Keg, Barrell, Bottle?

[reno223]

So yesterday I bottled my first kit and it took what seemed like forever but its all done now and second brew is safely in the FV whilst the bottles are in the warm conditioning. All I can think of is how easy a keg would be in future but I have heard that ale goes off in barrells and you need to drink within 2 weeks before it starts to deteriorate, is this true and how can it be avoided?

Also to be able to create a pint as though its from a tap in a pub what equipment would I needs, obviously not bottles but what does a corny do etc?

:drink:

 

[eddie66]

I now bottle 10l and put the rest into a pressure barrel, personally i prefer beer from a barrel as it gives more of a pub poured pint.
I drink the barrel first and try to hide the bottles away.

 

[TRXnMe]

Most of my beer goes into pressure barrels, and gets a quick squirt of CO2 from the cylinder (I use S30 cylinders). I'ts then left for a week in the warm to complete secondary fermentation and then moved into my shed for 2 to 3 weeks before I drink anything from it.

The beer keeps long enough to complete maturation, usually a month, and then long enough for me to drink it, usually anothehr month or so, depending on who pops round for 'a chat' :)

If beer is going off in a pressure barrel it's probably not been well sanitised, or it's had too much air get into it while it's transferred from the FV to the barrel, this causes it to oxidise whic would result in off flavours.

Corny kegs are, from what I've read, simply the next best thing to a real bar, and a step ahead of the normal plastic pressure keg.

I have read several comments on here about beer only lasting about 6 months in a keg, but as yet none of mine has lasted that long, so I can't comment there :drink:

 

[bobsbeer]

+1 for corny kegs. Pressure barrels should be fine for a few months. I have had beer in one of my cornies for over a year and it's still good. It was an irish stout and got better as time went on. Probably reached the end of it's best by date, but it's nearly finished anyway, but it's still good.