally ok to have the kegs outside the fridge before you realistically need to get them in and stored at a colder temp?

When I transfer from my fermentasaurus I do that with the pressure kit and so its done via a complete sealed transfer. I presume that if I was to add sugar to the keg post sanitise, then seal and purge with CO2 followed by a sealed transfer from the fermenter that I would naturally reduce the chances of oxidisation.

 

[Kea]

Thanks all. So based on the info from everyone I can add x amount of sugar to reach the desired carbonation level. From what Grmblz said it is also ok to store the beer at room temp as well which is the key thing I wanted to understand. Is there a time period that is generally ok to have the kegs outside the fridge before you realistically need to get them in and stored at a colder temp?

When I transfer from my fermentasaurus I do that with the pressure kit and so its done via a complete sealed transfer. I presume that if I was to add sugar to the keg post sanitise, then seal and purge with CO2 followed by a sealed transfer from the fermenter that I would naturally reduce the chances of oxidisation.

Or you could add the sugar into the empty keg first, then attach a line from the gas post of the fermentasauris to the keg. As the beer ferments in the fermentasaurus the CO2 created will naturally purge the keg without having to use your own CO2. It also means you can rack the beer onto the sugar in a completely O2-free environment.
Or you could just use the BlowTie to spund and get the beer carbed naturally in the fermentasaurus, or transfer early and spund in the keg once the majority of fermentation is complete.

 

[Grmblz]

Hi Joll, I only store kegs at room temp for 2 weeks (to carbonate) after that they go into a fridge, either on tap or in my storage fridge.
I think the consensus would be to store kegs as cool as possible, a couple of weeks in a cool location probably wont do any harm but leave them in the middle of your back yard mid summer and you're asking for trouble, also the secondary fermentation thing makes a difference, I don't know the science behind it but according to Coopers (I emailed them a querie a while ago) if you prime the keg and naturally carbonate as opposed to force carbing you extend the shelf life considerably.

 

[scomet]

Personally I would be avoiding Campden, some people are more sensitive to SO2 than others

This is very good advice (IMHO)

 

[jollster101]

Thanks all. Corona has restricted access to my laptop to loop back to this. So the long and the short is potentially a couple of weeks at room temp would generally be ok but not really much longer.

I think that giving the keg carbonation with sugar is something I might have a bash at. Does using sugar mean that the beer would end up with more sugars than using CO2? That may be a stupid question, apologies if it is. I wasn't sure whether the sugar gets consumed by any yeast that may be left post primary fermentation which negates how much overall sugar is left.

As you can see, bit of a novice at this so experience from the experts is always welcome.

 

[Grmblz]

It depends what sugar you use, if you use ordinary white granulated table sugar then it's 100% fermentable and the yeast will use it all, the only effect really as I understand it is a bit more alcohol, co2, and a bit more yeast, plus any oxygen (within reason) in the beer will be consumed.

 

[jollster101]

It depends what sugar you use, if you use ordinary white granulated table sugar then it's 100% fermentable and the yeast will use it all, the only effect really as I understand it is a bit more alcohol, co2, and a bit more yeast, plus any oxygen (within reason) in the beer will be consumed.

And all this is once the primary ferment has completed in its entirety? Once the gravity settles do you do a cold crash in the primary and then transfer (which is how I have always done my brews to date using CO2 to carbonate). Or do you not cold crash and transfer to your keg with the sugar in and then leave at room temp, yeast does it stuff and then you cold crash post the couple of weeks you mentioned.

Sorry for what are likely basic q's.

 

[Grmblz]

And all this is once the primary ferment has completed in its entirety? Correct Once the gravity settles do you do a cold crash in the primary and then transfer (which is how I have always done my brews to date using CO2 to carbonate). Or do you not cold crash and transfer to your keg with the sugar in and then leave at room temp, yeast does it stuff and then you cold crash post the couple of weeks you mentioned. After fermentation is finished, cold crash then transfer to purged keg with sugar in it, this leaves most of the yeast and any trub in the fermenter (I boil 100gm sugar in 200ml of water) leave for 2 weeks at 18deg's or higher for secondary fermentation, to get correct carbonation either work out exactly how much sugar needs to be added (I don't) or add a bit too much and fit spunding valve set to about 8-10psi above serving pressure (I do because I'm lazy and it's easy) the extra 8-10psi compensates for the chilling effect once it goes into the fridge. After secondary fermentation is complete you have the option of serving from that keg or transferring to a serving keg, I don't bother transferring as I don't mind if my beer is a little misty, I suggest you try both methods to see what suits you.

Sorry for what are likely basic q's. No need mate, if nothing else most brewers are happy to help, whatever your experience level. Be aware that what I describe is just what I do, try it and see if it's what you're looking for, others have different methods. Ask 3 brewers the same question and you will get 5 different answers.

 

[jollster101]

Magic, thanks for the pointers. As with everything homebrew, just gotta give it a whirl and see what happens.