How long will a tapped corny keg preserve the beer?

I know there are some big consumers out there, and all personal consumption aside. What's the longest time you've had a keg tapped in your kegerator and the beer was still good?

brew-skies said:

I know there are some big consumers out there, and all personal consumption aside. What's the longest time you've had a keg tapped in your kegerator and the beer was still good?

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Close to two years for me. I had a keg that I was keeping away from everyone I knew and hiding and it lasted two years and was still good. It was a really big beer though.

It only gets better. Start thinking of age as a good thing, especially if the beer is kept cold in a keg. I don't know what the longest I've had one is, but I wouldn't be afraid to let a beer sit for years.

Just finished my 2003 barleywine and put the 2005 on tap.

I'm referring to once it's been tapped. I'm debating the kegging vs bottling thing, and since there's only one in my household, just wondering how long it will last if my consumption isn't that great.

I don't see why having it on tap is going to cause it to age any differently.

Kegs that use a hand pump (like at a frat party) will get stale once they are tapped because air is being pumped into the keg, and the oxygen stales the beer. Pure CO2 or beergas won't stale beer.

If you keep it pressurized it will last a year or more. When we have kegs that are left for a while between tappings, we pressure it back up from serving pressure to about 30 or so.

Thanks. Full speed ahead.

So I have this half full corny keg of 9 1/2% amber ale I made October 2008 it has sat in the fridige hooked up to a Co2/Nitrogen mix tank since then. OK I forgot about it I know beer foul. But anyway I was going to dump it out and go get my keg filled at a local brewery for 4th of July. But just for the fun of it I pored a glass and it looks, smells, and tastes fine. It actualy tastes realy good. But I am not sure its good been sitting there almost 2 years. I was going to open the keg and look inside to make sure nothing is growing but I dont want to introduce O2 into it. I don't want anyone geting sick espacialy me.

Nothing in there will make you sick unless you drink half a keg in one sitting.
Beer doesn't go "bad" in the sense that it will make you sick, it can go off flavor but that is all. Drink up and enjoy!