Keg question

bobingtonsmyth · Oct 25, 2010

Right I've got a keg full of Stout that's about ready.

Basically because I'm a cheapskate I've only got a basic lid for the keg and no way of injecting co2 into the barrel. My question is once I start at my beer how long will it keep for?

Dunfie · Oct 25, 2010

The beer will theoretically keep well after you run out of CO2. As long as your sterilisation has been thorough you should find that the beer keeps fresh for months. The problem you will have is that the pressure is relatively high at the start and you will need to pour very slowly and as you work your way through it. However the pressure will drop towards the bottom of the keg until you are struggling to get anything out at all and you need to release the cap a bit to alow some air in and gravity dispense.

It is at this point that the clock starts ticking. If you don't move it and are careful you should still get a week or two out of it at this point.

However, moving forward you really should think about some way of providing some top pressure or bottling as you could lose good beer in the long run.

prolix · Oct 25, 2010

if it gluggs air back in through the tap you have three daysbut a well conditioned ber at one or two a night will not get there for a while

evanvine · Oct 26, 2010

From the replies, I assume your keg is a bottom tap!

bobingtonsmyth · Oct 26, 2010

Thanks all for your replies, especially Dunfie, very helpful.

Once this keg is empty in a month or so I'm planning on adding the ability to inject co2 to the keg. So should no longer be an issue.

prolix · Oct 27, 2010

evanvine said:
From the replies, I assume your keg is a bottom tap!

I made the assumption that only basic kegs, which are bottom tap, come with the option of plain lid

jamesb · Oct 27, 2010

He's actually got an old EDME keg, which have a hole in the lid for a sparklets or S30 system. This one doesn't though, just a bung in the hole. Bob just needs to get an S30 valve and cylinder.