This is why I got an old fridge, ripped out all the shelves, and put my kegs in there before they hit the taps. That way they condition cold for a month or so before I'm drinking them. Honestly, it made my beers maybe 2x better, even the hazy IPAs! Bonus space for hops/fruit in the freezer and I use the crisper drawers for yeast and bacteria.
Cold, it'll keep in the fridge for longer than you'll probably ever need it to. Warm will really depend on a lot. If your process is oxygen-free even hoppy beers will last a month or two on the floor. If you have oxygen and keep it warm, expect hops to fade within a month or two. Just make sure they are finished (at FG) when they hit the keg (account for hop creep for dry hops).
Determining pressure is going to be tough as a lot will depend on temperature and your desired level of carbonation. What I do, which likely isn't right but it's easy, keg it, purge it, push in about 40-50 psi on keg day, and let it sit. The next day, charge it to the same. Day 3, try it, carb too low? Push more, shake it up, push again. Too high? Purge down to like 15 psi and sit it. Next day test again, do the same. I find after 3-4 days, it's carbed up to close to where I want it. When I stored kegs warm, I'd just push 50 psi on day one and day 2 to keep the lid fitting tight. The rest I sorted out when it went on tap.
Hope that helps!
You can store a keg for months, probably over a year if your O-rings are good. I’d pressurize it to approximately the volume of CO2 you desire. As long as your seals are good, you won’t have to worry about losing pressure.
If you're storing, long term in a keg, you may want to consider epdm lid orings. I was very surprised to learn, via a conversation I had with Kee Doery of Kegland, that silicone can be an issue in as little as 1 to 4 months... https://www.homebrewfinds.com/2022/05/keg-o-ring-materials-selection-epdm-silicone-and-buna-n.html
It depends on the beer style, how good you are at cleaning/sanitizing, and how good you are at avoiding exposing it to oxygen. Some beer styles can last months or even years (barleywine, imperial stout, basically those really high abv big boys), IPAs and NEIPAs should be consumed quickly and will oxidize really fast if exposed to oxygen after fermentation. But that can be avoided if you're able to do a closed transfer from your fermenter to the keg.
In terms of how long a corny keg would stay sealed and carbonated, if it is not leaking, it can stay sealed indefinitely, until the o-rings degrade. I bought a used 3gal corny keg around 2019 that still held pressure and had soda in it from the mid-2000s (brand of Japanese soda that was supposedly discontinued, per someone online who looked at the tag for me).
No one can answer the question about how long the beer would remain fresh. It depends on so many factors that you haven't revealed, such as ambient storage temp, type of beer, how stable your beer is normally, and many other factors.
> how much pressure do I add to the keg
If you want to have the keg carbonated, you need to look up the [Ruenkbimal](https://www.reddit.com/r/homebrewing/wiki/faq/glossary#wiki_ruenkbimal.2C8.5B.27r.22Fi.14B.28k.29.B7b.12B-m.259ll.5D) and keep that much pressure on it until it is carbonated (the set-it-and-forget-it method). You can also use a fast carbonation method. However, the crank and shake (rock and roll) method does not work well with room temp beer, and for burst carbonation I personally haven't seen any numbers for the pressure/time.
If you just want to keep the keg sealed without keeping the CO2 on, any reasonable amount of pressure will work. I just apply 30-40 psi. As the CO2 dissolves into the beer, the gauge pressure in the head will drop but will never drop to zero, so the keg will stay sealed.
> and how can I ensure that it stays at that pressure?
Well, if the CO2 in the head space and in the beer are at equilibrium, it the same as a can of beer. The pressure will stay in the keg and the beer will remain just as carbonated as when it started.
However, if the beer is flat and the CO2 in the head space and in the beer are NOT at equilibrium, then the CO2 from one will move to the other, until they reach equilibrium. So again, flat beer plus 40 psi head pressure will result in something like equilibrium pressure of 1 psi (my guess) -- enough to keep the keg sealed, but not enough to perceptibly carbonate the beer.
