Can I keg and store at ferm temp?

[markvale5]

So I plan on brewing my first AG next week. I am planning on kegging 4 gallons of a 5 gallon batch and bottling the rest. I have a temp controller hooked up to my kegerator and a heating source where I will be storing my bottled beer that is primed with sugar in the kegerator alongside my kegged beer (keg will not be primed). My question is will it be fine if I store my kegged beer in the kegerator (fermentation chamber) alongside my primed beer bottles while my bottles carbonate? Or do I need to refrigerate and carbonate my kegged beer imediately? My issue is that I don't have an extra fridge to store my kegged beer, so I was planning on letting the kegged beer sit in the fermentation chamber with the bottled beer while the bottles carbonate and then cool the keg and bottles down together as soon as the bottles are carbonated and ready. Any advice in this matter is greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[fergusmj]

From my knowledge, no harm in letting the beer sit in the keg, but I would add co2 and try and purge the air as much as possible. You could purge the air and blast with 30psi then just let it sit. You'll get some carbonation, but not much since it'll be a ferm temp without constant pressure.

You can also naturally carb in the keg with sugar. Same as a big bottle. Don't know the exact amount though.

 

[markvale5]

Thanks for the response. I was trying avoid natural carbing the keg just because I was curios in seeing the difference between bottled with priming sugar and a kegged batch that was carbed with gas.

 

[fergusmj]

No prob.

Also, check this chart out for reference. 10psi @ 35* is 2.52 vols co2. To get the same 2.52 vols at 65* you need 29psi.

http://www.kegoutlet.com/media/uploads_ckeditor/Carbonatin-Chart.jpg

 

[markvale5]

That's an awesome chart. Do you know at how many days it would take for the carbonation?

 

[fergusmj]

I don't know for sure, but I would assume the same amount of time for either, so about a week or 2.

When I keg my beers, I put them in the fridge and on 30psi for 2 or 3 days then turn it down to about 10psi to finish. The 30psi for 2 or 3 days ramps the carbonation up quicker, but then I turn it down before it hits the volume I want. Otherwise I'd end up with over-carbed beer which is no good. I usually still let mine go for at least 5 days before trying it.

There's also the shaking method you could do at the same time to help it absorb faster as well. Give it some good shakes periodically to help the co2 absorb.

You figure you only have about a 1/2 gallon of head space in the keg that the co2 is working with so shaking helps the absorption.