Brewing Master » Homebrew Beer » How long does homebrew stay fresh?
How long does homebrew stay fresh?
Question:
Goodday Stephen, Not sure why you are in love with posting in HTML format but it is a pain in the ass to read at times. Have you ever considered switching to regular text mode for USENET as god intended? Ciao, Falcon <!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en" <html I was just curious how long bottled homebrew will stay fresh. <brI began brewing in Nov. 1999. I bottled a Stout in Dec. 1999. It’s not one of my favorite types of beers, but I like one every now and then. I have about a 12 pack left. It’s been kept in a cool closet ever since. Will normal gravity homebrew stay fresh for that long or longer? My usual original gravity is 1.042 or so, and the final is 1.012. <brFor regular store beer, I have heard that the fresher, the better. But for homebrew, it seems like I heard if it ages, it gets better. Is there an approximate amount of time when the aging actually hurts the beer? Thanks for any info. <br </html
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Response:
It depends on a lot of things. The better your sanitation, the longer the beer will keep. Stronger beers also tend to keep longer, and will often improve with age. Minimizing aeration during bottling, and reducing the headspace in the bottles will also contribute to longer shelf life. As a rule of thumb, I’d say that moderate gravity beers are usually at their best when they are fresh, but should still be decent after 4-6 months. And unless you’ve got sanitation issues, your homebrew should stay drinkable almost indefinitely (couple of years, at least)… but you will lose nearly all hop character, and start to pick up oxidized (cardboardy and/or sherry-like) flavors. Strong ales can improve with age… you still lose the hop character and pick up oxidation, but strong ales also tend to smooth out with time, so it’s a tradeoff. On your year-old Stout… your nose and your tastebuds are the best guide. If it smells OK, taste it… if it tastes OK, drink it! Bottom line is, beer is a very inhospitable environment for pathogenic bacteria… if it makes it past your nose, it’s not going to make you sick. — ** Entry deadline for the Drunk Monk Challenge is March 17th ** ** For more info, go to: http://www.sgu.net/ukg/dmc/ ** – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I was just curious how long bottled homebrew will stay fresh. I began brewing in Nov. 1999. I bottled a Stout in Dec. 1999. It’s not one of my favorite types of beers, but I like one every now and then. I have about a 12 pack left. It’s been kept in a cool closet ever since. Will normal gravity homebrew stay fresh for that long or longer? My usual original gravity is 1.042 or so, and the final is 1.012. For regular store beer, I have heard that the fresher, the better. But for homebrew, it seems like I heard if it ages, it gets better. Is there an approximate amount of time when the aging actually hurts the beer? Thanks for any info.
Response:
Generally the more alcoholic, bitter and darker the beer the longer it will hold up. A light Pils may only last a few months, but a barley wine can last indefinaly. I have had a 14 year old home brew. One of the very best beers I have ever tasted was the ‘89 conference brew " Calude of Zepply" by Ray Spangler when I had it in 1999. — Dan Listermann Check out our new E-tail site at http://www.listermann.com Take a look at the anti-telemarketer forum. It is my new hobby! I was just curious how long bottled homebrew will stay fresh. I began brewing in Nov. 1999. I bottled a Stout in Dec. 1999. It’s not one of my favorite types of beers, but I like one every now and then. I have about a 12 pack left. It’s been kept in a cool closet ever since. Will normal gravity homebrew stay fresh for that long or longer? My usual original gravity is 1.042 or so, and the final is 1.012. For regular store beer, I have heard that the fresher, the better. But for homebrew, it seems like I heard if it ages, it gets better. Is there an approximate amount of time when the aging actually hurts the beer? Thanks for any info.