About to start kegging - can I store beer?

[David Woods]

Ok hi all,

I am just starting to go the kegging route and was wondering if this plan is going to be OK.

I want to do a brew, then keg it, pressurising to purge oxygen but then leaving it till I need it then setting the right pressure for carbonating and serving.

I want to get a couple of brews into my two kegs but only drink one after the other. So one will be stored for a while. This means I can have a break from brewing instead of a regular brew day due to other commitments.

Is this going to be OK? pitfalls I should be aware of? All grain if it makes a difference.

Any help would be great.

 

[JockyBrewer]

Is your limitation that you can only keep one keg cold at a time?

You can certainly store beer in a keg. It's just like a giant bottle really, to the point that if you want to carbonate the 2nd keg while you're drinking the 1st one you can prime it with sugar and it'll naturally carbonate. The beer will stay fresher if kept cold, but it's not a necessity.

Force carbonating with CO2 is easier when the beer is cold, and even then if you want it to happen in a few days then you need to bump the pressure up to 30psi+ for 1-5 days then reduce to serving pressure.

 

[The Baron]

Yes thats what most of us do. just make sure you can keep the temperature of the keg stable, cool if possible just try to avoid large fluctuations.

 

[Rodcx500z]

I put 2 on today set at 30psi fridge set at 5c tomorrow i will reduce to 15psi for a few days then down to 10psi

 

[David Woods]

Thanks, I am thinking that I will prime it with sugar (dextrose) and leave till needed. I assume I will need to inject some CO2 to seal the lid at the start.

So when drinking do I just add CO2 as the level goes down to keep it carbonated?

 

[Leard]

I can only fit two kegs in my keezer, but have three. So I'll often have a beer sat in one waiting for another to run out. Never had any issues.