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does keg beer have to be kept cold

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  • #16
    Originally posted by psychodad View Post
    I think that is the point that pureownage is making and the OP's original concern. I'd still not be afraid to order a keg and pick it up in a timely manner as the OP was exploring doing.
    I got the OP's original point, but the first response was all about keeping beer cold because it's not pasteurized. This is not the reason to keep beer cold. The reason to keep beer cold would be to avoid it not being fresh tasting. Some beers benefit from the aging, but I definitely agree that most do not. I don't think anything made by Anheuser Busch would be a good candidate for aging at all, which is why they insist their beers stay cold.
    Last edited by cubby_swans; 02-21-2011, 07:59 AM.
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    • #17
      Originally posted by cubby_swans View Post
      I have to disagree on this point. I know plenty of home brewers that keg their beer and store it for months to years at non refrigerated temperatures. There are plenty of actual breweries that operate brew pubs that store kegs of beer for months to years and serve them at special events. There are a boat load of breweries aging their product intentionally in oak barrels for months or longer. Most craft beer bottles are non pasteurized, and most stores have them sitting out on the shelves at room temperatures for weeks to months. Non pasteurized beer in a keg is really no different from non pasteurized beer in a bottle. I have had beers out of a keg and out of bottles that are 10+ years old and were great.

      Beer flavor changes over time, and most beers do not benefit from aging and after a certain amount of time will probably just taste bad. But a beer is not going to go sour and spoil unless the beer was unintentionally infected with an uninvited yeast strain or bacteria or the bottles/keg were not sanitized properly. You can store a keg in your basement for years and the worst possible thing that could happen to it is that it will taste bad. As long as nothing was infected, it will not have soured.

      I would not be bothered by a keg that sat at room temperatures for a week or two. Much longer, I would be concerned about the beer not tasting fresh, but it wouldn't likely be spoiled. Warmer temperatures cause a beer to 'age' quicker, or basically the flavors change quicker.

      To the OP: what kind of beer is it? Generally is the most important question regarding whether or not a beers flavors will hold up or not.
      Totally agree with everything you say here cubby.

      Originally posted by psychodad View Post
      Arrogant Bastard OK, Pilsner Urquell maybe not so much. Your milage may vary.
      Arrogant Bastard OK, yeah. Pilsner Urquell is OK too. It's pasteurized. Those import kegs spend a lot of time being warmer than we'd all like.

      Originally posted by PureOwnage View Post
      Just in my experience as I work for a distributor for Anheuser-Busch and have taken classes at the brewery. Any A-B kegs are not to be kept in warm storage. They are NOT pasteurized and must be kept cold at all times. The only real time they are allowed to get warm is when they are in delivery. Even then we are not allowed to take a keg into an account if it's warmed up too much. At that point we are told to put the keg back on the truck and take it back to the warehouse.
      And the reason for that is you don't want an account to put a keg on tap that's not properly cooled or you'll of course get lots of foam and that cost's a distributor money. That's called a "bad keg" when it's not bad at all, it's just not cold enough to pour, but A/B will eat that for an account.
      On Tap Now.....nothing.

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