Kegs Expire?

[SerLung]

Nice simple question for the gurus.

Got beer in kegs in a chest fridge. Going to stop drinking beer for a few months. If I turn the fridge off and leave the kegs in there, will my beer go off?
Should I keep the gas on?

Cheers, Matt

 

[Acasta]

Not a guru, but beer in a keg can spoil just like beer in a bottle. However, if you have purged oxygen I believe it would slow down the effect. If you could keep it cold it would also help slow down the process.

 

[donburke]

Nice simple question for the gurus.

Got beer in kegs in a chest fridge. Going to stop drinking beer for a few months. If I turn the fridge off and leave the kegs in there, will my beer go off?
Should I keep the gas on?

Cheers, Matt

in theory, they should be fine, if you have been completely sanitary in all procedures of making that beer, and no oxygen has been introduced

in practice, things are not that perfect, and its likely something may have made it into your beer to spoil it

those spoilage organisms will work faster on destroying your beer if they are warmer

i would leave the fridge on the coldest setting to give your beer the best chance of survival

as for the gas, disconnect it, you should have a sealed system and it wont achieve anything leaving it on

 

[donburke]

Not a guru, but beer in a keg can spoil just like beer in a bottle. However, if you have purged oxygen I believe it would slow down the effect. If you could keep it cold it would also help slow down the process.

beaten, and also i am not a guru, at least not in these circles

 

[ekul]

Depends on your hygiene. For instance, if i turned my keg fridge off it would result in all sorts of nasty things, as i rarely clean my kegs. (I just fill them up when they're empty).
If you are careful with cleaning then you should be able to do it.

If it was me i'd drink the beer and then turn the fridge off so you don't even have to worry about it. (Then i'd make more beer and leave the fridge on )

 

[Pennywise]

I've just tapped a stout that's been in the keg for four months, at room temp. It's bloody beautiful. If your sanitation is up to scratch I'd say it's beer style dependent

 

[AndrewQLD]

Depends on your hygiene. For instance, if i turned my keg fridge off it would result in all sorts of nasty things, as i rarely clean my kegs. (I just fill them up when they're empty).
If you are careful with cleaning then you should be able to do it.

If it was me i'd drink the beer and then turn the fridge off so you don't even have to worry about it. (Then i'd make more beer and leave the fridge on )

Jeez Luke I thought we taught you better than that mate, at least tell me your dropping the same beer in each keg and not going from say a CPA to a belgian Strong Dark Ale and back again.

And just to add to the topic I can't see any problem with storing a beer brewed cleanly and under gas in stainless, some styles would last longer as in strong heavy beers and others not so long light ales and lagers.

Andrew

 

[QldKev]

Jeez Luke I thought we taught you better than that mate, at least tell me your dropping the same beer in each keg and not going from say a CPA to a belgian Strong Dark Ale and back again.

Andrew

Scary thing is, where did he get the fridge and kegs from?


:lol:

 

[wambesi]

I had a porter in the keg freezer for more than a year until I finally had the last drop, never spoiled.
As mentioned prior it comes down to your procedures really.

But if you are not going to touch it at all, then as also mentioned disconnect the gas, etc and it should be fine.