Beer deterioration in un-refridgerated kegs during summer

[peterlonz]

I thought I would never have to ask this question, considering it fairly elementary.
But I have "just" purchased from a local commercial boutique style brewery 2 kegs.
Reason: I ran out on my pre-made 7 kegs during the lead up to Xmas. Then the Queensland (Australia) summer weather climbed to over 30, typically 31/32 dropping at night to about 26/27.
I considered this too damn hot to brew without temp controlled fermentation which I do not yet have.
Well one of the bought kegs went into the fridge as usual with about 10 PSI CO2 head; the other I applied about 30 psi & left at room temp (no room left in any fridge).
At first sampling the cold beer appeared very hazy & I supposed I had stirred up some residual yeast coming home in the car. So left for about 4 or 5 days & re sampled; result barely drinkable.
Second keg into fridge after maybe 3 weeks at room temp(30+), couple of days to get down in temp & sampled: Result nigh undrinkable & very foamy at only 2 - 4 PSI.

Complained to brewery who quite quickly said I was dopey to leave any beer at room temp for 3 weeks even with 30 PSI.
Says I: look this has never happened before & over many years I have of necessity had to leave bottles or kegs at room temp, sometimes for 2 months thought at lower room temps. And German commercial beer does not do this.
Ah they said commercial beer & your extract malt has preservatives which protect the beer, ours has no preservatives.
Well I believe this is total BS.
Anyone care to comment please?

 

[Cascadesrunner]

Tough to take a swing at this without knowing more about the beer. I don't see any reason to get into the whole hops as preservatives thing on this, but 30C is pretty warm hinging on what the cooling swing is. Stability could come into question depending on how they formulated this recipe and what their desired outcome was. Regrettably(all in how you look at it) there are a lot of new products on the market they need to be consumed as soon as possible after packaging here in the states. While there may be a serious drop in quality after that point, most are not "undrinkable" but rather just mundane. I don't buy beers that fall off quickly, but that is what some breweries are aiming for, the peak of freshness. The short answer is to talk to the brewery and find out what has the best chance of lasting at room temperature.

 

[mkyl428]

Sounds like bs if it was an especially hoppy beer it may have lost some zing, but should still be drinkable. Also if there we preservatives in malt extract it would not ferment. I would also disagree with German beer containing any preservatives.

Where I live it is illegal to sell beer above 4%ABV cold, so all beer above 4% is only sold in liquor stores, warm same for kegs. Some times this beer, (craft beer) may sit for months. Not ideal, but the beer is still drinkable.