# How Long Does Beer Last In A Keg?



## MaestroMatt (8/9/09)

Hey All,

I did a good search to try and find my answer to this question but never really found exactly what I was after.

I want to get into kegging eventually and am concerned about only one thing....

Whilst I give a fair bit of my beer away to friends/family (currently in bottles), I still find it takes quite a while for little ole me to get through a batch of brew. So I started wondering if I am going to have to up my drinking in order to get through a keg before it goes 'bad'.

So..... is there a general 'use-by' date for beer once it is in a keg and dispensing? Or will it last for a long while? I know it must depend on the beer but I generally stick to the normal style ales.

I know it is going to take me a while to get through a keg by myself but don't want to waste the beer if it will deteriorate quicker in a keg than in a bottle.

Thanks for your patience!

Matt


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## chadjaja (8/9/09)

you will be fine. It will last longer in the keg than the bottle because you store your keg at such low temps compared to how you store all your bottles I assume. It will last for 6 months plus easily. I worried about it at first but haven't noticed much change in mine and some have been in keg for months.


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## technocat (8/9/09)

This topic has been covered before. General consensus is that if it doesn't become oxidized and you maintain CO2 in the keg it will last for years. However hop flavour will start to diminish in a couple of months after kegging.

:icon_cheers:


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## crundle (8/9/09)

+1 for hop flavour dropping off after a few months. I try to get through my normal beers in about 2 months or less to get them at their best.

Crundle


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## Bribie G (8/9/09)

I've got a couple of full kegs waiting their turn. I don't filter (yet) so when I rack the beer into the kegs I add a smallish amount of sugar solution (about 60g sugar, boiled of course) and carbonate the keg like a huge bottle. Then after a few days I burp the keg (pull on the wee lever at the top so that the CO2 hisses out) and burp again after a few more days which should have flushed most if not all of the oxygen in the headspace, then just leave the kegs sitting till it's time.

Some brewers take the kegs to the kegerator and attach a gas line to the gas-in post of the keg and burp it a couple of times, flushing any oxygen, then store the kegs till ready, but my kegerator is in the lounge room and the kegs are in the garage and I'm a lazy sod :lol: 

Currently I have 4 kegs and go through them fairly steadily but I'm shortly doing another 4 keg bulk buy so I'll end up with some beers sitting for a month or two as well.


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## jayse (8/9/09)

BribieG said:


> snipped>
> ...... 4 keg bulk buy




Four kegs is a bulk buy? four kegs is just a good weekend


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## cdbrown (8/9/09)

BribieG said:


> I've got a couple of full kegs waiting their turn. I don't filter (yet) so when I rack the beer into the kegs I add a smallish amount of sugar solution (about 60g sugar, boiled of course) and carbonate the keg like a huge bottle. Then after a few days I burp the keg (pull on the wee lever at the top so that the CO2 hisses out) and burp again after a few more days which should have flushed most if not all of the oxygen in the headspace, then just leave the kegs sitting till it's time.



Don't you flush the keg with CO2 before transferring beer in? I normally connect up the gas and give it a few short blasts and burp a few times before racking the beer. That way the keg already has a CO2 head space.


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## Bribie G (8/9/09)

cdbrown said:


> Don't you flush the keg with CO2 before transferring beer in? I normally connect up the gas and give it a few short blasts and burp a few times before racking the beer. That way the keg already has a CO2 head space.


Good idea, I'll also do that with my filtered beers when I get the filter.


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## cdbrown (8/9/09)

Off topic - but why so interested in filtering? A crash chill for a few days and some gelatine helps knock a lot of stuff out of suspension.


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## Bribie G (8/9/09)

cdbrown said:


> Off topic - but why so interested in filtering? A crash chill for a few days and some gelatine helps knock a lot of stuff out of suspension.



Really just for lagers and Aussie style mega styles, I'm finding the first third of the keg is a bit hazy despite gelatine or insinglass. Obviously I wouldn't worry so much with UK Bitters but it would be nice to dispense crystal clear from the first glass as happens all over the Planet when beer is served.


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## chappo1970 (8/9/09)

Maestro wanna swap livers for a little while, huh? I figure it's a win/win situation. My liver gets a break maybe even healthy and yours gets conditioned to DRINKING MORE! :beerbang: PM me and I have it arranged in India for us.

Chappo


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## technocat (8/9/09)

A man with a filter knows only to well how to put the final touch to his craft. If you never never go you will never never know.


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## MaestroMatt (8/9/09)

Chappo said:


> Maestro wanna swap livers for a little while, huh? I figure it's a win/win situation. My liver gets a break maybe even healthy and yours gets conditioned to DRINKING MORE! :beerbang: PM me and I have it arranged in India for us.
> 
> Chappo




hahahhhaha Thanks for the offer Chappo! I know just the place we can get the proceedure done...I am pretty sure this guy actually washes his hands....

