How long will a homebrew keg last?

[sumerboard]

I've seen a lot of posts that shoot all around my question, so here's what I'm looking for. We brewed up a chocolate vanilla porter and dumped it into the keg and put the lid on sealed and tight, and put it in the keggerator. We haven't added any kind of pressure, just sealed it and put it away.

Does the beer last okay in there? Its been in about 3 months untouched, but has had the temp steady. I've heard they will age and improve over time if left like this.

 

[Psylocide]

Did you use ~30psi to seat the lid and purge the oxygen at least?

Or did you just close the bail?

Also re: "dumping" it in... did you really dump it in there or did you siphon it into the keg?

 

[giraffe]

It would have been better if you topped it with co2. It would help it seal, and also prevent oxidation, while it carbonates. If you didnt do that at all there may be minor oxidation issues. But if you got a tight seal, i doubt it would be noticeable.

The higher the alcohol, and the more dark malts, the more the beer will benefit from aging.
Aging will also cause the hops to fade, as well as the bitterness.

3 months is just fine for a porter. Thats aged long enough. Id drink it now.

Eventually, if you age too long, the malt will fade, and it will head towards sweet wet cardboard. With the porter above thats probably around 9-12 months when is starts to noticeably degrade.

 

[day_trippr]

You're not going to do much "aging" with the beer in a fridge...

Cheers!

 

[madscientist451]

Some beers like Rodenbach are stored in wooden vats for 18 months before being blended; the beer is probably more than 2 years old by the time it hits your store shelf, maybe 3 years. If you go by that a stainless steel keg kept cold should have at least that much storage life. Note that hoppy beers will loose bitterness and hop character over time and malt flavors will become somewhat different. So the beer you put in your walk-in may still be good to drink years from now, but it won't be the same beer.
I've heard of beers being stored cold 10 or even 15 years that are still drinkable.

 

[NervousDad]

Without pressure and a temp drop you will have introduced a lot of oxygen. At this point I would think it is oxidized.

 

[fantomlord]

You're not going to do much "aging" with the beer in a fridge...

Cheers!

well, technically it will be getting older...