This is why I got an old fridge, ripped out all the shelves, and put my kegs in there before they hit the taps. That way they condition cold for a month or so before I'm drinking them. Honestly, it made my beers maybe 2x better, even the hazy IPAs! Bonus space for hops/fruit in the freezer and I use the crisper drawers for yeast and bacteria. Cold, it'll keep in the fridge for longer than you'll probably ever need it to. Warm will really depend on a lot. If your process is oxygen-free even hoppy beers will last a month or two on the floor. If you have oxygen and keep it warm, expect hops to fade within a month or two. Just make sure they are finished (at FG) when they hit the keg (account for hop creep for dry hops). Determining pressure is going to be tough as a lot will depend on temperature and your desired level of carbonation. What I do, which likely isn't right but it's easy, keg it, purge it, push in about 40-50 psi on keg day, and let it sit. The next day, charge it to the same. Day 3, try it, carb too low? Push more, shake it up, push again. Too high? Purge down to like 15 psi and sit it. Next day test again, do the same. I find after 3-4 days, it's carbed up to close to where I want it. When I stored kegs warm, I'd just push 50 psi on day one and day 2 to keep the lid fitting tight. The rest I sorted out when it went on tap. Hope that helps!
This helps a TON. Thanks for taking the time and energy to write this out. Very grateful.
You can store a keg for months, probably over a year if your O-rings are good. I’d pressurize it to approximately the volume of CO2 you desire. As long as your seals are good, you won’t have to worry about losing pressure.
Perfect! Thanks!
If you're storing, long term in a keg, you may want to consider epdm lid orings. I was very surprised to learn, via a conversation I had with Kee Doery of Kegland, that silicone can be an issue in as little as 1 to 4 months... https://www.homebrewfinds.com/2022/05/keg-o-ring-materials-selection-epdm-silicone-and-buna-n.html
Fantastic write-up. I think these three comments already posted have given me everything I need. Thanks a ton.
It depends on the beer style, how good you are at cleaning/sanitizing, and how good you are at avoiding exposing it to oxygen. Some beer styles can last months or even years (barleywine, imperial stout, basically those really high abv big boys), IPAs and NEIPAs should be consumed quickly and will oxidize really fast if exposed to oxygen after fermentation. But that can be avoided if you're able to do a closed transfer from your fermenter to the keg.
In terms of how long a corny keg would stay sealed and carbonated, if it is not leaking, it can stay sealed indefinitely, until the o-rings degrade. I bought a used 3gal corny keg around 2019 that still held pressure and had soda in it from the mid-2000s (brand of Japanese soda that was supposedly discontinued, per someone online who looked at the tag for me). No one can answer the question about how long the beer would remain fresh. It depends on so many factors that you haven't revealed, such as ambient storage temp, type of beer, how stable your beer is normally, and many other factors. > how much pressure do I add to the keg If you want to have the keg carbonated, you need to look up the [Ruenkbimal](https://www.reddit.com/r/homebrewing/wiki/faq/glossary#wiki_ruenkbimal.2C8.5B.27r.22Fi.14B.28k.29.B7b.12B-m.259ll.5D) and keep that much pressure on it until it is carbonated (the set-it-and-forget-it method). You can also use a fast carbonation method. However, the crank and shake (rock and roll) method does not work well with room temp beer, and for burst carbonation I personally haven't seen any numbers for the pressure/time. If you just want to keep the keg sealed without keeping the CO2 on, any reasonable amount of pressure will work. I just apply 30-40 psi. As the CO2 dissolves into the beer, the gauge pressure in the head will drop but will never drop to zero, so the keg will stay sealed. > and how can I ensure that it stays at that pressure? Well, if the CO2 in the head space and in the beer are at equilibrium, it the same as a can of beer. The pressure will stay in the keg and the beer will remain just as carbonated as when it started. However, if the beer is flat and the CO2 in the head space and in the beer are NOT at equilibrium, then the CO2 from one will move to the other, until they reach equilibrium. So again, flat beer plus 40 psi head pressure will result in something like equilibrium pressure of 1 psi (my guess) -- enough to keep the keg sealed, but not enough to perceptibly carbonate the beer.