Inexperienced male seeks...

[MrWhitehorn]

...some answers.

Sorry, another couple of daft questions to those that have knowledge!

1. I'm using a keg, how long will the beer keep once I've started withdrawing beer from it?
2. My house hasn't been warm over the winter, does this mean that the whole process takes longer? The initial fermentation stage that should have taken 4-5 days took 3 weeks. Now that I've transferred it to a barrel, I was advised it'd take 2-3 weeks until it is ready. But with the cold, should I wait longer?

 

[Green Ninja]

1/ Ages. Easily six months as you aren't getting oxygen on top the beer, only CO2.

2/ The sugar you added to the barrel needs to be fermented to create pressure to force the beer out of the tap. If it's too cold it won't ferment at all.
Ensure the barrel is in a "warm" place for at least a week. 18 - 22 degrees is fine. If it's really cold consider a heatmat or heat belt. Some people don't like them but I use them on every brew in the winter and have not had a problem yet with off flavours etc.


Terry.

 

[RobWalker]

To elaborate, you'll start to lose hop aroma after about 6 months. Ciders and wines should be kept for a long time, as well as some beers - generally they're your stronger deeper beers. They're probably better kept in bottles for financial reasons if you want to age long term. Other than that, if they last longer than 6 months, i'll be surprised.

And jesus, how cold is your house? :p the good news is yeast won't die in cool temperatures, they just go dormant. excessive heat will kill them, but it's quite safe to say that your yeast should still be active if you bring them back to room temperature. that's pretty much the bulk of it - even if it appears pressureized, keep it going for a while. beers can run out of carbonation quite fast if you don't give it a few weeks.

 

[johnnie]

Fermantation in 4-5 days is a bit optimistic. Most of my brews have taken 2-3 weeks.

 

[RobWalker]

Fermantation in 4-5 days is a bit optimistic. Most of my brews have taken 2-3 weeks.

I wouldn't say so - most of my fermentations are complete in less time than that! They just stay in the FV to clear.