How long will beer keep in a 40 pint keg - if used daily?

[jimsx]

Apologies for newbie question ...

If I fill a keg with 40 pints and then (once ready) start drinking it / emptying via the tap - how long will the remaining beer keep?

I'm hoping it is more than just a few days - as obviously I can't drink a gallon or more each day!

Is this where the CO2 priming / topping up comes in to make the beer keep for longer?

Is it possible to keep it in the keg and just take a few pints each week over two or three months?

 

[RobWalker]

It'll last about 6 months before the flavour peaks and it starts to degrade for most beers. in the event that it's one of the beers that benefits with age (dubbels, christmas beers, imperial stouts) then it'll probably last a few years in a keg. You can take as much or as little as you want, there really is no real limit, so relax!

I usually get down to 10 pints and have to gas with the S30 to dispense from then on.

 

[jimsx]

Thanks Rob - so is CO2 only added to a keg once the beer doesn't easily come out of the tap and it doesn't have any sort of "preservative" affect?

I think I was getting confused with another comment on here about adding CO2 and then releasing / retightening the cap on the keg briefly to let any air / oxygen out - which I assumed was to stop the beer going off.

I always thought kegs of real ale at pubs / music festivals etc go "off" within a few days if not used?

 

[RobWalker]

Yep, in my experience it's just for dispensing when pressure runs out from the priming sugar.

You can purge if you want - I do sometimes - after transferring you gas it, open the lid up, then reseal just before it runs out. like you say, it purges the oxygen, but I would consider it better for wine/cider than beer, as the priming sugar in beer (which you still need to use) acts very quickly to purge the oxygen out anyway, and it's already somewhat protected by the natural co2 created.

The casks at pubs etc do go off in 9 days or so, but it's different. Value & king kegs are designed to dispense beer and keep it for a good amount of time too. If you had to drink 40 pints in a week they wouldn't be very good sellers :thumb:

 

[artyb]

ive had beer in a keg for 4 months... :

 

[Pearlfisher]

I finished a keg of American Pale Ale last weekend with I barrelled at the beginning of April and it was excellent to the last pint.

 

[Titus A Duxass]

I've just drunk 5 pints of a Tim Taylor clone that I started in May - tastes fantastic!

 

[jimsx]

I've just drunk 5 pints of a Tim Taylor clone that I started in May - tastes fantastic!

I'm impressed that you can still type properly!!