I have been asked to bring a small keg to an event, I know all well and good it will not get finished in one night with the crowd attending but the host wants it so I am going to honor his request. There is no co2/keg-o-rator, is my best bet to save leftover beer to put it in growlers and stick it in a fridge and consume it the next day? That has to be better then leaving it in the keg overnight, right?
Talk the host out of this or find a way to CO2 like Welsh says. Not only do you have the risk of having problems with the keg (keeping the right temp, getting it flowing right, no foam etc.) but a small keg is just about the most expensive way you can consumer beer. Edit: On second thought even if you have CO2/kegerator this probably isn't the best idea. If the temperature isn't perfect, or the line is not the right length you will have problem. I went to a wedding with two kegerators where everyone was drinking foam all night. Will you have time for the keg to sit there and settle for a while or are you transporting it there that day? IMO if you don't have the right equipment kegs are more trouble than their worth.
If you are using a hand pump you will want to finish it that night. As said above, if you want to save it, find a way to use CO2 to push the beer.
co2 is not an option, otherwise I wouldn't be asking. The host likes the idea of having a "keg", he isn't really a beer drinker but others there will be. I asked what he wanted me to bring and he replied like a school girl when he responded to bring a keg "like the one you had last summer". Otherwise I would just be bringing up a 2-3 cases. He is throwing a big event so who am I to complain, I just don't want to see good beer go to waste. At least I choose a beer I know 4-5 people regularly consume ( I could have been selfish and picked out a IIPA) so MAYBE there is a chance we kill it in one night!
Ive filled growlers off a keg with the handpump, it kinda worked, but even the growlers you want to consume quickly as well since oxygen was introduced to them.
Well if it is "big event" I'm sure you will have more than 4 or 5 people drinking it. Even if you don't, how much will you have left, half gallon or so? If CO2 isn't an option, then you really don't have any options, it will have oxygen in it and will go bad quickly. It's collateral damge, just ditch it.
Not really, on a hand pump you infuse oxygen which will kill the beer by the next day. I say growler is your best bet that night and then refrig them.
To answer your first question, saving a growler for a day is probably the least bad thing you can do with beer that has been exposed to air. But Frankinstiener's advice is spot on . . . expect the keg-for-a-day project to have problems. I would back it up with bottles of SN or Sammie and maybe some Stone or Dogfish for the hop-heads. For those who want to drink foamy beer from a plastic cup you'll have a keg . . . the others will have something decent to sip.
