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Author Topic: Storing kegged, carbonated beer for later use  (Read 5625 times)

Offline davetharave

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Storing kegged, carbonated beer for later use
« on: September 25, 2014, 10:48:43 am »
The keg is full, the beer is nicely carbonated. I took a sample taste and it's ready to go - except that I want to serve it about 9 days from now. What's the best way to sustain it at this level (i.e. take it off the CO2 ? Disconnect the tap line ? etc.) Thanks !

Offline Stevie

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Re: Storing kegged, carbonated beer for later use
« Reply #1 on: September 25, 2014, 10:50:59 am »
You can just leave it or take the connectors off and be fine. Either cold or warm, but I recommend cold. If you carbonated it above normal serving pressure for the style, you would want to lower the pressure or take the gas off.

Offline davetharave

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Re: Storing kegged, carbonated beer for later use
« Reply #2 on: September 25, 2014, 02:23:10 pm »
You can just leave it or take the connectors off and be fine. Either cold or warm, but I recommend cold. If you carbonated it above normal serving pressure for the style, you would want to lower the pressure or take the gas off.

Thanks a bunch, appreciate the info. First time kegging and had good results so I want to keep it that way.

Offline Stevie

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Re: Storing kegged, carbonated beer for later use
« Reply #3 on: September 25, 2014, 02:28:24 pm »
One last thing... be sure your lid has a good seal. I seat my lids with about 50 PSI while yanking up on the bail. After a few minutes I turn the pressure down to where I am going to carb it or serve it. Keg lube on the o-ring helps as well. If you decide to take the gas off, check it after a few days using a spray bottle filled with starsan.

Offline davetharave

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Re: Storing kegged, carbonated beer for later use
« Reply #4 on: September 25, 2014, 03:37:54 pm »
Yes I used keg lube on the seal. The keg was used but came with a fresh set of gaskets. Everything's tight and holding well. I like the pressure seating trick, I'll try that next time. Thanks again !

Offline Greg B.

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Re: Storing kegged, carbonated beer for later use
« Reply #5 on: October 16, 2014, 07:10:38 pm »
So you can keg a batch of beer, throw the CO2 to the keg to pressurize, remove the ball lock and CO2 and it will still carbonate?  I need to do this soon and was concerned that I'm not going to be able to leave the CO2 on it and refrigerate the new batch.  I have only 1 CO2 tank and a kegerator and have a half full keg currently on tap.  This will only be my 3rd kegged batch and was unsure how to do the forced carb with only one co2 tank.  Still learning.......

Offline morticaixavier

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Re: Storing kegged, carbonated beer for later use
« Reply #6 on: October 16, 2014, 08:02:07 pm »
So you can keg a batch of beer, throw the CO2 to the keg to pressurize, remove the ball lock and CO2 and it will still carbonate?  I need to do this soon and was concerned that I'm not going to be able to leave the CO2 on it and refrigerate the new batch.  I have only 1 CO2 tank and a kegerator and have a half full keg currently on tap.  This will only be my 3rd kegged batch and was unsure how to do the forced carb with only one co2 tank.  Still learning.......

it won't carb up unless there is more or less constant pressure. the co2 will fill the headspace and stop filling. then as the co2 dissolves into the beer the pressure in the head space will go down. if the gas is on while this is happening it will continue to refill, other wise it will simply reach equilibrium and stop dissolving. once it is carbed you can disconnect the tank and it will stay carbed.
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Offline Greg B.

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Re: Storing kegged, carbonated beer for later use
« Reply #7 on: October 17, 2014, 01:30:02 am »
That makes sense.  Guess I need to look for a second co2 tank.  Thanks for the info!

Offline erockrph

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Re: Storing kegged, carbonated beer for later use
« Reply #8 on: October 17, 2014, 02:29:32 am »
That makes sense.  Guess I need to look for a second co2 tank.  Thanks for the info!
Or just get a distributor box. Or a dual regulator if you want different pressures on each keg.

I just have a single tank/regulator myself. If I'm carbonating one beer while I have another on tap, then I leave my gas on the beer that's carbonating, then just "top off" the keg I'm serving from as I need it.

If you're carbing multiple kegs at once, then you can just hit each keg with gas a couple of times a day at a higher pressure than you're carbing to. I start with 30 PSI the first day or two, 20 PSI the next few days after that, then 15 PSI. It's not ideal, but it lets you make do with what you have.
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Finally got around to starting a homebrewing blog: The Hop Whisperer