I want to start kegging but I don’t have a dedicated fridge. Can I keg at room temp and fill a growler to put in the fridge?
I could be wrong, but that may work. It just may take longer to carb the beer at the higher temps.
Ok. Well, if I use my fermentation freezer to carbonate but then remove the keg and keep it at room temperature will that mess up the carbonation?
It’s way less than ideal to do it that way, I think the beer will be either flat or practically impossible to put in a growler without a lot of trouble. You could chill the keg and then bottle the whole batch. Or you could get some of those mugs you put in the freezer where the sides are filled with water, those work well. Or you could build a jockey box and just throw some ice in it when you want to pour a beer.
If you are serving at room temp, yes - as it warms up the co2 will be less soluble, so some of it will come out of solution. You’ll end up with higher pressure in the keg headspace and your beer will be flatter and pour foamy.
If you serve at carb temp/pressure with a period of warmth in the middle, it will not affect the carbonation.
Hmm. OK, thanks. I think I will wait until I can get another fridge or freezer.
How often do you brew? I served out of my fermentation fridge when I wasn’t fermenting in it.
I’m thinking about doing that. I had been brewing once every 2 weeks but life got in the way for the last 3 months. I can wait until I can get a dedicated fridge. My wife wanted to get me something brew related for xmas but adding the fridge puts it wait out of our price range for now.
It is wintertime. In most parts of the country you can serve most beer at ambient temp nicely. When I first started kegging it was good enough to keep the kegs in the back room away from any heat and it was not overly warm or foamy. It was generally in the 50s or 60s in my backroom.
Hehe, you should try that in Florida! I’m still wearing shorts.
gotcha. well you could also try a swamp cooler but it’s probably pretty humid down there too.
I don’t know what exactly the price range is, but for me, the hardware for the kegging and serving was way more expensive than the fridge. Lots of people will give away fridges for scrap that are capable of holding 45° but may not be able to hold the 34 they were shooting for. In the same day I found a fridge to build into my kegerator and another to use as a cheese cave on craigslist. IIRC, spent less than 50 bucks on both, both are still working great (and relatively efficiently because I leave them much warmer than they are designed to go. Something to look for anyway.
+1. You should be able to find a working fridge on Craigslist cheap…I found an upright freezer for $100.
When I started kegging I used a 2.5 gallon corny because it just fit in a dorm fridge. I would transfer from the 5 gallon cornies to the 2.5 and leave the half filled keg at cellar temperature. I used this until I moved to a house with a dedicated beer fridge.
As luck would have it a friend of mine has a 7 cubic foot freezer I can have in January. That will give me the time I need to arrange the garage for another freezer. dances a jig
I don’t have a dedicated fridge and have been kegging for about 3 years. My basement maintains a range of 58F-80F. I pour off into a 2 liters sealed with carb caps. Allows me to chill it and drink as I like. Pour a glass, and then apply CO2 via the cap.
Works fine for me until I ever finish my basement and get a fridge down there. Even then, I have about 10 kegs, so not all fit anyway.
Dur, I should have thought of that. I have some carb caps I use for making soda, it works like a charm. Should do the same for beer.
One could always use a 10 gallon Rubbermaid (cylindrical) water cooler and place the keg in. The dimensions are: 20.5" x 19.19" x 15.85". This means a corny would just be sticking out of the top.
Fill with water and swap frozen ice bottles out daily to keep at serving temp. Might not have to be daily either- especially as the beer level drops; and one could let some water out at some point so the keg doesn’t start bobbing.
I keep most of my kegs at about 55 - 60 when they are not in the fridge (I can only fit two).
This is a decent temp to pour a stout or other English ale and they are not overly foamy. But I’ve found it’s too warm for the Belgians.
If I’m planning to have a couple or if I’m taking some to a friends, I’ll fill a two liter as mentioned above and give it a short charge of gas. I’ve also filled growlers at this temp and they seem just fine as far as carbonation once chilled down a little more.
Now that it’s winter, I’ll struggle to keep that room of my basement as warm as 50. Which is nice for beer but not so nice for the wine.