Kegging Your Beer

"Draft beer always taste better." How many times have you heard this?

There's some science to support this observation. Most commercial breweries do not pasteurize their keg beer. Furthermore, they will insist that their keg beer be refrigerated to preserve the freshness. So there you have it: the two main reasons why keg beer almost always has a fresher, more enjoyable flavor.

Naturally, home-brew in bottles or kegs is not pasteurized and if we can, we keep it refrigerated or at least store in in a cool environment. Yet, home-brewers also notice that their keg versions are often a bit fresher tasting than the bottle versions.

There's some science here, too. Recall that airspace in the bottle gradually reacts with beer and creates changes called oxidation, Some beer can be desirable, but most of these changes reduce the fresh-tasting character. The ratio of air volume to beer is much less in a keg of beer than it would be in a bottle. Thus, you minimize oxidative changes in your beer when you keg.