How long can beer sit in my keg? I need to move in next couple weeks

[lorne17]

Hello there,

I have brewed an ESB Red Hook clone July 19th. I am in need of getting this put in my keg now that I'm at 4 weeks in primary. I have a question though. I am going to be moving homes within the next 4-6 weeks. Is it bad if I put it in my keg, add co2 gas enough to take any oxygen out of it and leave it in there unrefrigerated until I get move and can plug in my kegerator? Or should I get it cold in my current house, then unplug it and get it warm during the move?

What is the best option you'd recommend so I can salvage this delicious beer!? Any suggestions are appreciated!

Thanks,
Lorne

 

[cooper]

If you're not moving accross the country or anything like that then I would keg it per your normal process, enjoy a few pints over the next four to six weeks, and just move it in one trip to the new house.

If you're in a situation where it'll sit all day in the move then I'd keg it and drink it all over the course of the next four to six weeks till your move.

 

[Electrake]

I'm in the "just carb it, and drink it" club. No issues with moving beer if the beer is gone!

 

[m00ps]

Ive left a keg at room temp for a bit over 4 months and it tasted as fresh as the day I kegged it

Ive also drank half a keg, then decided to save the rest for a party 2 months or so later and that turned out fine too

 

[muels]

I have 1/2 keg of last years stout that I pulled to get the summer rotation going. I will be retapping it as soon as it starts to cool off a little more in the evening. If you're going to let it get warm just hook it up to gas and chill it again for a few days before you drink it. It's in a sealed, CO2 tight environment and will be fine for a long time. No worries.

 

[lorne17]

Thanks all. Yes I'm moving across town so no long hauls. The other caveat is I have a deep freeze kegerator and it has rust. So I need to dremmel the rust out and report the inside. So I have it unplugged currently and likely want to fix that before cooling the keg again. The rust grew my first keg get batch.

So with that said I may keg and set aside and it can be my new move in celebratory brew!

Last question, how much co2 should I put in it? Just enough to push air out of keg? Or fully carbonate the beer before move?

 

[Indian_villager]

Thanks all. Yes I'm moving across town so no long hauls. The other caveat is I have a deep freeze kegerator and it has rust. So I need to dremmel the rust out and report the inside. So I have it unplugged currently and likely want to fix that before cooling the keg again. The rust grew my first keg get batch.

So with that said I may keg and set aside and it can be my new move in celebratory brew!

Last question, how much co2 should I put in it? Just enough to push air out of keg? Or fully carbonate the beer before move?

Purge and pressurize you keg. You will be fine!

 

[muels]

Carbonate it, then you don't have to wait to drink it when you get it chilled. Make sure you use a pressure/temp chart so you get the proper CO2 volume.

 

[lorne17]

I hear carbonating it when it's warm is risky? Do you have a chart I can use? If it's too risky, I don't mind carbonating it after it's chilled at the new place.

 

[hottpeper13]

why not add sugar and seal it with 40 or so lbs and let it keg condition, then get it cold for moving day?

 

[TheBigLebrewsk1]

I've kept a beer in the keg successfully for near 5 months before it oxidized.

More important than that single beer is changing your keg lines and cleaning your faucets thoroughly after your move to keep future beers from being infected. It's happened to me.

 

[m00ps]

I hear carbonating it when it's warm is risky? Do you have a chart I can use? If it's too risky, I don't mind carbonating it after it's chilled at the new place.

all my kegs get most of the way carbed at room temp for 2 weeks or more before going into the kegerator. Itll be fine at room temps

 

[judsonp]

Carbonating warm isn't risky. You just need a different pressure to achieve a desired level of carbonation. (Alternately, you can carb using your normal pressure and accept that it'll be undercarbed when you first chill it. It'll catch up to being fully-carbed eventually.)

Do whatever you would normally do as if you're not moving. Then, don't worry about it. Or, do whatever's convenient: keg and hit with a high CO2 pressure to seal it up, then take care of it after you move; keg and carbonate warm; keg, chill, and carbonate cold; whatever. When you go to move, just disconnect the CO2, make sure it's been pressurized recently (if you just hit it once, it might have lost enough pressure that it could leak), take it to the new place, and get around to putting it on tap when you get around to it. Unless you put it somewhere that will get blazingly hot (or freezing cold... in August/September), the beer will not care if it gets warmed up and shaken up in transport and then chilled back down later.

The things you do want to do: keg it, because transporting a bucket or carboy is kind of a pain; have the keg pressurized, so it doesn't leak; let it sit a little after moving, since the stuff on the bottom will get shaken up; do not transport a keg while it's connected to a CO2 cylinder.

I recently moved and transported 4-5 kegs (3 of which were in the kegerator) and 3 carboys of aging sours. I've taken stuff off tap and put it in the basement for a couple of months, then put it back on tap. (Thanks, bad planning!) No harm.