Can I store

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badgerbrewer

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Hi all
I think i read somewhere that it is possible to brew a beer and then transfer it to a clean fermenting bucket and add finnings and let it condition prior to putting it into a pressure barrel. Is this true ,does anyone out there do this and how long can the beer be stored for. The reason i ask is a lack of space, I only have room for one pressure barrel in the house at a time which leads me to have a brew ready as soon as the barrel is empty which in turn means I start drinking it too early which causes indigestion and also means that by the time the beer is in good form there is`nt much left. Would like to get a few brews ahead and store them in the garage. Possible or not ?
 
To be honest I think most people just tend to leave it in their primary for longer.. You can by all means do a secondary but I don't think it is a nessacary requirement, in fact some people offset the need to do it with the risk of infection and introducing oxygen..

How long are you typically leaving the brew in the primary for? go for 2 weeks+ and if you can get it cold for a day or so prior to kegging.
 
Hi all
I think i read somewhere that it is possible to brew a beer and then transfer it to a clean fermenting bucket and add finnings and let it condition prior to putting it into a pressure barrel. Is this true?

Basically, no, though I think the advice from Covrich is sound.

Once the beer has stopped fermenting, it has no protection from oxidisation and bacterial infection. It will condition, as opposed to deteriorate, only in a bottle, keg or a closed container under airlock.

Not sure what others do in very resticted spaces, but there may well be other approaches to solving this problem.
 
Basically, no, though I think the advice from Covrich is sound.

Once the beer has stopped fermenting, it has no protection from oxidisation and bacterial infection. It will condition, as opposed to deteriorate, only in a bottle, keg or a closed container under airlock.

Not sure what others do in very resticted spaces, but there may well be other approaches to solving this problem.

With respect, I'd have to disagree with you here slid on the no protection from bacteria point as beer has protection from infection once fermented because a) alcohol is a hostile environment for bacteria,, for a number of reasons including low PH and low oxygen, and b) Hops are naturally anti-bacterial. Thats not to say this it's impossible for bacteria to take a hold,just a lot harder than say wort.

I agree with corvich I'd just leave it in the primary until your pressure barrel is free. I've left beer in the primary for 4 weeks no problems.
 
You can transfer to a new bucket and add finings as part of the brew process but it's not a long term storage solution.

Are you able to have multiple PBs in your garage ?

If so you can get ahead by taking a shortcut and rack into a PB early, say after 4-6 days of fermentation when it has slowed down. At this point there will still be some sugar left to ferment so you wouldn't have to add much to the PB to carbonate. So by day 5-7 you can get your next brew going.

As long as your garage is not freezing the yeast should still be able to work. What you would be doing is combining the completion of primary fermentation with carbonation. Conditioning would then follow as normal.

I have multiple PBs out in the garage and they keep themselves carbonated right to the last pint so the yeast is active.

(there might be some protests at this post)
 
See my post in general discussions. I racked off a beer in October last year. It sat in the garage over winter and I only barrelled it last week.

It is superb. Well conditioned pub quality beer. Racking off & leaving it did it no harm at all.

I always leave beer in the primary until the yeast has fallen out of suspension which usually takes about 3 weeks. Then I rack it off the trub and leave it. At that stage I might dry hop it before bottling/kegging. The whole process takes about 6 weeks. I take my time. No rushing to get it drunk. It produces great beer.
 
I am leaving it until the end of fermentation. Typically two to two and a half weeks. What i am trying to do is reduce the time the barrel is standing untouched while the beer conditions.
 
With respect, I'd have to disagree with you here slid on the no protection from bacteria point as beer has protection from infection once fermented because a) alcohol is a hostile environment for bacteria,, for a number of reasons including low PH and low oxygen, and b) Hops are naturally anti-bacterial. Thats not to say this it's impossible for bacteria to take a hold,just a lot harder than say wort.

I agree with corvich I'd just leave it in the primary until your pressure barrel is free. I've left beer in the primary for 4 weeks no problems.

Yes, those are fair points, maybe I'm being slightly paranoid.
 
Yes, those are fair points, maybe I'm being slightly paranoid.

After having three brew get infected (through my own fault experimenting with top cropping) but fortunately still ending up drinkable, It definately pays to be a bit paranoid. My cleaning routine is now a whole lot more rigourous than it used to be
 

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