How Long Can a Keg of Ale be Stored Unrefrigerated?

[GrowleyMonster]

Sometimes I get jammed up for space and I have to bottle a partly empty keg to make room for the next. My fridge only has room for two corny kegs. I was thinking about cold crashing and carbonating a new keg for a few days, then removing that keg to make room for the next. How long can I keep a keg at say 70 to 73 degrees, our normal house temp range? And are there any special methods or factors I need to consider? It seems so stupid to go through all that work to put beer in a bottle just so I can take the beer out of the bottle and put it in my belly. Plus, it just tastes better keg conditioned than bottle conditioned, to me. And no worries about over or under carbonation.

 

[Keith81]

It depends on the beer style and how long it sits. As long as the keg is purged of O2 it can sit for a while but if it's a hoppy beer the flavor may fade a bit.

 

[GrowleyMonster]

It depends on the beer style and how long it sits. As long as the keg is purged of O2 it can sit for a while but if it's a hoppy beer the flavor may fade a bit.

How long is a while? A few months?

 

[Keith81]

The longest I've gone is 4-5 days so I don't have personal experience with longer but it depends on the beer style, a NEIPA will not hold up nearly as well as a barleywine for example.

 

[Transamguy77]

I made a holiday pumpkin ale several years ago that I didn’t really like the first year, so both kegs sat until the following year, when it was much better. So the second keg was probably well over 18 months when it kicked.

That is the absolute longest but since I usually make 10 gallon batches the second keg usually sits a few weeks to maybe a month before getting tapped.

 

[william_shakes_beer]

I've never stored an unrefrigerated keg more than 3 years. Caveats: it's in the basement, that has a steady year round temp of about 60F. Headspace was purged with co2.

 

[bracconiere]

i've let kegs sit out for a month before....

 

[bleme]

Just picture your keg as a giant bottle. If it is a style that will be good in a bottle for a year, the same will apply to the keg.

 

[bracconiere]

Just picture your keg as a giant bottle. If it is a style that will be good in a bottle for a year, the same will apply to the keg.

maybe better, i'm not up on how the bottlers purge o2.....

 

[bleme]

maybe better, i'm not up on how the bottlers purge o2.....

The priming sugar activates the yeast, which consumes all the O2 in the headspace of the bottle (theoretically).

O2 absorbing caps are supposed to help also. I lean more towards 'gimmick' on that one, but they don't cost that much more and they can't hurt...

 

[bracconiere]

The priming sugar activates the yeast, which consumes all the O2 in the headspace of the bottle (theoretically).

O2 absorbing caps are supposed to help also. I lean more towards 'gimmick' on that one, but they don't cost that much more and they can't hurt...

ahh, thanks, never bottled myself....

 

[sicktght311]

As long as keg is properly carbonated, oxygen purged, and not exposed to like 115 degree ambient temps, its shelf life is no different than any canned beer or bottled beer you have. Its simply just a serving vessel. Plenty of people condition stouts in kegs for 6 months or more in a quiet cool corner of their basements.

 

[bleme]

I'll also add that the first beer to really blow my mind was a 5-year-old keg of Stone IRS. I got to try the fresh version a few weeks later and, while good, it just didn't compare to the aged version.