Found some old beer in kegs.. opinions needed

So I went over to my parents house to get some more corney kegs out of their storage shed that ended up over there after the flood.. 4 of them were full. I poured one of them out and there was *nothing* wrong with it that I could observe or taste. There is one that says Lager, another that is some sort of IPA, and the last is anyone's guess.. might be Apfelwein.

So, these three kegs have been sitting out in a storage shed for over 2 years in the South GA heat.. should I dump them? or chill them on down and put them on tap? Will I go blind? heh

To me thats not even a question. DUMP THEM

I cant understand the logic here. Would you grab a candy bar and eat it after 2 yrs? Toss it and clean and keep the kegs

Candy bar.. no. Vintage beer.. maybe.

First of all, for the record, I would at least try a two year old candy bar. Unless it looked all nasty or smelled bad or something.

Actually that's the same way I would approach the beer. Why dump it until it's verified bad? I would expect the IPA to be not so good, the Lager to be probably OK, and the Apfelwein to be incredible.

You won't go blind. Worst case is you get a lesson in off flavors. Most likely oxidized. Perhaps lacto or brett or aceto or other bacteria.

Unless there was active fermentation in the keg, you shouldn't go blind. I'd smell them and assuming they don't smell horrible, I'd give it a go.

I'd definitely carb one up and see what happens. You might actually end up with something you like.



I don't eat candy bars, but there is quite a bit of preservatives in most snacks that I'd be willing to be they are shelf-stable for 5 years. I'm pretty sure a Twinkie tastes just as crappy after 2 years as it does right off the factory line.

I would absolutely try at least a glass from each before dumping them. The major difference between beer and other foods/drinks is that because of the presence of alcohol and the PH of the liquid, there isn't really anything that can grow in there that will cause you to get sick. At worst, it's not going to taste good, but it certainly isn't going to harm you. I would bet the IPA will be the worst of the batch since hop aroma and flavor fade over time, but even that may be drinkable. If it is apfelwine in one of them, it will probably be the best batch of it you'll ever taste.

I'll play devil's advocate here.

Properly wrapped candy bar: I'd eat a 1987 vintage if it wasn't moldy.
Beer in keg that sat in flood water: maybe, but it's not because nothing harmful can't live in beer that it warrants drinking it.

stageseven said:

...because of the presence of alcohol and the PH of the liquid, there isn't really anything that can grow in there that will cause you to get sick. At worst, it's not going to taste good...

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This

you said there's nothing wrong that you could smell or taste? why wouldn't you drink it?!?

Heck, I'd try it! The worst that can happen is it won't taste great.

I guess I don't see the problem- of course I'll eat just about anything that seems like it'll taste good and I have a cast iron stomach.

I've eaten shark panades (like empanadas) out of a lady's garage in Belize AND I drank the water. (Water is safe in Belize, though. Usually). I've eaten chupulinas in Mexico (which are cooked), and raw conch in the Bahamas.

Certainly a little old beer would be fine!

OK.. that was a 'fun' little experiment.. they all 3 tasted like malty a$$ with a little slickness on the tongue. Oh well!

John Beere said:

OK.. that was a 'fun' little experiment.. they all 3 tasted like malty a$$ with a little slickness on the tongue. Oh well!

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What does malty a$$ taste like, by the way?

John Beere said:

OK.. that was a 'fun' little experiment.. they all 3 tasted like malty a$$ with a little slickness on the tongue. Oh well!

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Yooper said:

What does malty a$$ taste like, by the way?

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Miller Light?

AZ_IPA said:

Miller Light?

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Nah, there's hardly any malt in that.

Oh - I thought he said corn a$$

Yooper said:

What does malty a$$ taste like, by the way?

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Maltyass is my cousin, he would be very upset to know someone has tasted him.

Yooper said:

What does malty a$$ taste like, by the way?

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I don't know, but I imagine it tastes like the smell of the bathroom the morning after the first time I got drunk on homebrew...

trigger said:

I don't know, but I imagine it tastes like the smell of the bathroom the morning after the first time I got drunk on homebrew...

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NICE! I knew we'd get there eventually, didn't figure it'd take this long

trigger said:

I don't know, but I imagine it tastes like the smell of the bathroom the morning after the first time I got drunk on homebrew...

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Toss in a stick of butter or two and you've nailed it! heh

Funny this thread came up-I haven't brewed a batch in 13 years. When I was brewing, I kegged. Getting back into brewing I decided to clean off the 4 or so corny kegs (i used 2 others to hold motorcycle oil). During all of this, I found a keg that felt 1/2 full. I touched the pressure valve and it had pressure! I am not optimistic at all-most likely some sort of amber beer and having gone through many heat cycles of Texas heat, it has to be some pretty crusty stuff. Still, doing a beertopsy will be interesting!