Boy, it is hard getting a straight answer about this question. My parents are going to bring me a keg from Minnesota of a beer not found in Colorado. My question, is it okay if the keg gets to room temperature for a day or so. Any ideas?
What kind (style) of beer is it? What is the ABV? (it can make a difference). Are they going to transport it inside the passenger compartment of a vehicle, or in a trunk/truck bed, or maybe even as air cargo? Others will hopefully chime in, but here's another thread on this forum that discusses it: https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/keg-storage.88836/
You would probably do better to have them bring you bottles or cans, there are only slightly more than two cases in a log. The keg will be cumbersome, could go bad, and they will lose their keg deposit if they don't bring it back with them.
Simple answer. No. Keg beer is not pasteurized. It will spoil if left at ambient temps. That is a fact. However as other point out, ABV, style and the packaging of the beer are all factors. In general, once you get above about 50 degrees with a typical beer it will go down hill quite fast. How fast? Let Coors Light or any other domestic 4.5% ABV get to 72F and it will start going sour in a day. Two tops. And you'll notice. So if you really want keg beer keep it on ice. But lots of ice. And wet towels. A lot. You plan to pour with an air pump? Don't. Or go ahead, but you are ruining the beer in 12 hours. So. What is really wrong with cans and bottle? Cheers
You really think that there is live souring bacteria present in Coors Light kegs? I think they’d like to know that because it means there are some major sanitation issues in their facilities.
Most definitely there is. The keg is not sterile when it is filled with beer. It is clean. But not void of any bacteria. Achieving that level of sanitation, zero bugs, is virtually impossible with a keg and pretty difficult everywhere else too. The beer itself has beer spoiling critters present even before it gets kegged. That is one reason products are pasteurized with heat. Euro kegs are pasteurized and will keep at room temp for a few months. Euro kegs live in a cargo ship for a while and can't be kept cold. Domestic beer is not pasteurized. It is kept fresh if it is kept cold. From brewery to glass, all along the way with a few short unrefridgerated intervals. As long as the good yeast are in control, the yeast, and the harmful bugs are kept dormant in a cold and oxygen free environment the beer won't spoil, at least not immediately. We are seeing kegs from January or even older that have been under Covid lockdown. Refrigerated but old. Stale. Dull. But most have not soured. Cheers
I’m not gonna get into it with you, but the level of bacteria present in an unpasteurized keg is not going to sour it in any appreciable amount of time unless the brewery has a major contamination issue. Yes, kegs and brewery environments are not 100% sterile, but finished beer is not a good medium for lactic acid bacterial growth, even if there were a significant bacteria population (which is highly unlikely). For comparison, it usually takes 24 hours for a pitch of lactobacillus to sour a batch of unfermented wort, and that usually requires it being held at over 100 degrees.
This is just false and I'll explain why. Thank you for not wanting to get into it, but you wrote it. The topic comes up every few months. Ask yourself why are domestic kegs kept cold? Hmmm... Lactobacillus is only one variety of bacteria. You are assuming that because your wort requires a day or more for Lacto to take hold then this is a standard for evaluating how, when and why a beer goes sour. You also seem to be confusing the type of sour that is desirable with any souring. Brewers may want a controlled souring with predictable results and that is why they don't just let any variety of bacteria take over (for comparison, leave milk unrefrigerated and it will go sour, but yogurt contains introduced Lactobacillus and it is desirable). Trust me when I tell you unpasteurized keg beer will spoil if it is not kept cold. Your homebrew is also quite different than commercial keg beer because you do not filter your beer. Can't tell you how many times this assumption needs to be pointed out. If you believe unpasteurized beer does not need to be kept cold you should understand that this is simply not true. The keg must be kept cold. There is no conspiracy. It needs to be kept cold because it will spoil otherwise. Sterile is defined as "free from bacteria or other living things". Keg beer is fine filtered and the majority of yeast and harmful bacteria is removed but it is not sterile. Or it is not filtered at all if it is homebrew. Bottle and can beer is typically "sterile filtered", and that is a finer filtration. It removes the majority of beer spoiling bacteria, but not all. It's called sterile filtration but it's not actually sterilized. Keg beer is in fact desirable precisely because it is less handled. Some bottle or can beer is not sterile filtered, and it too should be kept cold. (Coors is one example, and new cans are a hell of a lot cleaner than any keg that is not new). Kegs are cleaned with caustic and hot water but a keg can not be sterilized and is in fact merely an OK vessel for beer storage. The cold storage keeps the bad bugs in check. Coors does not have any problems with sanitation. Cheers
