i am new to kegging and i am wondering how long i can expect my homebrew to stay "fresh" in the keg?
Other questions:
How long from kegging is a beer ready to drink? I am doing a belgian dark al on Saturday and wondering when i should expect to tap it!
I also assume, that once beer is in the keg it is best to keep it at in the kegorator- regardless of being tapped?
Thanks for your time-
How long will beer be good in a keg?
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As long as all of the fittings, seals and gaskets have been sanitized, the keg has a tight seal, and you're only using CO2, nitrogen or beer-mix with the keg, it can keep for many, many months. I have a friend who kegs his mead, and has more than a few that have been in the keg for 3+ years.
As far as being ready to drink, the beer needs time to carbonate, although force carbonation with a keg can be done very quickly. If you need a temperature/pressure chart to hit your carbonation level, check here:
http://www.zymipedia.com/index.php/Carbonation
Depending on the alcohol content of the beer, it may also need time to "age", which is no different whether you keg or bottle the beer (a couple of weeks for standard beers to months for something like a barleywine.)
Todd
As far as being ready to drink, the beer needs time to carbonate, although force carbonation with a keg can be done very quickly. If you need a temperature/pressure chart to hit your carbonation level, check here:
http://www.zymipedia.com/index.php/Carbonation
Depending on the alcohol content of the beer, it may also need time to "age", which is no different whether you keg or bottle the beer (a couple of weeks for standard beers to months for something like a barleywine.)
Todd
BJCP Judge #E0702