Best before date

[ChilliMayne]

My brews go pretty quickly when ready to be fair. But how do I calculate shlf life of a brew?

 

[LarryBrewer]

I've had bottled beer that was still good 18 months later. The key to stability is avoiding exposure to air, and to try and keep yeast and sediment out of the bottles. The pro's filter their beer through plates, screens, or other contraptions to get all gunk out of the beer before bottling. Home brewers can get filters, but they are expensive. Another technique is to cold crash - http://www.brewersfriend.com/2009/04/18 ... rify-beer/. To avoid oxidation, what I often do is select a highly flocculent yeast (that settles to the bottom well), and skip racking to a secondary. This route saves time, but doesn't do great with preventing sediment 100%. If you do rack, make sure to select a secondary size that you can completely fill up to the neck. So if you ferment in a 6 gallon, rack to a 5 gallon. That keeps air away from the beer.

Heavier beers (like a barely wine at 11% ABV) will have more stability in the bottle and even flavor development over time. We have a 2008 barely wine that is still drinkable when we tried it a few months ago.

Dry hopping effects diminish after 6-8 weeks. When dry hopping drink sooner. Yum!

Maybe what you need to think about as well is a best after date. Beer is best after it conditions correctly, and this can take several weeks. Some yeast also need time to clean themselves up. Every time I have opened a bottle before 45 days after brew date, or before 4 weeks in the bottle, I've been disappointed. So, patience is the key to getting the most out of every bottle.

 

[ChilliMayne]

Great.
Thanks for the detailed response.

 

[Thurston Brewer]

When my beer matures, I transfer the bottles into the fridge to keep the flavor from going past. Take some out for a few hours if I want to drink it at normal temperature (which is most of the time).

 

[Nosybear]

How to calculate? Impossible, too many variables. I have beers that are over two years old and still good. I've had them past their sell-by date in six months. Generally, high alcohol beers will last longer, just keep the oxygen out. Bottle-conditioned beers last longer, the yeast scavenge the oxygen. In the end, it all comes down to your process and the beer itself, no real way of predicting shelf life.

 

[GFHomebrew]

Two years aye Nosey gee impressive what was this a porter? I hear flavours continue to develop over time with some beers definitely not a light beer style eh?

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

yes I found a six pack in my attic I just set to forget because it wasn't right, too sweet but high alcohol after a year I found it and it was perfect, it happens

 

[GFHomebrew]

I've got some cider in the shed that was a bit rough last year. Maybe time can make that better? Stranger things have happened I suppose it didn't really start out that good .

 

[jeffpn]

I have found homebrew I forgot about when I pulled some bottles for bottling. After a year, it was good.

 

[Nosybear]

Two years aye Nosey gee impressive what was this a porter? I hear flavours continue to develop over time with some beers definitely not a light beer style eh?

I have two that have aged gracefully over that period, a doppelbock and a wee heavy. Yes, they're both somewhat on the heavy side. I have a Chipotle pepper beer that's aging out quite nicely, too.

 

[GFHomebrew]

See now there is a lesson in restraint ha ha leave some brews to time and they just might reward you.

 

[Head First]

See now there is a lesson in restraint ha ha leave some brews to time and they just might reward you.

We make a BIG beer every fall and save most of it for later. Have some 3 year old beer that is coming out very well, it was overpowering the first few months. Best so far is a 14.9% Belgian Strong that is over a year old now. Can't wait til it reaches 10yrs.
If you build them to last as has been described in this thread and are not shy with malt and hops I think beer can age well.