how long will beer last in a cornelius keg?

Will it expire?

Different beers age differently. But it won't actually "expire" in a closed, sealed system. IPAs will lose some of their bright hoppy aroma characteristics from dry hopping with weeks, or a few short months, while your barleywine is only going to improve over the next year...

whatabout like a few years.. would it taste like crap after that long?

Depends on the style. Barleywine? nope. most others, maybe. probably.

The question is - how does a beer LAST THAT LONG ?????

Sounds like it's time to brew again.

If it's sealed properly and there's no infection, then it's just like a big bottle. Some beers will improve with age, others will not. A big barleywine will probably get better after a few years.

I dont have a kegging system and my first homebrew batch is still in the primary (about 11 days now). I am just thinking of the future and possible scenarios. I would like to have a 4 corny keg setup in my house but I really only dring a few beers a week and I dont have that many friends come over (ok almost none). I truely love great beer but I tend to lean twords the healthy side of things and dont drink it that often. But now that I think about it if I had 4 corny kegs filled with great homebrew I would probably drink it a lot more often.

Aging mellows things out, and lets more subtle flavors come through.

IPA? You don't want subtle, so drink young.
Pale ale? Age longer, it gets more interesting.
Dry Irish Stout? After a year they get a tad boring.
Imperial Stout, Barley Wine, Wee Heavy, Old Ale? Save some for your grand kids, it only gets better.

So the real question is, what do you want to age in a corny?

donjonson said:

. I truely love great beer but I tend to lean twords the healthy side of things and dont drink it that often. But now that I think about it if I had 4 corny kegs filled with great homebrew I would probably drink it a lot more often.

Click to expand...

Oh, you will, my friend. You will.



a 4 corny kegerator/refrigerator is a great size. You don't have to fill all four, just pick two styles you like, and see how it goes.

I've got a two tap kegerator, I've had it since April. I think I've had two beers in it at once once! I just got another primary, so hopefully I can get a pipeline going and have a full kegerator for once. once you keg it's easy to go through it quickly, growlers to football games, hosting game nights, and 5 gallons is gone as quickly or more quickly then it takes to make!

Yeah I would like to have four styles on draft at any given time. This would also allow me to get a pipeline going. But this means I need to have 2 fridges. one for the kegs/taps and one for fermentation wit temp control. at the moment I dont even have a fermentation fridge, I am using swamp cooler method which is dodgy at best. I gues I amg getting ahead of myself. I havent even tried my first batch yet.

I've had drinkable homebrew in kegs that were over 4 years old. Scottish, stout, porter, even a kolsch was still pretty decent. So they will definitely last for a while if necessary

I know newbie question, once I carb the beer in the keg, can I simply un hook the co2 container and let the keg just sit if I want to age it, or should I leave the co2 attached?
Thanks!

you can certainly unhook the CO2 - if you have no leaks, it will be fine. When you draw off a pint, however, you disturb the equilibrium between the beer and the head space. As the head space increases, it will pull carbonation out of the beer until they equalize again.

So - if you're not drinking - then yes, after its carbed, you can disconnect the CO2 - but if you're drinking - (reducing the volume, increasing the head space), you'll need to leave it connected or your beer will go flatter with each pour.

To the OP, you should probably consider 3 gallon batches and 3 gallon kegs. They cost a lot more but if you only drink a handfull of beers a week, and you are the only ones drinking your homebrew, you are going to be waiting a really long time to free up space for the new batches you will want to make. Nice thing about 3 gallons is you would be able to do stovetop BIAB all grain really easily. Just a thought.

Hang Glider said:

you can certainly unhook the CO2 - if you have no leaks, it will be fine. When you draw off a pint, however, you disturb the equilibrium between the beer and the head space. As the head space increases, it will pull carbonation out of the beer until they equalize again.

So - if you're not drinking - then yes, after its carbed, you can disconnect the CO2 - but if you're drinking - (reducing the volume, increasing the head space), you'll need to leave it connected or your beer will go flatter with each pour.

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Thanks for the response. I now have four kegs carbed - 2 in my kegerator and 2 on deck (but of course the ones on deck get a little taste from time to time).

Triple Belgian IPA
Blood Orange Wheat
Bourbon Oak Barrel Porter
Vanilla Cocoa Cayenne Porter

Getting ready to brew:

Ginger Saison
Imperial IPA (Southern Tier Imperial Clone)

Trying to find a good recipe for Switchback (Burlington vt beer - only sells in restaurants).

I'm obsessed....

About 2 1/2 weeks.
Mind you, it would last a lot longer if I didn't drink it.
Seriously, I misplaced a keg once with a special bitter in it. It got hidden whilst rearranging the basement. It turned up nearly 9 months later, and the beer was fine.

-a.