How long will your beer last in a corny keg?

treemind · 03-19-2009, 12:39 PM

hey everyone...

Noob here, three batches in and hooked!

In May I plan to get a corny keg kit and small freezer to be able to have the goods on tap at home. In fact I found out a few of our local brewerys here around Seattle will even fill em for you between home made batches for only $55. So I am excited to start that journey and have lots of good beer at home.

So once you have your beer carbonated, how long will it last in your freezer?

(Not that i need all that much time to drink the stuff, between myself, my wife, and our friends it should be gone pretty quickly around here)

Also... one other question. When you get it filled at a brewery, I assume it will be carbonated already... however do the same standards apply to how long it will last in the freezer?

Thanks in advance for your input!

Bopper · 03-19-2009, 12:46 PM

Your beer will last much longer than it will take for you to drink it. I'm still convinced that kegs have some kind of a crazy beer evaporator inside - I can't figure out how I go through so much of it since I started kegging.

Cold, carbonated and sealed, kegged homebrew will last well over a year (depending on style). It will last just as long as bottles.

FisherWoodcraft · 03-19-2009, 12:46 PM

Your homebrew will last a very long time in the keg. I kegged my Oktoberfest back in June '08, lagered it until very late October and didn't finish drinking it until January '09. The last pint was the best tasting of the lot.

As for getting a keg filled at a brewery, I can't help you there.

-Joe

**Cpt_Kirks** · 03-19-2009, 01:59 PM

How long will your beer last in a corny keg?

Hmm...

5 gallon keg = 640oz

640oz = 32 20oz Imperial Pints

32 pints / 2 pints a day = 16 days.

So, 16 days.

Really, if you store the keg at 70*F or lower, it will stay good much longer than it will take to drink it. If you store it at 60*F or lower, it should stay good for a year or longer.

treemind · 03-19-2009, 03:31 PM

Thanks for the input!

I just wanted to make sure they would not go bad after a month or so.

Sounds like they will be long gone before i have any issues.

MikeG · 03-19-2009, 04:55 PM

Just making sure, you will be hooking your kegs up to a CO2 tank right? The filled corny's from the brewery may not be fully carb'd but your CO2 tank will take care of that quickly.

treemind · 03-19-2009, 05:35 PM

yes on the CO2 tank!

So from a brewery they are only partially carb'd?

could you force carb the brew just as you would a home batch?
or would it naturally carb by giving it a few days hooked up to the CO2?

MikeG · 03-19-2009, 06:24 PM

From the brewery I don't know.

When the beer is done fermenting it's 'flat'. There are two ways of carbonating it:
1) Add more sugar and in a closed environment let the yeast create enough CO2 to carb it
2) Add CO2 from an external source (forced carbonation - it may take a week to fully carb, depending on temp).

There are charts on this forum about how much volume of CO2 you want in your keg. As a rule of thumb I set my gauge to 12 PSI and forget it. I also don't naturally carb in the keg, it's just so much easier and the beer is crystal clear when I force carb.

Whatever volume you may want your CO2, the beer from the brewery may be lower that you want but enough to prevent O2/air from invading. When you hook it up to your CO2 tank you'll want to bleed excess pressure off your keg first in case it's higher and if it's lower you don't need to worry about it, your CO2 tank will carb it to where you want it.

BTW, some will equate force carbing to adding CO2 from the tank quickly by rocking it after connecting to a CO2 supply and can be confusing. My definition in #2 is technically correct. Good luck and let us know when you get set up!

Fett327 · 03-19-2009, 07:49 PM

Beer from a brewery should be fermented and carbed. Its always possible that u might lose a little co2 in the transfer to your keg, but it shouldnt affect it much. And as soon as u put it back under pressure ull get that carbonation back.

If you get beer from local breweries, i would ask them what temperature and pressure they keep it at (or ask how many volumes of co2 they put in it and use a carb table). That way u know how they like to serve it. Or you can just screw it and put it in your kegerator at 12 psi. It should taste great either way.

treemind · 03-19-2009, 08:15 PM

very cool, thanks for the info.

I had planned to force carb my own batches once i get my corny set up, but once in a while when between batches i want to be able to fill up at the local brewery. Sounds like i have all the answers i need right here! House beer on tap is only a few months away!

For now i will stick to the bottles... or head on down to the pub and spend nearly five bucks a pint! arggggg....