Keg Conditioning

Myndflyte said:
I'm going to finally keg my first beer next weekend and I'm still trying to wrap my head around conditioning. When I bottled, I'd let the bottles sit for at least a month before I began even touching them. I know this was to obviously carb it up but it usually got better as it conditioned.

So does anyone condition beer when it's kegged? Or does it even need to be conditioned? I guess I don't quite understand why we leave some beer in bottles for 3 months to condition but something like that isn't necessary for kegging.
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I have ben kegging for a while and I usually put around 12 psi on the keg, pull the safety valve ring to help remove any air and leave it in my kegerator for a least 3 weeks before I tap the keg. Leave the co2 connected. I find the beer tastes a heck of a lot better at week 3 rather than the first week. I never force carb kegs and then start drinking. My opinion is the beer needs time for the flavors to mesh. I guess thats my take on conditioning beer. I adjust the co2 pressure after I pull my first beer from the keg. Works for me and I drink mostly IPA's , stouts and porters. 3 on tap right now!
 
I'd do that too, if I didn't mind a 3 week wait.
 
OAE Iceman said:
I never force carb kegs and then start drinking.
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It's possible to force-carb but not drink it right away. ;)
I'll usually carb up over 2-3 days and check to see how it tastes but I don't put it on tap for a few weeks unless I'm desparate.
 
Oh men of more patience then mine. :pIve got a few more kegs now so hoping i can get some conditioning before i guts the good beer.
 
Well I kegged this past weekend and everything has gone great so far. I transferred, purged the head space about 4 times and let it sit at 30 psi for 24 hours before turning it down. But no leaks anywhere and everything is holding steady. I'm not going to try it until this weekend so I haven't tapped it yet to see how the pour is and everything. But thanks for all the great tips and it was damn nice to not have to clean and sanatize 50 bottles.
 
The only issue with the burst carbonation I'm running into is that when I dial the pressure down I get some backfill on the lines.
 
Trialben said:
Oh men of more patience then mine. :pIve got a few more kegs now so hoping i can get some conditioning before i guts the good beer.
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LOL. I am the same way. Carbing and drinking them as soon as they are ready. I need to work on my pipeline management so I am forced to wait.
 
Hawkbox said:
The only issue with the burst carbonation I'm running into is that when I dial the pressure down I get some backfill on the lines.
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My manifold has check valves built into each port. One overcarbed keg won't blow over into the other kegs.
 
What?! No Quality Control samples until the weekend?! You've got more resolve then me. Congrats on your first kegging. When me and my wife starting brewing this year (January), we decided from the get-go that we wouldn't be bottling. So I built the keezer first. We didn't own a single piece of brewing equipment, but we had a keezer ready. Now we bottle for space management and for certain beer types (stouts/porters/etc).
 
jeffpn said:
My manifold has check valves built into each port. One overcarbed keg won't blow over into the other kegs.
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I have check valves but it annoys the hell out of me to see the air line full of liquid.
 
Yeah. I've seen beer in my gas line when I forgot to relieve the force carb higher pressure. Doh!!
 
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All I can say is thankfully check valves are between my keg and the regulator
 
No check valves or manifold here , I just turn off the bottle and burp my kegs then reset to serving pressure before turning bottle on again
 
OAE Iceman said:
I have ben kegging for a while and I usually put around 12 psi on the keg, pull the safety valve ring to help remove any air and leave it in my kegerator for a least 3 weeks before I tap the keg. Leave the co2 connected. I find the beer tastes a heck of a lot better at week 3 rather than the first week. I never force carb kegs and then start drinking. My opinion is the beer needs time for the flavors to mesh. I guess thats my take on conditioning beer. I adjust the co2 pressure after I pull my first beer from the keg.
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I do the exact same thing, only sometimes 2 weeks depending if I'm out and thirsty
 
Laugh out Loud! Aint no way I can keep my mitts off a beer for three weeks once its in the keg. And if its an IPA, I wouldnt wait that long any way. The sooner after kegging, the better they taste. To me anyway. Cheers!
 
BoomerBrian said:
I always just unhook, burp the keg, and adjust to serving pressure.
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This is exactly the method that I used. Unfortunately my gas hose is red in color so I can't see if liquid has filled it but I'm assuming my manifold has check valves to stop it from going any further.

Edit: Just confirmed it does.
 
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