Beer / Ales : How Long..........

[Karofin]

I am very new to brewing but I have to say after just 2 completed wine brews and 1 half completed beer brew I am hooked. My question is around creating a decent stock which I and friends and family can enjoy year round, but balancing this against the most ideal quality timeframes, while making sure not to lose stock.

Thinking about beer only, or more accurately various ales from the kits you can buy off the shelf, after completion, how long is usually best to wait before drinking the product after bottling and how long should I consider it lasts before it needs to be thrown away (using some form of erm.... sink *hic*).

I am trying to work out brewing windows for the likes of the summer period and the festive period as examples.

 

[danb]

I just brew every so often when I want to try a recipe or to keep stocks up. But there's always at least 150 bottles ready to drink.
After bottling I go 2 weeks warm then down to 12'c. Try 1 after a week and see how it is. Some are brilliant at a week and some 6 months, just depends on the beer.

 

[Dave1970]

I've found that kit beers take a bit longer to get to their best - they'd be fine after a month but at their best after 3(ish)

Stronger beers need longer - I did a Brewferm Grand Cru that was at least a year until it was good.

As for how long until they have to be 'chucked'...it's a long time (at least in glass bottles kept in the dark) - I drank a 2 year old bottle of a 5.6% brew at the weekend & it was still fine. Again the stronger the beer the longer it'll keep for.

That's not to say they won't change in the bottle, hop aroma will decrease with time, so a hoppy brew that really depends on hop flavour to give it character could be considered to be 'past it's best' after 6 months but another drinker who doesn't like hops as much might think the same brew is still improving.

In a plastic barrel on the other hand I don't think I'd be wanting to go past 6 months

 

[Tom]

The stronger, the longer, basically.

If you're brewing kits like brewferm pilsner, which asks for 8 weeks in the bottle, then think about getting one done soon for the usual early summer. The Geordie Bitter tasted great to me after two weeks.
If you're thinking about Christmas already then you're really planning ahead! Try brewing that around September.

Brew whenever. It's bottle conditioned anyway, so as long as you keep it relatively cool and you don't splash when bottling, you'll be fine. The only problem to brewing to a timescale is your brewday. If there's going to be a heatwave, don't bother, as your ale has a much higher chance of spoiling in the fermenter.

 

[Karofin]

Thanks for the superb help so far. I am also thinking of the time of year for brewing too yes... For wine for example I find myself needing a lot more time at higher temps, but for Beer it seems that lower temps are my friend, especially say in the secondary ferment stage. The current one is outside on the step at the moment as it happens. Could not do that in the height of summer (he says with typical British optimism !!)

All of my stuff will be bottled in glass bottles and metal capped. The comments about the change in taste appealing to some more or less than others depending on their palette is so obvious when mentioned now too. I will take that into account.

So storing the stuff in the dark is the key. I was thinking about building some racking in the shed and putting in crates so that it is available as we need it too.

 

[danb]

These come in handy for storage. :thumb:

 

[Pjam]

Nice carpentry Dan

So storing the stuff in the dark is the key.

Brown glass is best. With green glass you'd need a darker room and clear glass is not recommended. Once bottled your beer should last ages but some forms of infection will shorten shelf life.

I can't keep the beer long, it tastes good and doesn't last long! Though just to make sure, I store in crates lined with newspaper.

 

[ushills]

3 weeks minimum from bottling I would say before drinking although they get better with 6 weeks but by then they've gone. My PB was drinkable and carbonated after 2 weeks, one in warm and one in cold.