Unclear on "Correct" keezer temps!

What is the correct/preferred temperature to set your keezer at for kegging? In one website, they stated that Americans tend to keep their beer at temps too low a temperature (e.g. <40F - negatively impacting perception hoppiness and maltiness, especially with stouts and heavier beers), while another website said anything about 43F will lead to spoilage of beer.

So do most folks keep their beer between 40-42F...or go with something lower than 40 (e.g. 38F)?

Is there an 'ideal' range?

The "Ideal range" is whatever works for you. Anything else is subjective.

That said, I lager in my keezer and keep the beer at 38*F. For Ales on tap, I just let them warm up in the glass.

It's largely a matter of personal preference.

American's do, in general, drink their beer REALLY cold. You would probably be looked at as if you had 3 eyes if you walked into a pub in England or a biergarten in Germany and asked for a "frosted mug", but you can get one in the US pretty easily.

Hell, we even have beer sold in cans and bottles that change color when they are 34*F to let you know the beer is "ready to drink"!

That is WAY to cold for me. I can barely taste a beer that cold. I prefer mine in the mid 40's.

edit: don't worry about it spoiling. If it's OK to leave a beer in a fermenter for months at room temp, then I assure you that a few weeks in the 40's will be fine.

Under 40 and you lose taste which kind of defeats the purpose. Not actually lose taste in the beer but at that temp your taste buds can't taste it. I keep mine around 43, which works for me. Some beers (stouts and the like) are 'supposed to be' served a bit warmer than that but I like 43 for my beers.

Thanks guys, seems as though low to mid 40's is a good place to be.

I have an odd setup. The kezzer holds three kegs, one of which is soda water, so I keep it near freezing. But most of my beer is in the conditioning cabinet and the lines run into the kezzer where the taps are mounted. The cabinet is around 50F most of the year. Right now, I've got a blueberry wheat in the kezzer. The IPA and brown ale are in the cabinet. Only had one beer go bad while conditioning and that was a 4 year-old barleywine. It was fine for 3 1/2 years.

I keep mine at about 38, however it is at a more reasonable temperature by the time I pour it into a warm glass, bring it upstairs, and then finally drink it.

However, beer should be kept at the temperature that YOU prefer drinking it at.

I keep mine at about 36-38 and I keep my glasses at room temp. Pour a glass and the temp of you beer will be in the 40's in short order. - I'm more concerned about the temp as it relates to carbonation. It took me a while to get everything dialed in

45F is the sweet spot for me. At lower temps I had trouble tasting the beer. Letting it warm up in the glass works, but I found that I'd wind up drink the first half before waiting.

Being that you are a "Naked - Eskimo", putting clothes on might help with the temperature changing. LOL

I try to keep mine at 45 degrees. I've never heard of beer spoiling at these temps. Is that a legit statement?

steinsato said:

I try to keep mine at 45 degrees. I've never heard of beer spoiling at these temps. Is that a legit statement?

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No.

I keep mine around 45 F as well, and have no issues with beer spoilage. I just finished up a keg of last year's holiday beer that had been in there since November 2009 with no issues (in fact, time had been a friend, softening the spices and clearing up the beer).

My advice is to set it where you like it.

This is part of a long running "discussion" between my wife and I. She likes her beer as cold as possible and as fizzy as possible. I prefer my beer in the low 40's. My beer fridge is in the basement and is set to 38f. By the time a draw a beer and walk upstairs it has warmed just enough to get better flavor and it's cold enough to keep my wife quiet.

+1 for 45F. Great temp for brewing lagers too.

pilotdane said:

This is part of a long running "discussion" between my wife and I. She likes her beer as cold as possible and as fizzy as possible. I prefer my beer in the low 40's. My beer fridge is in the basement and is set to 38f. By the time a draw a beer and walk upstairs it has warmed just enough to get better flavor and it's cold enough to keep my wife quiet.

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For some reason, this comes to mind:

If a man says something and a woman is not around, is he still wrong?