Thanks for all the replies people (even though it was kinda hijacked by filter chat! .

It seems I will be fine once they go into kegs. From what I have been told, it is actually quite a bit easier to go through your brews when they are on tap.

Matt


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## newguy (8/9/09)

MaestroMatt said:


> From what I have been told, it is actually quite a bit easier to go through your brews when they are on tap.



Absolutely......Having beer on tap has definitely increased my consumption simply because it's so easy to pull a pint. No rinsing & drying bottles makes having a beer much more tempting.


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## Bribie G (8/9/09)

newguy said:


> Absolutely......Having beer on tap has definitely increased my consumption simply because it's so easy to pull a pint. No rinsing & drying bottles makes having a beer much more tempting.


Especially if you have two or three taps on the go as well, you don't need to open a bottle, then open another bottle; you can pour a pot at a time, or a schooner at a time. Or a pint at a time or .. h34r:


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## RdeVjun (8/9/09)

BribieG said:


> Especially if you have two or three taps on the go as well, you don't need to open a bottle, then open another bottle; you can pour a pot at a time, or a schooner at a time. Or a pint at a time or .. h34r:


Hmm, methinks that I'd be best sticking with glass- I struggle enough with bottled temptation as it is!

Seriously, I've thought about it for a while now, and while I have more than enough fridge space (last count was five fridges and a freezer), apart from the cost, one aspect that troubles me is the lack of variety. I don't have a huge array of batches on hand all of the time, but it has been nice to have the choice between six ESBs, a handful of Ordinary Bitters and a Mild, a FES and a RIS, plus a reference collection/ library of a couple of bottles from most batches over the last year to choose from. I can't see that I would have this vartiety if I kegged. I guess a CPBF could solve that problem fairly easily though?


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## buttersd70 (8/9/09)

jayse said:


> Four kegs is a bulk buy? four kegs is just a good weekend


Except at Muckeys place....four kegs in a weekend is a _slow _weekend....especially If Butters has been around. :lol: 



BribieG said:


> Especially if you have two or three taps on the go as well, you don't need to open a bottle, then open another bottle; you can pour a pot at a time, or a schooner at a time. Or a pint at a time or .. h34r:



Absolutely....you can pour as little or as much as you want, and boy howdy you can go through it quick if you don't keep count. 

for the OP...the beer won't go off, as such, as has already been mentioned....but it may go past it's 'best'. diminisheing hop flavour/aroma has already been given as an example, but the same applies for other styles, even malt driven ones, for example, english milds or bitters, which are best when green. But, and this is the main thing imo, it doesn't make it a bad beer, just not as good as it _could _be (as long as care has been taken in the brewing, and O2 ingress is minimised in your practices and procedures, of course.).....and the same issue applies with these styles _regardless of if it's left too long in the keg, or if it's left too long in the bottle. _So the vessel itself isn't isn't really the issue anyway, imo. 

As far as I'm concerned, kegs have better long term stability, due to the fact that not only is it under pressure, but it's flushed with co2 immediately on filling anyway, unlike a bottle (even if it's capped on foam, it's not fully flushed). 2c


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## /// (8/9/09)

Me and a few mates, lucky to get past a few hours personally .... :icon_cheers: 

But, as time creeps in haze will develop on older beer as well as any breakdown of yeast (if not filtered) over time as is standard ....

Scotty


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## BjornJ (8/9/09)

Sorry if this is all wrong, but I thought bottle-condition beer would be drinkable waaay longer than beer in a keg?

I thought the fact that the bottle conditioned beer was on yeast would make it last for years (not counting Bitters, etc. Learned that one by leaving my Coopers English Bitter for 4 months).
And that when force-carbonating the beer in the keg it would reduce the quality of the beer after only some weeks?

Hmm. Or am I mixing with commercial beers that are pasteurized/boiled while homebrew is not boiled and therefore does not go off?


Thanks
Bjorn


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## buttersd70 (8/9/09)

BjornJ said:


> Sorry if this is all wrong, but I thought bottle-condition beer would be drinkable waaay longer than beer in a keg?
> 
> I thought the fact that the bottle conditioned beer was on yeast would make it last for years (not counting Bitters, etc. Learned that one by leaving my Coopers English Bitter for 4 months).
> And that when force-carbonating the beer in the keg it would reduce the quality of the beer after only some weeks?
> ...



ass scotty mentioned, there will be a breakdown of yeast, regardless of if in bottle or keg, unless it is filtered....more specifically, filtered to a very fine grade, and/or pasteurised. Yeast is still present in the keg unless this has been done. It's just like a big bottle, really.


