Fermenting in a keg - should I bother transferring after fermentation?

Question

So recently I've been getting into fermenting in kegs and if I'm not going to dry hop (I would want to transfer away from the dry hopped hops to avoid grassy flavours), should I bother transferring into another keg after fermentation?

It should be noted I have a floating dip-tube and normally cold crash.

So after the crash could I just carb the keg up to the desired levels, rest for a few days/week(s) and drink?

I've read that leaving it on the trub for a really long extended time can create off flavours but the beer is going to be drunk in under 2 months. I've read about people that have left it on the trub longer than that with no off flavours, although beer isn't around long enough for me to test that.

It was a recent clawhammer supplies youtube video where they announce their new XL fermenting keg they talk about serving in the same keg as fermenting in.

Thoughts? Bad idea? Good idea? Has anyone done this and if so what are your experiences?

Answer 1

One of the reasons to leave fermenting beer on the yeast is to allow the yeast some time to remove diacetyl, at a slightly elevated temperature above starting fermentation temp.

For commercial breweries that may have 3BBL or 90BBL systems, there is an interest in getting the beer off the yeast in a timely manner since there is concern of autolysis in those circumstances. But, this concern is a matter of scale. The current understanding is that beer in a home brew five gallon fermenter does not impart enough weight on the yeast cake for this to be a serious factor.

a Brulosophy article on extended yeast contact discusses this, however the author mentions root cause was inconclusive. A significant number of testers were able to identify something different between the two beers tested.

So, ymmv. One downside of serving in your fermentation keg (if it is a corny keg) is you will need to wait a couple months to harvest any yeast for a re-pitch.

Of subjective note: I have left my beer on the yeast for a month before racking/kegging and haven't noticed a difference. I do find when fermenting cider however, off flavors are reduced considerably when racking the cider into secondary to age and stabilize.

If yeast harvesting isn't a concern, I'd just go for it. If you notice anything funky starting to develop, you could possibly rack into another keg and see if it goes away. Much of homebrewing is subjective preference anyway. Just look at the spectrum of hop preference for instance.