How long does beer keep for?

[Ale]

I've just done my first brew for a while and found I was down on bottles. On searching I found some in a cupboard with the brew I did in October for Christmas drinking. I've cracked one open for the football and it seems ok. How long will a beer last?

I also found in there a couple of bottles of cider I did last year. I never drank them because it was cloudy and didnt taste quite right. Didnt make me ill tough so maybe it was just the apple variety. The bottles have now cleared completely so I am tempted to try one, but not sure how brave I am.

 

[Fil]

with an alcohol level above 3.2% iirc beer will keep well, being a live beer however the yeast will continue to break down the complex sugar chains so a lighter beer may well start to thin out and loose body after 6-9months, but some darker and heavier beers benefit from this such as imperial stouts which can sit maturing for 12 months+

i starteed brewing in the days of boots kits and they needed a good few months of maturing in the bottle to mellow out and loose that harsh home brew twang..
so have developed the patience to sit on a brew for months to get the best flavour..

 

[Leon103]

I have drank beer that I had made three years ago and it tasted fine. I have had some that tasted a lot better after a couple of years.

 

[Flatline9]

The only bottled beer I have drank that was "off" was a commercial one that was a year out of date. It tasted like vinegar. However, the general consensus is that homebrew only gets better with age!

 

[Gomas]

You can keep it for years if your sanitisation is good. I wouldn't worry about getting ill as a result, give it a go and if it tastes bad, steer clear, if not, you've got some vintage home brew!

 

[The Idiot]

I have some stouts that are around 4 years old and they taste very good. I also have a Belgian ale which is around 5 years old. I tend to have a bottle every couple of months, and it's still changing for the better. I only have a few bottle left so it'll just make six years.

On one of the brewing podcasts (forget which one) they had a 25 year old bottle of Bulldog. They drank it but did admit it was probably past its best!!!