How long will untapped keg last?

hi,
A guy I know has a keg full of Bud light...wants to sell it. It's never been tapped. My assumption is that it will last for a few months as is without being tapped and cooled. I'm having a xmas party in December, if I bought it from him it should be fine till then right? PLUS...I will turn it into a keggle afterwards lol.

$50 sounds good to me...no?

considering you can get a brand new one for 65... but then you gotta deposit for the keg. hmm

it's worth it if you're throwing a party where people will empty the keg for you.

Yea, there is no deposit required for me...in the end it's a 15 gallon stainless steel brewpot for 50 bucks. Even if I didn't drink the beer I think. But the beer would make it more worth it lol.

It will last untapped for a month or so right?

Don't be a thief, return the cooperage to it's rightful owner.

There are plenty of places online where you can legally obtain a keg for conversion into a brew pot.

Jaysus said:

Don't be a thief, return the cooperage to it's rightful owner.

There are plenty of places online where you can legally obtain a keg for conversion into a brew pot.

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Don't be so quick to judge, and don't call him a thief, he never said the keg was obtained through ill-gotten ways. If the keg does belong to some liqour-store owner, then yes, it really should be returned. However, most liquor stores I've bought kegs from had a $50 deposit, so if that's the case, I don't see the advantage OPs friend has from selling the keg to him.

As far as the freshness of the beer, I suppose it all depends on how long the beer has been in the keg. Bud Light is not exactly known for it's shelf-life. If you use a proper CO2 pump set up, you can test the keg now. The "party pumps" just fill the keg with O2 to replace the beer, and it will oxidize your beer, the CO2 pumps will replace that space with CO2 and will keep you beer fresh.

I have no clue where or how the keg was purchased. It's not exactly a friend, "a guy I know"...just an acquaintance. I didn't think at all that I would be stealing a keg. I didn't get any details other than "so and so wants to sell a keg he didn't use for $50." I want a 15 gal brewpot and have an xmas party coming up so I thought it a deal. If that's being a thief I guess I won't go get it, but I didn't think that and was not my intention.

DRoy, the keg was never tapped. So there has been no O2 injected to oxidize the beer. In my mind the beer that is in it is no different than the beer I put in Corny's for secondary. Is that correct?

The brewery still owns the keg.

(or the company that provides kegs to the brewery.)

The book that came with my keggerator says that most brews should be drank within 3 months of manufacture. What does "most brews" mean?..... I dunno. But I suspect Bud lite won't hold up too long. As far as the keg... If it has beer in it, then it has a deposit down on it. Most liquor stores only have a deposit of around 20-30 bucks (where the hell are they charging 50??????) which is no where near the cost of the keg. I know in MD when you get a keg, by state law they take your name and address down so that the liquor store can come and get the keg back for the brewery. Thing to remember.... You are BORROWING the keg, Not buying it.

Hammy71 said:

The book that came with my keggerator says that most brews should be drank within 3 months of manufacture. What does "most brews" mean?..... I dunno. But I suspect Bud lite won't hold up too long. As far as the keg... If it has beer in it, then it has a deposit down on it. Most liquor stores only have a deposit of around 20-30 bucks (where the hell are they charging 50??????) which is no where near the cost of the keg. I know in MD when you get a keg, by state law they take your name and address down so that the liquor store can come and get the keg back for the brewery. Thing to remember.... You are BORROWING the keg, Not buying it.

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They're charging $50 in Illinois now as well. Went with a buddy to pick a couple up at the liquor store on Sat. A year ago the same store was only charging $10. When we asked why they had such a price increase they said that the manufacturers were charging them more now if they didn't return the kegs.

.........because so many are being stolen for pots or just scrap.

Yep... that's how most of us got our keggles.