Barrel question

slowburner

Not sure if this is the right place to post this....
A full barrel of beer has come into my possession (100% legitimately, I should add).
What do I need to extract the contents?
The barrel has been lying around for perhaps ten years: might it still be drinkable?

BeerNut

Do you mean a steel keg? If so you'll need the right sort of coupling to fit gas and a tap. And gas. And a tap.

slowburner

Yes, it's a steel keg. Is the gas crucial? I can probably get my hands on a tap but I'm not too sure about the gas. What does the gas do anyway? I presume it's CO2 and gives the fizz - or does it provide the pressure to drive the liquid through the tap?
Cheers Beernut.

Dave_Kilkenny

As far as I remember from my questions about hiring a keg the gas is used to regulate the pressure and when the keg is say half full contain pumping the beer from it.

Although 10 years old? I'm fairly sure most commercial beer doesn't age but more so perishes.

Fuzzy Clam

slowburner wrote: »

Yes, it's a steel keg. Is the gas crucial? I can probably get my hands on a tap but I'm not too sure about the gas. What does the gas do anyway? I presume it's CO2 and gives the fizz - or does it provide the pressure to drive the liquid through the tap?
Cheers Beernut.

Probably an aluminium keg.

Quite crucial.
It's a mix of Co2 and N2. The mix is different for different beers. It's used both to supply pressure and give the fizz. If you use the wrong mix or just Co2 alone, you can destroy the beer if you don't know what your doing.
If the keg is still pressurised then you may be able to draw a few pints without gas. You need a tapping head.
Don't think i'd want to drink 10 yr old beer:)

oblivious

I be its gone off but worth the try

slowburner

Now the question is what will it taste like? If it's toxic I'll make another stove out of the keg or maybe another Tandoor!