adamjackson
Well-Known Member
My biggest problem in the summer isn't that I don't have enough beer, it's that I don't have enough beer ready to drink when kegs kick at my big summer parties here in New Hampshire.
I have a 4-tap kegerator right now...usually, there are 2 IPAs on tap, a sour or saison and finally something low ABV like a Belgian Witt or Fruity Hefeweizen.
That's my "ready to drink now" pile..sometimes in there is a keg that's carbonating but I will usually carbonate kegs completely using my dual CO2 regulator and then put the carbonated kegs in the beer cellar until I am ready to drink them...then, it's a 24 hour wait until the beer keg is cold enough to actually pour.
Current Pipeline:
4 Kegs on Tap (all about half-full)
1 Keg ready to tap
4 - 5 Gallon batches in carboys, 2 are done, 2 are fermenting
2 - Batches being brewed this weekend both 5 gallons which will be ready in about 3 weeks.
So, I'm thinking about a couple of things to make life easier:
1. I just ordered 2 more kegs so now I'll have 3 in the pipeline of beers kegged and ready to serve
2. Get a chest freezer with temp control so I can keep carbonated kegs at serving temperature which will also help my IPAs remain drinkable much longer
3. Start bottling every batch that can be aged to free up kegerator space for pale ales and "drink fresh" beers.
4. Convert an additional fridge to a 4-tap kegerator and have 8 beers on tap. as well as extra space to cold crash kegs before transferring to kegs. With one fridge and no chest freezer, I have to take all 4 kegs out of my fridge to cold crash my completed beers overnight and then those kegs of beer are room temp so it's basically 48 hours without any beer.
I'd love to be able to serve all completed beers at once..maybe build my own keezer so I'll have room for more kegs to serve but also room in there for cold crashing beers?
Anyway, it's quite a dilemma. I love brewing beer and this all will get consumed at the monthly drinking event at my house, so i'm not worried about my brewing rate, I just need help figuring out how to keep these beers carbonated, fresh and drinkable easily.
I have a 4-tap kegerator right now...usually, there are 2 IPAs on tap, a sour or saison and finally something low ABV like a Belgian Witt or Fruity Hefeweizen.
That's my "ready to drink now" pile..sometimes in there is a keg that's carbonating but I will usually carbonate kegs completely using my dual CO2 regulator and then put the carbonated kegs in the beer cellar until I am ready to drink them...then, it's a 24 hour wait until the beer keg is cold enough to actually pour.
Current Pipeline:
4 Kegs on Tap (all about half-full)
1 Keg ready to tap
4 - 5 Gallon batches in carboys, 2 are done, 2 are fermenting
2 - Batches being brewed this weekend both 5 gallons which will be ready in about 3 weeks.
So, I'm thinking about a couple of things to make life easier:
1. I just ordered 2 more kegs so now I'll have 3 in the pipeline of beers kegged and ready to serve
2. Get a chest freezer with temp control so I can keep carbonated kegs at serving temperature which will also help my IPAs remain drinkable much longer
3. Start bottling every batch that can be aged to free up kegerator space for pale ales and "drink fresh" beers.
4. Convert an additional fridge to a 4-tap kegerator and have 8 beers on tap. as well as extra space to cold crash kegs before transferring to kegs. With one fridge and no chest freezer, I have to take all 4 kegs out of my fridge to cold crash my completed beers overnight and then those kegs of beer are room temp so it's basically 48 hours without any beer.
I'd love to be able to serve all completed beers at once..maybe build my own keezer so I'll have room for more kegs to serve but also room in there for cold crashing beers?
Anyway, it's quite a dilemma. I love brewing beer and this all will get consumed at the monthly drinking event at my house, so i'm not worried about my brewing rate, I just need help figuring out how to keep these beers carbonated, fresh and drinkable easily.