Does kegged beer need to condition ?

[oc eric]

If you bottle you have to wait 2-3 weeks for the beer to condition and taste its best. Does that apply to kegging as well? Everyone says that once you keg it and then force carbonate you can drink right away. What is the magic of kegging that makes the beer not need conditioning?

[backyard brewer]

A good portion of the bottle conditioning process is the beer absorbing the CO2 and carbonating. so by force carbonating, you bypass that. However, I find that beer that is allowed to cold condition in the keg for a couple weeks is always better than when you first keg and carb.

[lars]

+1 on what Derrin said. You avoid the carbonation time, but I always find that conditioned beer simply tastes better. Remember, the last pint is always the best...

[jward]

No magic, but I think it depends on what you mean by "condition". When you have a beer that is ready to drink and only needs carbonation kegging should get you there fast. My wheat beers are like that especially the hefes. If you have a beer that needs some age then time gets you there not a keg. Lots of us who keg use what we call a "bright tank". Its a keg with a short dip tube. Young cloudy beer goes in. When it settles clear, the beer is pushed to a new keg with a full length dip tube for serving. Even then some beers still need some time for flavors to mellow. A stout I have made a couple time comes to mind. The recipe author suggests waiting 45 days for the flavors to balance out. He's right.

[oc eric]

Thanks guys! I guess I don't have to dunk that out. I'll try it every week and see if it changes.