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A question about kegging.

Belikeafrog

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North Aurora, Il.
I am going to be kegging my first beer next weekend.  It is a stout so I was planning on letting it age for a few months.  I was wondering if there is any reason not to age beer in a keg without hooking up the co2 and carbonating it?  In other words could I just hook up the co2 a couple of weeks before i plan on tapping it or is the carbonation import to the aging process in some way?  I was planning on hooking it up at the beginning just to force the O2 out with the co2 then disconnecting.
 
From my personal experience, if you want to age the beer further don't carbonate it until you're ready to drink it. It's too tempting to tap it if you know it's already carbonated.  :D
I don't think aging it in a keg uncarbonated will have any unfavorable effect.
 
When you keg your beer always pressurize and vent the gas a couple of times. The first time you vent 50% oxygen and CO2. The second time less and so on. The idea is to get the oxygen out of the keg and keep positive pressure in the keg keeping oxygen out. I vent out the oxygen and pressurize to 30 lbs. I use a spray bottle with StarSan to check for leaks. If I have no leaks I then store the keg knowing that it should keep the nasty oxygen out. When it's time to put the keg on tap I bring her in, chill, pressurize and serve!
 
Tempting it would be indeed.  That is a good point I actually did not think about.  Thank you though for the responses.  That is exactly what I plan on doing.
 
Definitely put some pressure on it. Especially since there is always the possibility that your keg may have a bad seal.

(A penguin is driving through the desert and his car breaks down. That means his AC is down as well. Thankfully AAA is quick and there is an ice cream shop across the street from the mechanic.  As he is feasting on ice cream in the walk-in cooler the mechanic comes by and says "It looks like you blew a seal."  The penguin replies, pointing to his face, "No, it's ice cream. I swear it's just ice cream!")

As it so happens I have a full keg of the best (and second) pils I ever made sitting in my cooler all carbonated and ready to go.  It has been ready for over a month, and by ready I mean lagered for a full month.  It will keep there until the first Saturday of August when I bring it to my good friend's yearly bbq. A few glasses will be removed to test carbonation levels, but otherwise it will be at least 4.5 gallons strong.

I say carbonate it and exercise self control.  It builds character.
 
Personally I carbonate first and then store. This gives me the ability to have my beer ready in a days notice. If I store my beer carbonated then I can throw it in the fridge overnight and have it ready for the following day. Of course you have to chill it before carbonation and you have to be able to exercise some self control.
:)
 
brewnut said:
From my personal experience, if you want to age the beer further don't carbonate it until you're ready to drink it. It's too tempting to tap it if you know it's already carbonated.  :D
I don't think aging it in a keg uncarbonated will have any unfavorable effect.

Exactly, once it's carbonated a taste will quickly turn into a drinking session. I just leave mine in the secondary fermenter.
 
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