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Kegging

Kegs, another option in packaging beer, are used in bars and catering establishments where beer is served "on draught." Kegging involves filling carbonated pasteurized beer into sterile aluminum or stainless steel kegs of various sizes. Aluminum kegs are generally more popular than stainless steel kegs because they are lighter and more resistant to minor damage. Compared with traditional cask ale, keg beer is more resistant to haze formation and microbial contamination. Consequently, the shelf life for keg beer is between 1 and 3 months compared with the 2 to 4 weeks for traditional cask ale. Kegging fits into the cost structure for craft brewers with limited startup capital for bottling lines and low product output.

There are two types of keg systems – open and closed. Kegs in an open-keg system have a bunghole on the side by which the interior can be readily accessed without extracting the valve body or spear. The bunghole is closed by a wooded or plastic bung plug. Hoff-Stevens kegs and the almost-extinct Golden Gate kegs are two examples of open-keg systems. Unlike open-system kegs, closed-keg systems can be accessed only through the valve housing. The newer, more common single-valve keg (SVK) or "Sankey" keg is an example of a closed-system keg.