Newb keg question

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ebowers

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Jul 5, 2010
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Portland, OR
Hey guys,

I have a quick question. I am considering purchasing some keg equipment in the future. I live in an apartment and I dont have a kegorator. Will the beer go bad if you don't keep a tapped keg cold? I mean bottles can sit in a closet and age. I am wanting to just tap the keg and fill up growlers to put in the fridge when I want some beer. What do you guys think?
 
It won't go bad, but it's all but impossible to pour a room temperature beer. It'll be >90% foam, IME.
 
A keg can be treated like one giant bottle. In fact, a lot of people here let their beers condition in the keg for weeks or months at a time. So long as you purge the air out of it and keep it tightly sealed with CO2 it is fine.

The only issue you may run into is pressure changes from swapping from warm to cold and trying to fill bottles warm. Depending on how quickly you plan on drinking the growlers you could find it hard to keep them carbed (if at all) if filling at room temp. You'll also have to fiddle with the pressure in order to fill a growler because at room temp you may be looking at letting the keg sit at 20 psi or more to carb up to the right level, and in order to fill a bottle you'll need to purge the gas and go down to like 1 or 2 psi so the beer just barely flows from the tap so you can keep your carbonation, etc. Even then, it's a challenge.

So it can be done and it's fine to do so, but it will just take a little extra work on your part every time you want a beer.
 
Hey thanks for the quick responses! I think maybe if I am going to invest in keg equipment I might as well get a kegorator. Thanks for the tips guys.
 
That is probably the best bet. Otherwise you're just going to probably get frustrated with how difficult it is to fill the growlers, waiting for them to chill before drinking, etc. To start out you don't need anything fancy and just a free or inexpensive fridge or chest freezer from craigslist will get you started. :mug:
 
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