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## jayse (8/9/09)

Beernut said:


> A man with a filter knows only to well how to put the final touch to his craft. If you never never go you will never never know.



..or strip out the final touches, whichever way you want to think about it! :unsure:


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## buttersd70 (8/9/09)

filtering to me is a bit like playing poker with cowboys....you have to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away....and i can't remember the next line. :blink: 

point being, grade of filter, beer style, and reason for filtering (factored in with changes to flavour vs clarity) need to be considered as a _whole_. 2c


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## technocat (13/9/09)

jayse said:


> ..or strip out the final touches, whichever way you want to think about it! :unsure:


Sorry Jayse I couldn't disagree with you more unless you like HB in its raw state. I won't argue with anyone who doesn't mind drinking beer with yeast in it if that's their thing go for it, and many breweries produce a range of naturally carb'd beers to cater for that market .......it just aint or me, however I draw the line at pasteurization.


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## troopa (13/9/09)

BribieG said:


> I've got a couple of full kegs waiting their turn. I don't filter (yet) so when I rack the beer into the kegs I add a smallish amount of sugar solution (about 60g sugar, boiled of course) and carbonate the keg like a huge bottle. Then after a few days I burp the keg (pull on the wee lever at the top so that the CO2 hisses out) and burp again after a few more days which should have flushed most if not all of the oxygen in the headspace, then just leave the kegs sitting till it's time.
> 
> Some brewers take the kegs to the kegerator and attach a gas line to the gas-in post of the keg and burp it a couple of times, flushing any oxygen, then store the kegs till ready, but my kegerator is in the lounge room and the kegs are in the garage and I'm a lazy sod :lol:
> 
> Currently I have 4 kegs and go through them fairly steadily but I'm shortly doing another 4 keg bulk buy so I'll end up with some beers sitting for a month or two as well.




Bribie sorry to drag your post back up but im curious as to y you dont just let the CO2 carb your beer up while your at it instead of burping
Save you a couple of bucks here and there on Gas wouldnt it?

Tom


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## Fourstar (13/9/09)

buttersd70 said:


> point being, grade of filter, beer style, and reason for filtering (factored in with changes to flavour vs clarity) need to be considered as a _whole_. 2c



i dont filter but i am not against it (very convenient if you need a beer bright asap. e.g. a party.

Im happy to let mine CC for a week or so, or even age outside of the fridge if need be then transfer to a secondary keg under C02. Zwickel method! a marginal waste of CO2 (equalise the kegs) but it pulls star bright beers every time and no worrying about bumping the keg.


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## buttersd70 (13/9/09)

Troopa said:


> Bribie sorry to drag your post back up but im curious as to y you dont just let the CO2 carb your beer up while your at it instead of burping
> Save you a couple of bucks here and there on Gas wouldnt it?
> 
> Tom



Tom.
To flush the headspace free of air, to replace it with just co2


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## WobblyBoot (15/9/09)

I've been putting a new keg fridge together after years of travel, and I've just now sampled beer from kegs I put away in storage in 2006.

Keg 1 - a Toohey's Old - style dark ale that was mellow to start with so can't say if much hoppiness was lost

Keg 2 - a Hefeweizen, again, low on hop bitterness

Both have survived the intervening years very well! :icon_cheers:


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## O'Henry (15/9/09)

Did the Hefe still taste like a hefe? My experience has seen them decline in flavour quite a bit after not even 6 months...


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## mckenry (15/9/09)

[quote name='O'Henry' post='521222' date='Sep 15 2009, 09:01 PM']Did the Hefe still taste like a hefe? My experience has seen them decline in flavour quite a bit after not even 6 months...[/quote]

Hey O'Henry
And you tasted a bottle of my wheatie batch that was 'lost' then rediscovered years later.
Tasted like port.
Not all beers appreciate ageing.


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## O'Henry (15/9/09)

Oh yeah, that was an experience. I had completely forgotten about it. Not infected or anything, just severly funky, and indeed very port-like.

WB: Did you find any strange flavours in the keg of hefe? Was it kit/extract/AG?


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## Mantis (16/9/09)

It doesnt last long around here. 

Seriously , I think Wobblyboots 3yr old kegs give the answer


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## hsb (10/1/13)

necro bump


Had my first beer go south in the keg yesterday  
It was a Nelson/B Saaz (Motueka) APA that I kegged back in July 2012.

It was a good'un, nice fruity/malty things. Hop profile obviously changed over time but still tasted great right up to xmas.
But then over the last week it suddenly just developed severe vegetable tastes, became undrinkable, zero hops, only corn/cabbage/unpleasantness.

Given how great the beer was before, and how sudden this flavour change was, I figure it just went stale in the end?

Jesus and the Angels be praised, it was only 3-4 litres. Tipped it last night. Only mention as it's the first beer I've had go off in the keg.


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