Keg in Basement - How Long Will It Last?

[DGibb]

I have a ball lock keg in my basement that has a Summer Wheat inside. I did not yet have my kegerator built, and financial setbacks kept me from getting it set up for quite some time. I pressurized it with one of the small handheld CO2 canisters, and have it in my basement closet (between 55-65 degrees year round).

I now have my kegerator up and running (a year later, yikes!), but I have a commercial Sanke on it so far. Once that keg is drained (this weekend hopefully) and the lines switched out for my ball lock connection, will this keg be consumable?

How likely is it that the pressure that was put in to the keg still remains and kept the beer from turning? I lubed the O-Ring and made sure the seal was solid before filling, if that helps.

 

[kombat]

You can test whether or not it held pressure by simply giving a quick tug on the pressure relief valve.

As long as you purged the oxygen when you initially pressurized it, it should still be fine. Note that the beer would have absorbed some of the CO2, so I'm hoping you kept pressure on it the whole time, or at least until it was carbed.

 

[zachattack]

If the seals on the keg are fine and you purged it properly, just think about it like a big bottle. A lighter wheat ale probably isn't anyone's first choice for cellaring for a year, but it should definitely still be drinkable.

 

[Rockn_M]

Everyone else has said it. As long as the seals were good, the O2 was purged you should be good. One thing that you might want to look into are these: http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?products_id=12660.

This will save you a bunch of time and frustration trying to switch out the lines each time you go from corny keg to commerical keg.