How long is a Pale Ale "good" for?

[GreenDragon]

So I brewed a batch of EdWort's Pale Ale, bottled half of it, stuck it in the basement to condition, and accidentally forgot about it. Fast forward 9 months, we purchased our first house and I'm packing up the basement of the old place and stumble across 52 bottles of EdWort's PA. I brewed it in early Feb, bottled it sometime in March.

I know that IPA's have a very short shelf life due to hop oils breaking down. I'm guessing PA's have a predetermined shelf life too but it should be slightly longer do to not quite as many hops correct?

I know the obvious answer is "crack on open and see" but I was looking for something more official.

 

[TheZymurgist]

So I brewed a batch of EdWort's Pale Ale, bottled half of it, stuck it in the basement to condition, and accidentally forgot about it. Fast forward 9 months, we purchased our first house and I'm packing up the basement of the old place and stumble across 52 bottles of EdWort's PA. I brewed it in early Feb, bottled it sometime in March.

I know that IPA's have a very short shelf life due to hop oils breaking down. I'm guessing PA's have a predetermined shelf life too but it should be slightly longer do to not quite as many hops correct?

I know the obvious answer is "crack on open and see" but I was looking for something more official.

There's nothing more official than "crack one open and see." I'm sure it will still taste good, but the shelf life of hop aroma depends on so many factors, the main one being oxygen. Chances are the hop aroma is all but gone, but it may still be tasty. Crack one open and see.

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

The "official" answer really is crack one open and see. The beer will be fine. The only question is how much hop aroma will be left. If it was a fairly hoppy PA, there may be some aroma left. If not, it will still be fine - just less hoppy.

 

[mdbrewer1]

So I brewed a batch of EdWort's Pale Ale, bottled half of it, stuck it in the basement to condition, and accidentally forgot about it. Fast forward 9 months, we purchased our first house and I'm packing up the basement of the old place and stumble across 52 bottles of EdWort's PA. I brewed it in early Feb, bottled it sometime in March.

I know that IPA's have a very short shelf life due to hop oils breaking down. I'm guessing PA's have a predetermined shelf life too but it should be slightly longer do to not quite as many hops correct?

I know the obvious answer is "crack on open and see" but I was looking for something more official.

Like was mentioned, there isn't going to be anything official because there are so many variables involved. You'll likely get some anecdotal feedback, and I imagine it will be varied.

I'm curious how yours turns out. I've made the decision to save 2 beers out of each batch and open one at the 6-month mark and one at one year and see how they compare to the ones that were sacrificed earlier on. I generally brew less hoppy beers, but I plan to make a 2 Hearted clone soon, so it should be an interesting comparison.

 

[wolves63]

It won't go bad, it may oxidize, but that is really your only concern. You loose out on hop aroma like you have already said, but as for a true expiration date - there is no such thing as long as your sanitation was good. The beer inside won't be bad, just maybe not taste as initially intended.

 

[wardens355]

Next time, try moving one conditioned bottle into your fridge at set intervals (one, three, five, seven months, for example) and then do a vertical tasting to see how they changed.

 

[GreenDragon]

Yeah I wasn't worried about them going "bad" I was more worried about the hop oils breaking down and ending up with some kind of weird "not anywhere near as hoppy as it should be" PA. Not even for sure what it would taste like.

I'll toss some in the fridge tonight and try them out this weekend. I'll reply with the results and maybe even some pics

 

[dnslater]

I usually drink my hoppy beers relatively quick, like within 4 months or so........ but once I forgot about several bottles of black ipa. Cracked them after 9+ months and they were amazing. Hops character was gone, but very balanced caramel goodness. Always much to learn to experience how a beer evolves over a year.

 

[McGarnigle]

IPAs usually have decent maltiness going for them, so I think they have better lives after the hops have faded.

 

[RM-MN]

My pale ales have had good hop aroma/flavor at the end of a month. The hop aroma begins to diminish at 2 months and is nearly gone at the end of the third month. From then on I just have a good tasting beer without the hop aroma.