Hi All, happy Friday.
I was wondering if it would be okay to rack to a korny, purge it with CO2 and store said korny outside of the keezer until needed. Outside keezer storage temp would be approx 75deg. If this is possible, what would be the max duration w/o spoilage?
Thanks, Mike
I do this all the time. I have a RIS that I have been aging since April, plan on leaving it til November. I have been doing it for most of this year and no ill effects noticed in any of my brews. Most of the regular brews (5.0%-6.0%) usually only sit for 1-2 months before there is a spot for them in the keggerator.
If your process is clean they won’t spoil, but they will taste less fresh after about 6 months of room temp storage IME. Just last weekend I cracked open a 3 year old bottle of Pliney the Elder clone that has been stored in a ~75deg closet. It was clean but tasted like a boozy pale ale rather than the ‘hop juice’ it was originally.
Based on mine and family/friends consumption, I’d estimate any korny would be stored not less than 3 months. I run 3 in my keezer currently. I would be nice to have a couple back ups.
You’ll be fine people do that all the time.
That could be just due to the aging, as hop flavor will diminish over time.
I think that keeping them outside of the kegerator is fine, but you want to find the coolest spot to put them in.
Considering this keg would be stored for a few months, is there any reason why I couldn’t condition it with corn sugar/sugar so it’s ready to go as soon as it’s cold??
That is what I do and it works well for me. Figure my pipeline of filled kegs might as well be carbing themselves while they sit there waiting for their turn to be consumed.
“Flippin” fantastic :cheers:
That or just put it on gas to carb. I would definitely carb though, the cornies are designed to seal under pressure. Without carbing I’d worry about some air getting in.
I would agree that you should hit it with CO2 to seal it, even if you add priming sugar. After a week in the 70’s I would move it to a basement or other reasonably cool spot. You could do a swamp cooler type set up and swap out ice bottles, etc… If you want to prolong the freshness!
When priming my kegs I add the sugar solution, rack the beer to the keg, purge the keg with CO2 (by pulling the release valve a few times when I’ve got CO2 hooked up) and then pressurize the keg to 30 psi. Works great for me, don’t have to use any CO2 up on carbing my beers thus a 5 lbs CO2 tank lasts me through dispensing ~14 kegs. After a 2-3 weeks of conditioning/priming all that I need put the beer in the fridge and it is ready to go once it is cold. It is nice that I’ve got a chest freezer separate from my kegerator that I use to hold kegs and bottles so when a keg kicks I’ve got another one ready to go on right away.
I store mine and force carb at 67F so they are ready to go when they hit the kegerator.
Somewhat related question.
Instead of bottle conditioning, could I just use one of my cornies and dump the beer and priming sugar in that and just let it ‘bottle condition’ in my basement (temps at 70F), until ready to drink? How long will the beer keep (looking at a nutbrown extract or similarfor next batch)? Thought I would ask if this would help me avoid buying bottles for my next batch. I may do that, if this will help me get my keezer completed quicker.
[quote=“Yesfan70”]could I just use one of my cornies and dump the beer and priming sugar in that and just let it ‘bottle condition’ in my basement (temps at 70F), until ready to drink? [/quote]Yes.
[quote=“Yesfan70”]Somewhat related question.
Instead of bottle conditioning, could I just use one of my cornies and dump the beer and priming sugar in that and just let it ‘bottle condition’ in my basement (temps at 70F), until ready to drink? How long will the beer keep (looking at a nutbrown extract or similarfor next batch)? Thought I would ask if this would help me avoid buying bottles for my next batch. I may do that, if this will help me get my keezer completed quicker.[/quote]
The same amount of time that your bottled beer will.
[quote=“Nighthawk”][quote=“Yesfan70”]Somewhat related question.
Instead of bottle conditioning, could I just use one of my cornies and dump the beer and priming sugar in that and just let it ‘bottle condition’ in my basement (temps at 70F), until ready to drink? How long will the beer keep (looking at a nutbrown extract or similarfor next batch)? Thought I would ask if this would help me avoid buying bottles for my next batch. I may do that, if this will help me get my keezer completed quicker.[/quote]
The same amount of time that your bottled beer will.[/quote]
One more thing.
I guess since you’re bottle conditioning in a corny, would it be alright to wait about 2 weeks, then purge any remaining air out of the keg to make sure you have only beer and CO2?
Sorry for all the questions.
I’d say the best route would be to add the sugar, rack, mix and purge the keg with CO2 ensuring all O2 is out of the headspace. Then let the sucker sit in a cool place until needed.
[quote=“Yesfan70”]
One more thing.
I guess since you’re bottle conditioning in a corny, would it be alright to wait about 2 weeks, then purge any remaining air out of the keg to make sure you have only beer and CO2?
Sorry for all the questions.[/quote]
Like Steppedonapoptop said.
After filling the keg with beer, purge the keg of O2 by releasing the PRV a couple of times while the gas is hooked up. Then set the regulator to ~30psi to seal the lid and check for leaks. Remove the gas line and let the keg sit to carbonate.
There will be little to no O2 in the keg at this point.
I don’t have a CO2 tank, taps, etc. The only have just the corny kegs. I took advantage of a distributor on ebay that was selling a bunch and planned on letting them sit until I got everything else.
I was thinking if cornies will keep like bottles, then I’ll just dump my second brew into a keg and let her sit until I can piece together my kegerator. I got a freezer coming to me, just need to get the other things like temp controller, taps. CO2 tank etc. That will be a few weeks since I don’t have the funds to do everything at once. I figured I can let that second batch sit in the keg in the basement for a month or two until then. The wait will suck, but it will be nice to know I have a keg I can tap once my kegerator project is done.
Sorry I didn’t mention that before.
