Storage in Kegs

nflamedrash

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I have been brewing at a much faster rate than normal lately and I have three batches of beer that are finishing secondary fermentation this week. I plan on kegging this weekend. The good news is I have three kegs in the refrigerator today on tap and all about half empty. The bad news is I do not have room for any additional kegs.

My question is this: How long can I store non-carbonated beer in kegs prior to moving them to the refrigerator for chilling and carbonation? Should I add priming sugar to the kegs and condition like bottles? My basement, where the kegs will be stored is about 72-74 degrees F; will this cause off flavors? The fermentation and secondary were all performed at 66 degrees F.

The yeast used in the batches that need to be stored are: Denny's Fav 50; British Ale II; Danstar Nottingham

My guess is that the kegs will store well as long as I purge with CO2 prior to storage but I have never done this in the past?

Suggestions and advise welcome.
 
Never done it before, but I've read it is possible to prime a keg naturally with priming sugar. Leave it sit a couple weeks, then hook it up when ready to serve.
 
I don't see why you couldn't just keg and purge the O2 with some CO2 and let it sit in the keg until you're ready to chill/carbonate. I would think it's not much different than letting it sit in the carboy except it's in the keg.

You could always connect CO2 to it at room temp, though it would take a much larger PSI and might not be worth it.
 
If you purge out the O2, you should be fine. Do you not have room in the fermentation chamber/area to store the kegs? I would think that keeping them in the slightly cooler temps might be better. If you prime them, you can basically follow the same concept as you would if you were bottling, but it's just a much bigger bottle. Of course, you're also going to end up with a lot more sediment in the bottom of your keg; just imagine 50 or so bottles' worth of sediment down there. I think your best bet is to purge and allow them to keg condition until you've got room in the fridge; then just hook them up to the CO2.

Or, and this is the best solution of all, just buy a bigger kegerator/keezer and then you don't have to worry about setting the new kegs aside!
 
I have purged the O2 from the keg and let it sit at room temperature once and in a basement once for about 2-3 weeks. No problems.
 
Thank you all for the good comments and suggestions. I am going to purge the O2 and let them sit for a couple of weeks. If anything odd happens I will let you know.

And to think, I was sure someone was going to suggest that I just drink the cold beer faster as the solution to freeing space in the kegerator. ;)
 
nflamedrash said:
And to think, I was sure someone was going to suggest that I just drink the cold beer faster as the solution to freeing space in the kegerator. ;)

CHUG CHUG CHUG!!! :cool:
 
nflamedrash said:
I have been brewing at a much faster rate than normal lately and I have three batches of beer that are finishing secondary fermentation this week. I plan on kegging this weekend. The good news is I have three kegs in the refrigerator today on tap and all about half empty. The bad news is I do not have room for any additional kegs.

My question is this: How long can I store non-carbonated beer in kegs prior to moving them to the refrigerator for chilling and carbonation? Should I add priming sugar to the kegs and condition like bottles? My basement, where the kegs will be stored is about 72-74 degrees F; will this cause off flavors? The fermentation and secondary were all performed at 66 degrees F.

The yeast used in the batches that need to be stored are: Denny's Fav 50; British Ale II; Danstar Nottingham

My guess is that the kegs will store well as long as I purge with CO2 prior to storage but I have never done this in the past?

Suggestions and advise welcome.

I understand your urgency, but I would leave them in the secondaries till you have an available keg. Otherwise you could rack them as long as you purge them with CO2. I wouldn't recommend priming in a keg. Too many variables and lots of sediment and wasted beer. Storing is not a problem till you can chill them, but find a cool dark place.

Good Luck,
Brent
 
I just leave my brew in kegs at room temp that I have purged with CO2 and keep them for months and put them in kegerator when I am ready to drink them. This ensures that I almost always have aged brew.Works for me.
 
I have seen where beer has sat in secondary for months with some recipies so a few weeks should be no problem. Racked to a keg and O2 purged with CO2 should hold for a longer time with no adverse affects. 80 degrees+, maybe not, but anywhere in fermentation ranges should still be good beer.
RHAHB... ( but have an extra one here and there to get the new stuff in the frig ASAP!)
 
I can honestly say that 80 is a no no and thats from personal experience, as a matter of fact Ive had a carboy sealed, no co2 sour on me at 80 in 3 days :{ always lessons learned
 
To circle back and close this topic here are my results and findings:

In mid-July(2013) I took a California Common beer from secondary to the Keg and pressurized(after purging the O2) the keg for 24 hours at 12PSI at 70 degrees F. Clearly the beer was not carbonated after 24 hours; I then stored the kegged beer in the basement at 68-71 degrees F until October 5th(2013). On October 5th I placed the kegged beer in the refrigerator at 36 degrees F and carbonated for 12 days at 11PSI. Served the California Common along with 4 other homebrews to 50 guests; all beers served were a hit but the California Common was the only keg to be kicked.

So my conclusion is: the warmer than normal storage did no harm the beer. Understandably it is not the most preferred method of storage but in a pinch I would do it again without hesitation. The basic sanitation rules apply as always.
 
Since I ferment in the keg, I also use the keg for a secondary by pushing the troob out from under the beer with CO2. Your kegs can be carbonated with sugar or gyle, both work equally well, but I prefer the gyle. It is truer to form for a medieval brewer such as myself. Beer will keep for at least 6 months with CO2 on the beer (I've done it), but I like the carb'ed beer best after 2-3 months.
 

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