How long does beer keep for in bottles?

[periolus]

Hello!

Well, the question says it all....how long does freshly-brewed (AG) beer last - at its best - in bottles if stored well?

Also - does the timeframe change if kept conditioning in an unopened keg?

Ta!

B

 

[paulpj26]

It depends on the gravity of the beer but most beers will last a good few years in a bottle and high gravity ones many years. On commercial bottles they generally put a best before date from a year from when the beer had been bottled but I would ignore this as most beers actually get better the longer you leave them.
:

 

[Moley]

Don't know, I've only been brewing AG for about 18 months, but I still have a few bottles from my first brews and they are still excellent.

I think quite a bit depends upon gravity, Tony doesn't even consider some of his Imperial Stouts ready to drink until they've been left for 2-3 years.

 

[periolus]

Just the answers I was looking for :thumb: Thank you, chaps!

 

[TheMumbler]

I think storage temps will have an effect on this too. I've noticeed that beers that were in the cellar over the whole summer tend to be pretty fizzy and not always in such great condition. My cellar has a reasonable amount of ventialation to the exterior and so doesn't buffer temperature as well as some.

 

[jamesb]

Darker beers will keep longer than pales too, due to the "antioxidants" present in the speciality malts.

EDIT: It also depends on how careful you are with oxygen pickup and sanitising when bottling.

 

[periolus]

What sort of temperature should they be kept at then? We have a half-height cellar under the house, but the floor is at ground-level, and as there are air-bricks there is a bit of circulation of cooler air. When we had 25-28C for ten consecutive days in the summer, the cellar didn't peak above 20C.

 

[jamesb]

Proper cellar temperatures 5 to 13 degC would be perfect.

 

[TheMumbler]

When we had 25-28C for ten consecutive days in the summer, the cellar didn't peak above 20C.

I wouldn't sweat it too much. I think mine provides a similar amount of buffering from the outdoors. My weaker beers have kept OK for around a year but tend to be going downhill by then. There are probably ways and means of keeping the beer a touch cooler in mid-summer but I haven't looked into it.

I haven't brewed anything all that strong so I couldn't comment on higher abv beers but generally speaking they should last better. I'm thinking about a couple of stronger brews (belgians, imperial stout) soon but obviously the results won't be in for a year or more...

 

[Springer]

How long does beer keep for in bottles?

In my case it depends how many I have in stock :? :lol:

 

[Muddy Funker]

Don't know, I've only been brewing AG for about 18 months, but I still have a few bottles from my first brews and they are still excellent.

I think quite a bit depends upon gravity, Tony doesn't even consider some of his Imperial Stouts ready to drink until they've been left for 2-3 years.

With regard to the Imperial Stouts, why do they need so long to condition?
That must take an age in itself to master that sort of patience!!!

Thanks.

 

[Aleman]

Don't know, I've only been brewing AG for about 18 months, but I still have a few bottles from my first brews and they are still excellent.

I think quite a bit depends upon gravity, Tony doesn't even consider some of his Imperial Stouts ready to drink until they've been left for 2-3 years.

With regard to the Imperial Stouts, why do they need so long to condition?
That must take an age in itself to master that sort of patience!!!

Thanks.

It's not conditioning, the long period of maturation is to allow the flavours to mellow and meld. after all a beer with a high proportion of Roast Malt, Hopped to higher than Brewdogs Hardcore . . . and >10% alcohol is going to be a little rough for a while. It's two years old and has developed a lot of nice flavours while loosing the harsh peppery spiciness that it had initially. I actually found a couple of bottles last year of the first RIS I made back in 1997, It certainly showed up some of the bad brewing techniques I was using :lol:, but was still an enjoyable beer.

I'm no more patient than a lot of people . . . I just put the beer in an inconvenient place to hide and forget it's there . . . brewing lots of other beers also helps leaving the beers that deserve maturation alone. . . . Some of the Durden Park beers should be aged for 4 years . . . And I had the pleasure of tasting one of them last year (not brewed by me) and it was excellent. . . . Endurance not a sprint

 

[Baz Chaz]

I'm no more patient than a lot of people . . . I just put the beer in an inconvenient place to hide and forget it's there . . .

I'm certainly not known for my patience

......... similar to Aleman, there's 3 bottles each of my first four AG brews, put in a box, parcel taped up and stuck in the back of a cupdoard in 'The Den' to open christmas 2011 :thumb: or a suitable occasion this summer

It's about the only way they'll last

 

[Muddy Funker]

Don't know, I've only been brewing AG for about 18 months, but I still have a few bottles from my first brews and they are still excellent.

I think quite a bit depends upon gravity, Tony doesn't even consider some of his Imperial Stouts ready to drink until they've been left for 2-3 years.

With regard to the Imperial Stouts, why do they need so long to condition?
That must take an age in itself to master that sort of patience!!!

Thanks.

It's not conditioning, the long period of maturation is to allow the flavours to mellow and meld. after all a beer with a high proportion of Roast Malt, Hopped to higher than Brewdogs Hardcore . . . and >10% alcohol is going to be a little rough for a while. It's two years old and has developed a lot of nice flavours while loosing the harsh peppery spiciness that it had initially. I actually found a couple of bottles last year of the first RIS I made back in 1997, It certainly showed up some of the bad brewing techniques I was using :lol:, but was still an enjoyable beer.

I'm no more patient than a lot of people . . . I just put the beer in an inconvenient place to hide and forget it's there . . . brewing lots of other beers also helps leaving the beers that deserve maturation alone. . . . Some of the Durden Park beers should be aged for 4 years . . . And I had the pleasure of tasting one of them last year (not brewed by me) and it was excellent. . . . Endurance not a sprint

And thanks again for another answer.

I wonder how an underground matured beer would turn out? You saying you put it in an inconvenient place to hide and forget it's there got me thinking.
What could be more inconvenient than burying a few bottles in the garden and then digging up a year later haha.
I'm actually going to try this, i figure the temp will be stable, it's dark ect.
Anyone else given buried beer a try?