BeerBorg

THIS GUY!! Actually i'm sure I will still bottle some batches because I only got one keg. I found a keg system in the local classifieds for a sweet deal so I went and swooped it up. Now I need to brew something I don't have anything fermenting!

a question for those of you who keg. Do you condition the keg before you force carb? Say I racked a pale ale from primary to the keg. Do I need to condition the beer in the keg before I put it in the fridge and put gas to it?

The first time I kegged I racked to the keg, it went straight into the kegerator, and I force carbed right then. It took 2 weeks to fullh carb but it tasted just fine. Since then I have bought more kegs and I naturally carb them while they wait for me to finish whatever is on tap. That way as soon as I blow one keg the next one is ready to tap and pour.

Congrats on the keg score! There are a few different ways to do it, so you'll need to experiment and find out what works for you. I just tapped my first one tonight. I force carbed it at room temp for about 3.5 weeks (which is about the amount of time it would sit if I bottled). Popped it in the fridge last night, and tonight I'm enjoying my first keg pour!

You can do it either way, force carb at room temp, chill and force carb the "set and forget" way, or chill and force carb by shaking, just depends on your set up and brewing method and how long you want to wait. I just did my first keg about a month ago, I kegged the beer and let it condition for a week at room temp, then I put it on gas in the fridge for another week at about 15psi/40 degrees, lowered the press down to a few pounds and then it was ready to drink, carbonation was perfect!.....easy as pie.

Its funny how there is so many ways to do it and no ” right way”. That's why I love this hobby. Thanks for the replies. I have research to do.

I have done natural carbing, set and forget and now I'm force carbing with it in the fridge at 40 degrees. Find what works for you, there are many ways. I try to follow this for force carbing:

Force carb chart

christler wrote:Its funny how there is so many ways to do it and no ” right way”. That's why I love this hobby. Thanks for the replies. I have research to do.

But conversely, there are a lot of wrong ways. Those are the ones that result in you dumping beer down the drain and entering Purgatory as a result

RickBeer wrote:Those are the ones that result in you dumping beer down the drain and entering Purgatory as a result

That's alcohol abuse and we won't tolerate it!!!

heh heh heh


Rick

Kealia wrote:

My bad, My bad! here you go. I'm going to have to take a trip to the lhbs and get some replacement parts. I think the dude I got it from left beer in the lines for a year!

Nice, congrats!

Whether or not I condition the beer depends on how well I think I brewed it. If I hit temps spot on with the right pitch rate then I will go from primary (cold crashed) directly to the keg into the mini fridge. I use the set and forget method to carb so it takes ~10-14 days to carb up and at that point it's fine.

If I think it could benefit from a little extra room temp conditioning, I'll go from primary to keg and let it sit for 2 weeks before going to the fridge.