recarbonating?

[MTpilot]

We have a keg that came from a microbrewery that is completely flat. The keg was for friends who threw a party and left the hand pump tap on for 2 days.

My question is, could I mix this flat brew with some priming sugar and bottle a case of it before we return the keg?

It seems like their should be some yeast in there still, but is it enough to re carbonate?

 

[Foreigner]

Hand pump = oxygen. I wouldn't.

 

[FlyingHorse]

Also, some micros filter their beer, in which case you won't have any yeast.

Unless you have easy access to a CO2 system with the right keg fittings, it's probably not worth the effort trying to carbonate oxidized beer.

 

[cheezydemon]

You could pour yeast and the carefully measured amount of sugar in, but if you are talking about a "half barrell" my understanding is that it will not hold the necessary pressure even with the tap off.

 

[Barley-Davidson]

If you transferred it to a corny keg you should be able to get some bubbles back in, but I would imaging the prolonged exposure to oxygen would make re-carbonating undesirable.

 

[FlyingHorse]

You could pour yeast and the carefully measured amount of sugar in, but if you are talking about a "half barrell" my understanding is that it will not hold the necessary pressure even with the tap off.

Huh?

First, he's talking about taking the beer out of the keg and bottling it.

Second, a half barrel (aka Sanke keg) is designed specifically to store and serve carbonated beer. Why wouldn't it hold pressure?

 

[cheezydemon]

I was proposing an alternative to taking it out of the keg and exposing it.
Once tapped I have noticed 1/2 barrels to lose carbonation even with the tap removed, but this could be accounted for by the air space let in when beer was let out now that I think about it.

 

[Bobby_M]

The reason these kegs decarb is because the hand pump only puts enough pressure in to dispense, not to keep it carbed. Air pumped beer starts tasting pretty bad in about 24 hours. It's about the same as a glass of beer that sits out for a couple hours. Not drinkable.

 

[MTpilot]

thanks for all the comments. i think i'm just going to return the keg with beer in it (although that seems like a crime).

it is a filtered beer and it has been exposed to quite a bit of o2 via the hand pump.

sad day

 

[Bobby_M]

I'd say the vast majority of 1/2 kegs are returned half full. 15 gallons of beer in one sitting is quite a bit. If you have this happen often enough, it may pay to buy a CO2 capable keg coupling and a keg charger that uses little co2 cartridges. At least you can later milk the keg for as long as necessary.

 

[Sea]

Once you start kegging your brews, all you need is the sanke keg coupling, you've got the rest already set up! I "inherited" one from somewhere...

 

[cheezydemon]

I'd say the vast majority of 1/2 kegs are returned half full. 15 gallons of beer in one sitting is quite a bit. If you have this happen often enough, it may pay to buy a CO2 capable keg coupling and a keg charger that uses little co2 cartridges. At least you can later milk the keg for as long as necessary.

or IT MIGHT BE LESS TROUBLE TO JUST BREW YOUR OWN TO BEGIN WITH !