Unrefrigerated keg shelf life

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Fett327

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Hey all,

So I'm tryin to get around some confusion between various things I've been readin about a keg shelf life. Basically, I'm wondering how long a keg will last if it is pressurized and unrefrigerated (e.g. just sitting in the garage).

I know from readin the forums that many of us bottle or keg condition our beers for months at a time before refrigerating, so I am assuming that as long as you have good sanitary practice and you dont let oxygen get in there, your beer will be good for months without refrigeration.

The thing is that I've read in various other places that store bought kegs will not last more than a couple weeks unrefrigerated (I'm talkin about an untapped or CO2 pressurized keg, not one that has been hand pumped with oxygen). So what gives? Seems like a large discrepancy in shelf life time.

The main reason I ask is that I plan on buying a full keg of beer (15.5gal) for a party and then transferring the contents into three 5gal corneys. My kegerator only holds 2 corneys at a time so i wanted to let the last one sit unrefrigerated in the garage until i had space.

Anybody got a learned opinion on this?

Thanks!
 
Depending on the type of beer, several months or more of room temperature storage is not unreasonable. The biggest thing you can do to preserve shelf life is to ensure the keg is stored in a cool place (<70 deg) and that the temperatures remain consistent.
 
Depending on the type of beer, several months or more of room temperature storage is not unreasonable. The biggest thing you can do to preserve shelf life is to ensure the keg is stored in a cool place (<70 deg) and that the temperatures remain consistent.

And that you do not have any oxygen in the beer.
If you intend to store a corny of commercial that you transfer from a larger keg then you need to be very careful to purge the target keg of oxygen before transfer and besure every thing is sealed during the transfer. Oxygen is the main enemy of finished beer.
Dark beers and higher alcohol beers will store better than light beers but most should last a month at decent temps. If your garage is like most I know then I would put the keg inside instead.

Craig
 
I did not fully read what you were saying. Didn't realize you were trying to transfer commercial beers to cornies. It could still work, but like CB said, you need to keep the oxygen out of it.
 
Thanks guys.

I definitely plan to take every precaution not to have any oxygen exposure (e.g closed transfer, purged tank, what you said). I'm just more concerned about what I've read about store bought kegs not having a long shelf life when unrefrigerated. Its just contradictory to most of the stuff I've learned about conditioning.
 
The beer shouldn't spoil. A keg is nothing more than an over sized beer can (or bottle).

Get some CO2 into the corny after you transfer and prevent the keg from getting too hot.

I store kegs in the garage all the time once the temperatures come down.

Now...depending on the beer style, you may end up with slight taste differences. Hops flavor and aroma tend to fade over time.
 
Store bought kegs are no longer a live beer. They are filtered and perhaps pasteurized so there is no yeast left in there to help them cellar. Bigger beers do cellar better than light beers but most store bought kegs are light, thus the generalization. Just like wine, a constant temp (not often available in a garage) is also better for aging beer. Do you have a basement (or know someone who does - but doesn't have a tap!) to keep it in for a week or two?

p.s., yo need more/lusher friends if you can't kill 5 to make room!;)
 
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