Storing or Ageing in a keg

[Monkey]

So, now that you have it racked in...if you are going to age it for a long time (6 months to a year or longer):
Do you are it flat (O2 evacuated but keg at a low PSI)?
Or do you carbonate and then age?

I'll be aging an imperial stout on oak chips and I want to know the best way to store it: flat or bubbly.

[beerocracy]

I've always assumed it would need to be carbonated for aging, especially if the keg has needs pressure to seal completely. You can throw 20 psi on it to seal the lid, but isn't that going to diffuse into the beer and equilibrate at a lower psi and possibly result in a leaky lid?

[LocalBrewer]

I've always assumed it would need to be carbonated for aging, especially if the keg has needs pressure to seal completely. You can throw 20 psi on it to seal the lid, but isn't that going to diffuse into the beer and equilibrate at a lower psi and possibly result in a leaky lid?

I have known some fellow brewers who add priming sugar to the keg purge out the O2 and then age it and let the keg carb naturally. I have not tried this myself but the aged beers that I have had from them where good and I did not detect any oxidation.

[brewinhard]

I would store the keg carbonated for extended periods of time. It can't hurt the beer. Think of bottles that sit in the store/basement for a long time. They are just fine. Carbonated beer in a keg would decrease the chances of oxygen entering through a leaky lid as well.