Ageing beer in secondary

[Steve_]

Hi guys, I've just started into kegging - had my first beer from it yesterday actually, but I'm looking into ageing my beer, and with only 2 kegs this process could be non-existant for me. I've read a lot on this site about racking, but can your beer age in a secondary, and if so, for how long before it risks infection. I just bought a 25ltr food grade drum from Bunnings, could I rack into that, (screw top lid, rubber seal, shouldn't fly off), maybe prime a little and treat it like a giant PET bottle for a few months until I dispense into a keg?
Naturally more kegs would be the convenient answer, but until I drink enough to turn a profit, my credit limit has been placed on hold
Any help would be great.

[rwh]

You don't need to age beer in kegs the same way you age beer in bottles. It conditions much faster (for several reasons, including the lack of headspace and also the higher overall population of yeast). More than a month would be overkill. But yes, if you really want to get the most from your kegs, you could use a cube and rack into your kegs, or you could just buy one more keg!

They do say that beer from kegs tastes best fresh. Not green, mind you, but fresh.

[poida]

Hi Guys,

I'm kind of in the same boat here, only have 2 kegs and only 2 will fit in my fridge. So I was thinking that to build up my supplies I would buy a few 20L plastic jerry cans and rack into those until a keg is free.

But being that these wouldn't be stored in a fridge, will this be a problem? If I were to store a keg outside of the fridge I would at least first burp the keg so that there is c02 on top and no oxygen.

Maybe like Steve suggested, I could put a bit of dextrose in the jerry can to get the yeast going and leave the lid a little loose for a few days and then tighten it?

I know I should buy more kegs, but I can only fit 2 in the fridge at a time and after I've finished brewing one beer, I can't wait to start the next.

Anyway, maybe a dumb idea, but any opinions would be great. Cheers

[rwh]

I've never tried it, but there are a few issues that spring to mind.

1. Sanitise thoroughly and you should be OK from the infection front.
2. Plastic is not a complete barrier from oxygen, so you will get some staling if you leave your beer in there too long. How long is too long is anyone's guess, but I'd be wary about anything longer than a month or two.
3. Fresh wort containers would be ideal as they're free. The one I've got is 17L, so you can fill it right up and avoid the oxygen in the headspace problem. I've used it for cold conditioning an ale and it worked well.
4. A tablespoon of dex in the 20L jerries would probably work pretty well too.
5. Why did I number all of these?

[poida]

lol, ok cool thanks that. I guess the answer is it "might" work. Hopefully someone has tried it and can save me from making a big mistake. I hate wasting beer. Yeah I've got a few fresh wort containers, but they're only 15L so my kegs would fill up a bit short.

[Ross]

Just get another keg - chill, carbonate & then take it out the fridge & store until ready to drink - then simply put in the fridge over night to chill & drink...Too easy.

Cheers Ross

[rwh]

Of course, you can also skip the chill & carbonate step if you add some priming sugar to the keg. That way it'll be all gassed up ready for dispensing as soon as you chill it. Incidentally I was talking to the brewer at the Emerald Hill Brewery in South Melbourne. He uses cornies behind the bar, and he naturally primes them too, he said that the beer tastes better that way. It's worth a visit, open every friday afternoon, happy hour between 5 and 6. The guy's just an overgrown homebrewer (and I mean that as a compliment). Check out the blowoff tubes coming out of the fermenters.

[poida]

Thanks for the replies. Yeah I probably should stop being a tightarse and get some more kegs. Just when you think you've got everything you need.......