Quick Homebrew Beer question

Lomast

I have been playing around with brewing my own beer from the Wilko Bitter mix
http://www.wilkinsonplus.com/home-brewing/wilko-hoppy-copper-bitter/invt/0318382

the first batch i made i bottled but found it was a lot of hassel so i bought a pressure vessel with the gas cartriges to pressurise.

The thing i have not been able to get a decent answer to is how long will it be drinkable for once i pour the first pint?

The batch i made for christmas i drank in about 2 weeks and was all fine but i dont tend to drink that much normally and would expect it to take 4-6weeks to get through the batch will it still be ok? I seem to recall from my days working in a bar many years a go a barrel could only be kept for a few days once tapped.

Any advice greatfully recieved

Badrick

Oxygen is the main reason for spoilage, so provided you keep the co2 levels elevated, it should last for months.
You may find that the brew had less fizz as the lower gas pressure (as opposed to bottling) results in less co2 being absorbed into your brew.

Mojisola

Lomast wrote: »

The batch i made for christmas i drank in about 2 weeks and was all fine but i dont tend to drink that much normally and would expect it to take 4-6weeks to get through the batch will it still be ok? I seem to recall from my days working in a bar many years a go a barrel could only be kept for a few days once tapped.

My FIL used to use one of the pressurised barrels. He had a pint a night and the beer was as good at the end as at the beginning.

lolarentt

The casks you remember from your barman days were obviously cask conditioned beer with no applied surface gas pressure (CO2 cylinders etc) so would have started to deteriorate after a few days. If you keep the air away it will be fine