How long does it last?

Assuming that I keep a cornie (spelling) keg in some sort of frdge/chiller. How long will 5 gallons of beer stay good. Does it go flat?

I am trying to decide if I want to spend money on bottles, or kegs, and I will be the only one drinking at my house 99% of the time. Not including parties and friends of course.

Thanks
Josh

The reason kegs eventually go flat at parties is that they are pressurized with air. In a kegorator you will not have that problem as the beer is pressurized with CO2.

You can keep beer in keg as long as you'd keep them in a bottle.

when you can drink draft beer in your living room...your beer consumption WILL increase.
make sure you snag a gym membership too

malkore said:

when you can drink draft beer in your living room...your beer consumption WILL increase.
make sure you snag a gym membership too

Click to expand...

Man you are not kidding...

I run 30 miles a week and when I started kegging I gained 20 pounds in 3 months. I had to drop down to 1500 cals a day and no beer except on Saturdays (after a 13+ mile run). 2 months later that weight is gone but I still have to really watch the beer. It's way to easy to just pour another pint or 6.

ROFL...Too funny, I hadnt thought about that. Guess I will have to keep up with my military PT routine.

Next couple of questions...
1) how long can you store beer in a cornie keg? 1 year or longer?
2) Will homemade soda last longer in a keg? If so how long?
3) Is kegging more or less expensive than flip top bottles long run, as far as up keep, and maintenance.
I am trying to come up with all the selling points that I can so my wife will let me get into kegging.

Sherpa FE said:

ROFL...Too funny, I hadnt thought about that. Guess I will have to keep up with my military PT routine.

Next couple of questions...
1) how long can you store beer in a cornie keg? 1 year or longer?
2) Will homemade soda last longer in a keg? If so how long?
3) Is kegging more or less expensive than flip top bottles long run, as far as up keep, and maintenance.
I am trying to come up with all the selling points that I can so my wife will let me get into kegging.

Click to expand...

1) Yes you can, but I would keep them in a cool place that the temp does not go up and down a lot.

2) I have no idea but I guess it would be the same as bottles. Really, a keg is just one really big bottle.

3) Yes. At my LHBS the 16 oz amber EZ Cap bottles with flip cap and washer. 12/case. Price: $20.99 5 gallons would need about 40 of them. so that would be $84 to bottle one 5 gallon batch.
A 5 Gallon Cornelius Keg (used, ball lock) with new seals. Price $25.

Now the thing is about keging <> bottling is that bottling is cheaper to get into then kegging. Kegging will run you about $200 for the CO2, one keg, regulator, and lines. After that it's about $30 per keg to add on. You will also need something like a chest freezer with a temp control to keep the brew cold (free - $100 on Craigs list)
So you can see that it does cost more up front to keg. But think about this...
At about $80 to bottle 5 gallons and you do this for 4 batches, that's a lot of cash in bottles. Plus it takes me about 3 hours from start to finish to bottle 5 gallons. Where as it takes me less then an hour to keg. Thus giving me more time to spend with my loving wife. Drinking homebrew

Another good point, one my wife really likes. Now that I keg, I don't have a bunch of bottles setting on the counter waiting for me to put them away after I drink them. Also, if I was to forget to rinse out a bottle it was only a matter of a day before the fruitflys were all over it.

I got a senario, I live in Winnipeg and my garage is probably -20 to -30 in the winter (canadian temp, so that equals ****ing cold). How long would already matured beer last in my garage in the cold... without going flat. All 5 gallons of it?

Should be less than $200 if you rent the bottle.
It's a one time fee and most places work on an exchange anyway.

It would suck to spend $100+ on a shiny new bottle to get a nice rust colored bottle back.

Regulator ~$45
Keg ~$25
Ball lock/pin lock fittings ~$7/$8 each one for beer out one gas in
Beer line ~$2 per foot about 6ft
Gas line ~$1.50 per ft what ever needed to go from bottle to keg and still manuver
everything around.
Gas bottle/gas ~$60-$80 for initial rental fee and fill. Fee shouldn't count, it's more of
a deposit. I forget what gas was running for a refill, it's been a while. Easily 10
kegs off a 5lb bottle.

Kegerator and tap. This can make or break the deal. You can find a fridge on craigslist for free to $50 and convert this to have a tap on the door or side and also use it for lagering and storing ingredients. Or pick up an actual kegerator. Or convert a chest freezer.
Then you can add a temperature controller........

I ended getting a kegerator with tower for nothing and a fridge off craigslist for nothing that I gutted and built platforms for (the floor isn't flat), it holds temp pretty steady without a controller.

So yeah, if you shop around online/want adds in the local paper and are somewhat capable with tools you can get it done for about $200.

Don't forget the key points
No more bottle saving (keep some around to bottle off the keg to give away/share.
There may be a batch every now and then that gets bottled in funky bottles, like a
Belgain)
1/8 the time to keg than to bottle.
Less space, depending on how many batches you get going.
Less cost over the long run. You aren't going to have to replace kegs from sharing
homebrew and not getting returned. $25 for a keg vs. what ever you pay for 2
cases of bottles + caps. Kegs don't break if you drop them (safety issue) The
CO2 bottle, Kegerator, taps, fittings don't really need replacement, unless of
course they were to break, which is rare.

You do NOT want the garage so cold that the keg'd beer freezes.