Today many beer industries love to place their beers in kegs, and that is because they want to deliver them as fresh as possible to bars and restaurants.
Kegs are the latest technology for beer containers. During the older times, people used to transport beer using cedar barrels.
However, there needs to be a comparison between metallic kegs and wooden barrels. The latter have tiny holes, allowing the external air to pass through them and find the beer mix.
As a result, the foam was inferior, and the carbon dioxide concentration was less than the demanded ones.
The question remains: can you age your beer in a keg? Beer experts have their objections. If you follow the rest of the article, you will read precious information about it and know more.
Is It Possible to Let Your Beer Age in a Keg?
Beer lovers like to know more about kegs. It’s the easiest way to store beer and aging it. That’s why you can easily place your beer mix in a keg and let it mature as much as you like.
However, you need to know the exact beer blend you use. That is to ensure you will give it much time to mature and release all the required beer aromas and flavors.
What Are Kegs Made Of?
Kegs are usually made of stainless steel metal. This kind of metal is requested to ensure that there would be no rust inside the keg. Oxygen can stay inside the keg and oxidize the metallic surfaces.
That’s why handling the excess oxygen quantity is very important when you administer your beer mix inside the metallic keg.
The best thing about kegs is that they have two independent valves for gases. The more you take care of them, the better. With these valves, you may easily control the oxygen and carbon dioxide concentrations in the keg.
So if you have a stainless steel keg and a great beer mix, you can easily start aging your beer and be a happy man!
How Can You Remove Oxygen from a Keg?
It would require you to have a low-pressure motor to move the oxygen out of the keg. You will know that the oxygen is out when you smell the carbon dioxide from the keg.
It’s better to have some more carbon dioxide than to leave oxygen in the keg. Then you need to be thorough and shut the valves before you start entering the beer mix inside the keg.
You will need to be careful when entering the beer to ensure that an equal volume of carbon dioxide leaves the keg from the top.
In the end, you will have a full keg with beer, and you can store it in the best possible conditions.
What Is the Average Time of Beer Maturation in a Keg?
There is no absolute time for beer maturation and aging in a keg. Most people say that aging depends on the type of beer and the complexity you would like to achieve.
For instance, a pale ale beer with fruity scents would need no more than two weeks to mature in a metallic keg.
However, if you have a bock or stout beer with a lot of malty cereals inside, it would take at least a month or two to show its beer qualities.
So it’s better to wait for your beer to mature in the keg rather than tasting it too early and being disappointed by the results.
Does Beer Oxidization Happen in a Keg?
Beer oxidization can happen everywhere oxygen is present. So if you leave lots of oxygen in a keg, there would be oxidization happening there.
Since you don’t like that to happen in your beer mix, it’s better to replace the oxygen with carbon dioxide and ensure the beer has the best possible storage conditions in the keg.
How Long Does Beer Alcohol Stand in a Keg?
Beer alcohol is a very stable ingredient. It can be present in your beer as it ages in a keg. Many beer experts believe that kegs will not interfere with beer fermentation.
As a result, you don’t expect an alteration in your beer mix alcohol concentration.
And since alcohol cannot disappear in your keg, you will have it present for many months until you finally consume your beer.
Is it Better to Refrigerate Your Kegs to Let your Beer Age?
Not only it’s a preferred method of storage, but you must refrigerate your beer kegs at all times. First, it’s easier to remove gases from refrigerated kegs.
That happens because colder gases have a lower volume and pressure.
Additionally, when we have to do with beer mixes, you need a lower temperature t avoid further fermentation of the internal content.
Nobody would like his beer to go bad in the keg, so you better leave it at a lower temperature and away from direct exposure to the sunshine.
What happens When You Keg Your Beer too Early?
Beer lovers who happen to hurry up and keg their beer early will only end up with a lower-quality beer.
It is always better to leave your beer to mature in the barrel and then place it in a keg.
Great beer industries place their beers in the kegs only when they are sure their beer is ready for consumption.
As a result, it’s better to allow your beer to mature outside the keg and let it enter there only when you need to transport it to the cold market.
Bars and restaurants will entertain a beer in a keg when it’s fully matured or needs just a few more days in the keg to age and taste better.
Final Words
Kegs are the best containers to send your beer to distant places.
However, if you expect them to act as aging barrels for your beer, you need to sanitize them and remove all the oxygen from their inside.
Kegs will benefit your beer mix only when you follow these simple aging rules!
