Subject: Re: [Homestead] Nothin' like the local- was, Stone Brewing
Date: Wed, 05 Jan 2005 11:42:16 -0700
I aim to put a keg in the creek this winter.
Ted
Check the temperature often. Unlike wine, which will keep well at merely
cool temperatures, beer will go bad unless it is kept cold. Especially a
15.5 gallon keg. My tapper temperature currently is 26 degrees at the
bottom and 33 degrees at the top of the keg. Much colder than I prefer to
drink it, so I fill a glass and let it warm before drinking. Beer has a
relatively short shelf life and kegs typically last awhile. Here in the
city I don't drink as much as when I am at home doing hard physical work,
so the last keg lasted two months. Toward the end I found myself having
morning diarrhea. At first I decided it was some moldy blueberries I ate--I
saw the mold in the box after I had swallowed. As the condition persisted
for several days, I suspected the beer. When the keg went dry and I took
everything apart for cleaning I found lots of seriously nasty stuff inside
the tap. After getting the new keg tapped with all clean equipment, all is
well. Back home I used to keep a champagne plastic "cork" on the end of the
tap to keep it protected from room air and bugs. Here, I think I will untap
the keg and clean the tap every couple of weeks. Well, at least when I find
negative morning symptoms recurring.