Pretty interesting article on the 'freshness' of beer

[Stapsin]

http://drinks.seriouseats.com/2014/...-bottled-dates-tips.html?ref=excerpt_readmore

Interested to see what people think of this. Goes against most of what I've heard regarding homebrewed beer. Thoughts?

 

[clibit]

That's largely because he's talking about commercial beers, not home brewed beer.

 

[Stapsin]

That's largely because he's talking about commercial beers, not home brewed beer.

Why is there a difference?

 

[alanywiseman.]

I see the article a pretty in line with what most homebrewers think. He pretty much just refers to IPAs through the whole article and for them they start to loss hop aroma very quick so best drunk young. The biggest difference between HB and commercial is the quality of the fermentation and by proxy the amount of by products present in the finished beer. The more by products the longer it takes for the yeast to clean them up and for the flavour to mellow out.

 

[PaulCa]

We are in charge of the aging process. Commercially bought beer will be bottled after "aging" or whatever chemical process they call aging.

So arguably as a mega-homebrew expert you would age your beer for 6, 12, 18 weeks until you are happy it has met it's full potential, then you would label it with that date and continue to sample it every week until it's taste starts to change from "ideal" to "less than ideal". You'd work out how long that was and in future label the beer with a "best before" based on your findings. I expect that date would be many months beyond "ideal" though.

Judging (guessing mostly) by a few cans and bottles I have here, from shelf to best before on commercial beers is at least 4 months.

I have heard estimates for home brew going beyond "ideal" in anything from 6-12 months, but that includes the initial aging of 1-3 months.

 

[Strongarm]

Isnt there a school of thought that the really hop-aroma heavy APAs and IPAs are better young as the hop-aromas (which tend to be the main feature of the beer) fade through time?

[edit (nice to have that button back, was my only complaint about new forum, well that and the fact lots of people have left, but that happens every time a forum changes owner):]

Actually, Alan mentioned that already

 

[ericmark]

I watched Michael Portillo with his railway journey around the UK and during one episode he visits the breweries and is given a conducted tour around which included showing where IPA is stored to age to best emulate the journey it would have made to India.

IPA was designed to be in the barrels for a long time to be moved about and to be subjected to high temperatures before it was drunk. Made in UK and transported to India in sailing ships was a problem for beer in general which is why it was developed.

Lager is another beer specially designed to be stored for a long time. Since IPA could be stored for 6 months it is reasonable to store a Lager for a lot longer other wise not much point making it. The whole idea is that it can be stored for a long time.

However many pubs I visit say they don't do a real ale because they can't sell enough and it goes off before finished. Air is clearly a problem with non pressurised beer once tapped there is a limit to the time it can be kept for.

As to bottled beer there are so many types. Miller it seems has some special process for hops so not damaged by light.

But after a year of home brewing I found I don't like the taste of green beer. I quickly identified the taste and realised that nothing wrong with beer just not conditioned for long enough. As a result of getting use to taste of home brew I then realised many of the local cask ales were also too young. Before home brew just made mental note I did not like that beer.

Point is of course that beer is drunk by some one and they clearly like it or it would quickly be dropped by the pub. So there must be a group of drinkers who like green beer. Clearly for this section time in bottle will make a huge difference.

I lived in Algeria for a time on the Atlas mountains and at night it could drop to -5 degrees C but in day reach 48 degrees C but in UK night time 4 degrees C day time 20 degrees C bottles can warm and cool quickly so in land on large land masses this huge variation in temperature could damage a beer which in our temperate claimant would not be a problem. This write up clearly in USA which is a large land mass.

It would seem reading the comments that even the yanks don't agree with what he has said. So I would say note what he says about "HenHouse" beer and if you visit USA you know to avoid it as it clearly will not be to our taste.

I went to Warrington not far from where I live in Wales and was interested in seeing EPA (English Pale Ale) which seemed rather an odd name I am sure this is not India beer exported to England but just a name like Old Speckled Hen and I have been surprised when I asked for India Pale Ale standing right next to a pump with IPA all over it to be told they don't have any.

I think with those who just drink beer they have no idea what IPA or Lager means and if one was to present them with a dark lager they would reject it. Many consider a lager as a very pale ale not a beer designed to keep for a long time. Even the brew kit manufactures market Lager kits with instructions to ferment at 20 degrees C clearly not really a lager just a very light ale.

Words change in meaning 200 years ago beer had hops and ale had no hops today we think of ale as being live and beer being a chemical product. We used the phrase "Real Ale" now it seems we have "Cask Ale" and we have really no idea as to what these labels mean in USA. They tend to retain some old English words and also miss spell them some we are well aware of like boot = trunk and bonnet = hood but others are more alien to us. I would have expected a pocket book to be a small note book but seems I am wrong.

Jasper Carrot seemed to have worked it all out? Is English but not as we know it.

 

[clibit]

The Whys and Hows of Aging Beer

http://www.beeroftomorrow.com/how-to-age-beer/

Some beers really do get better with age

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/12/travel/12iht-trlambic.3869278.html?_r=0

 

[BillinKC]

I believe the article mainly pertains to mass produced American beers that have been filtered before bottling. These beers don't have much flavor to begin with...mainly lightly hopped, low alcohol, low carb liquid. I've made home brewed beer for a long time and have to make beers with an og of at least 1055 to have a beer with enough body and flavor to age well. I know a lot of UK ales are made with much lower original gravities and I complement you on the ability to make tasty brews this way...but I doubt they have much aging potential. My beers are bottled with corn sugar, condition in the bottle for at least a month before drinking. Then, after the by products of bottle conditioning fade, they remain good tasting for upwards of a year. The higher the og the more aging potential they have. I store beers at cellar temperature between 16 and 21C only chilling them a few hours before serving.

 

[clibit]

Our cellars are colder than that! :-?

 

[Strongarm]

Our cellars are colder than that! :-?

I dont reckon the cupboard under my stairs is though.