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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards | negrogesic

do untapped kegs of beer need to be kept on ice?

animal_cookie

Bluelight Crew
Joined
Nov 4, 2002
Messages
12,536
a big party weekend is coming up, and kegs sell out well before the distributor closes on friday. to ensure i get the beer i want and the amount i want, i am buying the kegs on a thursday. they are kept cold at the distributor...

so, people say the beer will turn to skunk (nasty beer/stale beer) if i do not keep it iced down until my party. none of them know why nor can explain to me why cases of beer in grocery stores is not always kept cold and still tastes fine. so it seems like it may be a college urban legend of sorts, one person does it so that everyone follows...

i know once i tap the kegs, the beer must be kept iced. but someone please tell me if i need to ice them the entire 24-36 hours before my party. and more importantly WHY keg beer must be kept cold unlike canned beer...

[and if this needs to be moved, sorry. i felt it was a basic question about a drug thus deserving to be in drug basics :)]
 
I don't think there's any need to.
With a few exceptions, isn't a keg just pretty much a great big can anyway?

I think the only reason the distributor keeps it cold is so you can buy it, tap it, and waste no time getting drunk.

I could be wrong though. (Kegs get carbonated differently then cans ,right? Maybe that has something to do with it. Still I've drank many a keg that was kept "warm" prior to tapping and it tasted just fine.)
 
Skunked beer is produced by allowing a keg that has already been tapped (even if the tap is removed) to sit unrefridgerated. AS long as it is sealed there is no risk of contamination.... they get the things to the store in unrefrigerated trucks.
 
So, if I buy beer cold, in bottles, and don't keep them cold they won't turn skunk?
 
I have heard that refridgerating beer, letting it go warm and refridgerating it again can cause it to go skunky. However I dont know if this is the case with a keg since the liquid is under more pressure than a normal can or bottle.
 
s0nic said:
I have heard that refridgerating beer, letting it go warm and refridgerating it again can cause it to go skunky. However I dont know if this is the case with a keg since the liquid is under more pressure than a normal can or bottle.

I have heard the same thing.
 
Kegs are not kept cool in the trucks they are shipped in, same for many bottled beers. You can let beer get warm, refridge it, warm it up..etc.etc. there will not be a problem as long as the bottles stay sealed.
 
If a bottle/can of beer is warm and then put in a fridge it won't taste the same. This doesn't happen with kegs I believe because of the pressure or perhaps the amount. All I know is I never keep them cool for like 2 days before a party and they always turn out fine. Then again it might depend on the beer... I always go with Bud Ice.
 
how does that work tickingaway? i brew my own beer and it's brewed at warm temps then i store it at warm temps and when i want to drink it i fridge it, tastes great,
 
the only thing you have to worry about is once it's open that it doesn't become infected....so try and finish it off because once it's exposed to air the chances of infected beer increases.
 
animal_cookie said:
but someone please tell me if i need to ice them the entire 24-36 hours before my party

you don't.

but if you let it get warm when and how are you going to get it cold again?

do you have any idea how long it takes for 16 gallons of warm beer inside an aluminum keg to get cold is?

how many bags of ice will you go through just getting it cold again?

i think it would be best to spring for some bags of ice and keep it cold.

or you could do like i do and freeze large chunks or ice in tupperwear or any large container(empty milk jugs?).
 
i just realized the original post was from 2003.

so, disregard my advise.
 
Once beer is cold and you let it warm then try and cool it again its skunkd. So keep it cold after the original chill. But if you buy it warm you can store it as long as you want.
 
^
::cough:: *bullshit!* ::cough::

check out chrisisparanoid's post. it doesn't matter as long as it's not opened. and beer that has been kept cool from the brewery to your mouth doesn't taste any better than beer that's shipped in unrefridgerated trucks. it's just a marketing gimick used on naiive and extremely suggestive people.
 
Once beer is cold and you let it warm then try and cool it again its skunkd.

Why? NEVER had this problem at all, and I suspect I have a few years of drinking beer on ya ;)
 
a beer that is cold, left to get warm, and then is refridgerated again gets skunked.
It's just that most people can't tell the difference anyway.

I don't understand how it is a marketing gimick.


i read the post that chrispara posted: and he said he brew's it warm stores it warm, cools it, and it tastes great.....

now if it was left refridgerated.... then taken out to sit in a warm temp. and then chilled again.... i guarentee there would be a huge difference in taste.
 
Since we're on this topic again, I am wondering if anyone can explain why a series of cases of beer that I ordered and stored for a few months went all gross tasting and cloudy. It was clear pale ale, but after being left in a garage for a few months and then opened and poured in a glass it was a hazy and murky (i.e. cloudy) colour, and tasted pretty rank. I should note that it was shipped to me through DHL from Scandinavia to China, so perhaps that is where it went wrong.

Is this "skunked" beer, and why did it happen way before the expiration date when none of the cans were open?

--- G.
 
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