BeerBorg

I've been toying with the idea of getting a smaller keg for my 2.5 gallon batches. Not that bottling a case is such a chore, but storing bottles is inconvenient, and I really like having beer on tap.

I had planned to put the small keg in the lager fridge down in the basement and use a picnic tap. This raised concerns, though.

A) There wouldn't be enough room for the equipment AND a carboy if I wanted to make a lager.

B) I've been cold-crashing my beers in there lately, and I like it, so I want to continue doing it, and see A) above

C) I'd need to buy a lot more equipment, such as a regulator, a CO2 tank, and the lines, as well as the picnic tap.

D) Who wants to hoist himself out of his chair and walk all the way down to the basement to get a beer?

But here's the thing: I got money last summer from my bowling league. My team came in first place, and I also got money for highest individual points. I've spent some of it, but I still had some left over. Well, today, I got a Christmas tip from a nice customer of mine. Fifty bucks. When I put it in the envelope with my bowling money, I realized I now had $250 of essentially free money; I can do whatever I want with it.

Then I realized that I already have a keezer, and the 5-gallon kegs that I'm using are never all full at the same time. With my brewing schedule, I could easily put a smaller keg in there, and have two taps available constantly, even if one of them is a small keg. And I would only have to buy the keg, as all the connections and lines are already in place. I'll probably still have to bottle a 2.5 gallon batch every now and then, but not as many as I am now.

I think I'm gonna do this. One question, though...

If all the room in the keezer is taken up, would I be able to keg a batch and just let it sit in the basement, not hooked up or chilled, until space became available, and then bring it upstairs and hook it up? Or would that harm the beer?

Do it. I currently have 3 kegs sitting at basement temps, hopefully to no harm. No different than aging in bottles, IMO.

I would love to add a 2.5 G keg to my 2 taps, but the prices seem high compared to 5G. So I pass.

I've let my kegs condition for a few weeks with no worries. Of course, some hoppy beers lose some of their goodness but lots of my darker beers have been in kegs for 2-3 weeks with no problems. I fill with gas, vent a bit and fill again to about 15 psi and let her sit. If I think I'll put her in the kegerator in just a week, I may give it more gas.
Keep in mind that a warm-ish keg won't carb bast at all so if it's cool in the room, it will start to carb a bit.

I've only got room for one keg (two if I really work at it) in my kekerator, and I've had add many as 8 full at one time. Acme that's at room temperature.

You can carb at room temp if you set the psi a bit higher (there are charts around that show the effect of temp on carb levels, but I just set it a little higher and adjust once it's in the kekerator).

Maybe the best option would be parlaying your new found money into a new hat or three.

I may ask about it at my LHBS when I go there on Saturday. Actually, if they have a small keg in stock, I may go ahead and buy it right then.

Thanks for the responses. I think what I would do with a keg that couldn't fit in the rotation right away would be to just add CO2 and vent four or five times to force all the oxygen out, as I do now, and then just keep it on standby. Then I'll hook it up and let it carb for a week or so before tapping it.

HerbMeowing wrote:Maybe the best option would be parlaying your new found money into a new hat or three.

Nah, I already got more than I can wear. And you can't drink a hat.

MrBandGuy wrote:Do it. I currently have 3 kegs sitting at basement temps, hopefully to no harm. No different than aging in bottles, IMO.

I would love to add a 2.5 G keg to my 2 taps, but the prices seem high compared to 5G. So I pass.

I have a couple of 2.5 gal kegs; they're awesome. They are more expensive than used 5 gal kegs.... I like the portability. It's worth it, IMHO.

Rebel_B wrote:

MrBandGuy wrote:Do it. I currently have 3 kegs sitting at basement temps, hopefully to no harm. No different than aging in bottles, IMO.

I would love to add a 2.5 G keg to my 2 taps, but the prices seem high compared to 5G. So I pass.

I have a couple of 2.5 gal kegs; they're awesome. They are more expensive than used 5 gal kegs.... I like the portability. It's worth it, IMHO.

It's not just portability for me. For every 5g batch, I brew two 2.5g batches, so it makes sense for me to rotate at least one of those batches into the kegging system. I'd still be able to keg all my fivers, since I have 3 kegs. But currently, I only have one of my two taps working. Why not have a small keg fill in the gap and always have two beers available to draw from?

Keep an eye on a site called Beverage Elements, I have used them for a couple of kegs good prices, also Adventures in Homebrewing always has something going on with keg sales on 2.5 and 3 gallon kegs.

Thanks, Dawg, I'll check them out.

I don't think it was mentioned here and I'm sure you're aware but I'll say it anyway.

You can also naturally carb the keg so when one kicks the next one is ready to just chill and tap without having to wait to it to carb up like a "new" keg would.
I don't do this myself, but a number of folks here do.

Kealia wrote:I don't think it was mentioned here and I'm sure you're aware but I'll say it anyway.

You can also naturally carb the keg so when one kicks the next one is ready to just chill and tap without having to wait to it to carb up like a "new" keg would.
I don't do this myself, but a number of folks here do.

That's the way I do it. I just hit it with CO2 every once in a while. I think the Guage is off on my second canister. I was carbonating it at room temperature and it's way over carbonated.

Yeah, I know that's an option, but I don't think it'll be necessary. The way I see it now is having three kegs (of whatever size) already in the keezer, either being charged/conditioned or being drawn. I've got two taps, so one keg would always be in reserve. With a fourth keg (of whatever size), I wouldn't have room in the keezer, and I wouldn't have another gas line to hook up to it. So I would fill the fourth keg, vent the oxygen out of it, make sure the seal around the lid is tight, and then set it aside until one of the keezer units kicked it. Rotate kegs, repeat. There would be waiting time for the new keg to be ready, but it's in "on deck" while I draw from the other two keezer units.

That's the idea, anyway. And I'd still have to bottle some of my 2.5 batches anyway.

The keg out of the keezer, just hit with 25-30 lbs after purging and and disconnect the gas, once some of the CO2 is absorbed, even warm it will absorb some, the pressure will equal out in the headspace and beer.