"We just tapped it" doesn't always mean it's fresh

A keg sitting 2 months in a cooler is probably fresher than a bottle sitting two months on a shelf but when you want fresh beer from a keg that has been just tapped, you want fresh beer.

 

GI IPA kinda sucks so not surprising that it wasn't good, it's more of an english style so it's not gonna have a hop aroma that knocks you out.

When I worked at a place pouring brews I put on a 6 month old Double Jack keg and the first customer took a whiff of the pint and said, kid you not, "Finally! Fresh Double Jack!" Beer in cold metal containers is fine months later, assuming it was good when it was brewed.

 

I must admit I'm skeptical that a 2-month old keg had any appreciable decline. Especially since it was sitting in a cooler for those two months.

 

Totally true. I work a highprofile, high paying, hard-to-get job at Kroger. I can't tell you how many times I'm about to put shit out and there's mold on it.

..well, really not all that often at all, but it happens..

 

I think restaurants should legally have to put the date the beer was kegged on the menu so people can be aware of this when ordering.

 

Agreed. Nobody would willingly pay $8 for a five month old IPA.

...or, for some people, a five hour old IPA, for that matter.

 

Kegged beer is best consumed very fresh:

“For example Non-pasteurized beer has a shelf life of 45-60 days. Here is an example of a keg’s life:
• Days 0-10 (Transit / Satellite Warehousing)
• Days 10-20 (Distributor Warehouse / Retail Delivery)
• Days 20-60 (At Retail / Home)

So the average keg has 25-40 days of shelf life at retail or in a home.

Breweries recommend not drinking draft beer past the freshness date.”

http://www.micromatic.com/beer-questions/how-long-keg-beer-remain-fresh-aid-44.html

Cheers!

 

I had 4 month old stone IPA on Tap and it was the best stone IPA I ever had. Better than month old bottles by far.

Enjoy

 

Some friends and I once "enjoyed" a keg of Fuller's Bitter at a very low cost. It was going on two years past packaging.

While it made for an excellent 'session' style beer for the particular occasion, I wouldn't recommend it to everyone.

 

There's a local burger place, which shall remain nameless, that taps Pliny & Blind Pig very often... Every single time I have had a pint there, it tastes old. I am convinced they hold on to their RR kegs longer than they should!
They boast about having it on tap, but it definitely isn't as fresh as it should be.

 

A few days ago, a NYC bar tapped a keg of 2014 Abraxas, which, unfortunately, turned out to be completely tasteless. I drank 2 bottles of 2014 Abraxas when it was fresh and remember the flavor profile being dominated by cinnamon. Figuring there was no chance I would be able to explain to the bartenders this keg sucks, I just drank the flavorless swill, but I should have been entitled to a beer or the house or a refund.

 

It would be nice from the customer's perspective but it doesn't seem very simple at all. It would be a giant pain in the ass to keep track of the date and change the menu every time they tap a new keg. I suppose if it's on a chalkboard or something it would be doable.

 

A place I like to frequent for the chill music, quiet atmosphere and good selection of rotating handles will usually have something tapped that's out of season. I've had Hopslam in the summer, Columbus Creeper in the winter, Nugget Nectar in the fall and many others that happened to just show up one day long after the bottles dissappeared from the shelves. I don't recall any of them tasting off.

 

Assuming all else is equal and constant refrigeration, the only thing that matters is the length of time between packaging at the brewery and when the keg is tapped.

A keg could:

1) sit in a brewery warehouse for weeks or months

2) sit in a wholesaler warehouse for weeks or months

3) sit in a bar's walk-in for weeks or months


That's why the only real date that matters is the born-on date for the keg.

 

This is the beginning and one part of the end of what you need to know about kegs.
The other is how the lines, glasses, and so forth get treated.
Having cleaned an awful lot of kegs over my time. These things can get nasty.

 

Not sure what this has to do with "freshness"--perhaps mishandling etc. The age on that one was pretty obvious. Maybe it had even been mislabelled.

This concept that places should have info available on when the kegs were filled is getting a bit silly, IMO. Even the best craft beers bars don't routinely do that. And for a restaurant--how about when the meat was cut, burger ground, etc....?