Sharing a fridge between fermentation and kegging?

[Rikusj]

I've been bottling thus far and I'm about 2/3rds the way through my most recent hoppy pale ale and I've picked up a serious change in taste with pretty much all the hop character having gone away (the recent hot weather in CT likely hasn't helped - this last third was stored at "room temp" for about 4 weeks now)... I'm mostly drawn to the heavily hopped beers, so I've been doing what I can to minimize oxygen exposure with my current setup, but it's never going to be perfect for hop forward beers I imagine.

I've steered away from kegging thus far as I like being able to give beers to mates and I generally drink very little during the week, so it's a couple of brews of the weekend. So a fully fledged kegging setup seemed overkill to me unless you brewed/consumed "a lot". I'm now reconsidering as I've effectively got a third of a batch that's lost most of it's appeal.

If I were to transition to kegging that should solve the oxidation/storage? So I've been thinking about using my ferm fridge to also chill/serve a keg... If I were to get a very simple 1 keg setup, then the main downside seem to be the downtime between an empty keg and fermenting the next batch (though bottling a few brews from the keg may bridge this gap to some extent)?

Has anyone else done this with a single fridge? Would appreciate any advice. Don't think I can justify *another* fridge together with kegging kit...

[Toxxyc]

I would rather buy another fridge, or a chest freezer. You can get second-hand fridges or old chest freezer for GREAT prices these days. Another option is a chill plate or a jockey box. That's a method where you don't chill the beer in the keg, but rather run the warm beer from the keg through a chiller JUST before serving. To me, that's been a good option as it's also portable for when people come to visit.

[Langchop]

I've been bottling thus far and I'm about 2/3rds the way through my most recent hoppy pale ale and I've picked up a serious change in taste with pretty much all the hop character having gone away (the recent hot weather in CT likely hasn't helped - this last third was stored at "room temp" for about 4 weeks now)... I'm mostly drawn to the heavily hopped beers, so I've been doing what I can to minimize oxygen exposure with my current setup, but it's never going to be perfect for hop forward beers I imagine.

I've steered away from kegging thus far as I like being able to give beers to mates and I generally drink very little during the week, so it's a couple of brews of the weekend. So a fully fledged kegging setup seemed overkill to me unless you brewed/consumed "a lot". I'm now reconsidering as I've effectively got a third of a batch that's lost most of it's appeal.

If I were to transition to kegging that should solve the oxidation/storage? So I've been thinking about using my ferm fridge to also chill/serve a keg... If I were to get a very simple 1 keg setup, then the main downside seem to be the downtime between an empty keg and fermenting the next batch (though bottling a few brews from the keg may bridge this gap to some extent)?

Has anyone else done this with a single fridge? Would appreciate any advice. Don't think I can justify *another* fridge together with kegging kit...

If you do get into kegging, you will get one keg, then another, and probably another and then another fridge. If thats something you want to avoid, why cant you just store the bottles in the fridge?. From my experience (i started kegging also because I thought this wasnt the case), hoppy beers really dont keep much longer in a keg versus bottles also in a fridge.

I have a single keezer where I occassionaly keg (not much anymore), store beers, or ferment. Its okay for me because I am not the brew every 2nd weekend type anymore. So the 'ferment cycle' is fine for a 2 week slight temp elevation when 'storing' beers (bottles), but you cant really dispense from a keg or grab a cold beer out there. At least bottles you can take out though and put a couple in your main fridge.

With lagering it can work out pretty well because your lagering temps are pretty close to what your 'ready to drink' bottles or keg serving temps are. IMO, if you are trying to co-ordinate many kegs and fermentations, it will become an irritation eventually.

[AlexBrew]

... and I've picked up a serious change in taste with pretty much all the hop character having gone away (the recent hot weather in CT likely hasn't helped - this last third was stored at "room temp" for about 4 weeks now)...

Sounds like oxidation to me. You need to store the beer as cool as possible. I saw a video on YT on the channel 'Brew Dudes' and was mentioned that for every degree C upwards there's a 10x evolvement in the oxidation process. I don't know how true that statement is but keeping beer in a warm garage is doomed for eventual failure.

[Langchop]

Yea. My first IPA that I loved so much and still thought needed 'conditioning'... I had what I thought was an early 'green' taster after 1 week, and it was so amazing, I was excited this would turn into the most awesome beer.
After 2 and 3 weeks it tasted like a blonde. I was devastated that I hadnt had more at the 1 week mark, and I was clearly not prepared for how quickly the oxidation/ aging klapped all the hops aroma/flavour.

[JIGSAW]

You're going to loose that hop flavour even if you keg and even if you store cold for long, so that keg is going to get ½-way and you'll notice less "hoppiness"

[jannieverjaar]

Agreed. So ive been playing with the idea of oxygenation limitation ( and alliteration). The guy on home brew challenge on YT. Has inspired me, but if i go this route this is the only thing that will fit in the fridge. 35l snub nose https://brewmart.co.za/shop/index.ph...roduct_id=1489.
Ferment, dry hop, carb and dispense out of one cylinder. No o2 when you dont need it. That should extend the life a bit but i dont think it will completely avoid the flavor reduction. And finish the beer before autolosis

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[JIGSAW]

Ja Nee, ek dink die grootste probleem is, julle manne drink te stadig

[PaBz0r]

Ja Nee, ek dink die grootste probleem is, julle manne drink te stadig

Lol dink ook so :P

[Langchop]

Oi Jannie... You know once you have all that setup, you are going to have to play around with pressure fermenting