Beer's Life Expectancy?

[NewBrewerTFM]

What is a beer's life expectancy? I know it's just a few hours around me but what I mean is what is the Shelf Life? Does anyone know the maturinng process?

 

[Qhrumphf]

That's going to depend on the beer. I find as a general rule, higher alcohol and/or darker beers tend stay great if not improve with age, while paler beers, lower alcohol beers, hoppy beers, and wheat beers tend to go south much more quickly. But at the same time, there are process-driven factors that are just as important. If you're oxidizing when racking or packaging beer, shelf life will suffer dramatically regardless of the beer. If you're storing warmer, shelf life will decrease. If temperature is fluctuating, shelf life will decrease. If you're storing very cold (just above freezing) shelf life will increase dramatically.

Let me put it this way, I try to consume a Hefeweizen as close to brewday as possible (generally 2-3 weeks primary plus 3 weeks bottled, then consumed as quickly as possible beyond that). Where a Barleywine, Belgian Quad, or RIS may not reach their prime for a year or two after brewing, and may still be great 5 years down the road (or longer if packaged and stored properly).

 

[Shish]

I'm answering from things I've read rather than personal experience, but beer can last a long time (we're talking decades) if sanitization was good when it was brewed/bottled and it is kept at cool enough temperatures. How good it will be varies depending on the style of beer. Hops flavors fade over time, so most people don't reccommend letting IPA's sit around a long time.

Like I said, this is all hearsay. Someone more experienced may give you a better answer. I personally know someone who drank some 12 year old home brew and didn't die... The bottles had a variety of styles. My understanding is that some tasted terrible others aged pretty well.

::osted at the same time as Qhrumphf. He said it better .

 

[Qhrumphf]

I'm answering from things I've read rather than personal experience, but beer can last a long time (we're talking decades) if sanitization was good when it was brewed/bottled and it is kept at cool enough temperatures. How good it will be varies depending on the style of beer. Hops flavors fade over time, so most people don't reccommend letting IPA's sit around a long time.

Like I said, this is all hearsay. Someone more experienced may give you a better answer. I personally know someone who drank some 12 year old home brew and didn't die... The bottles had a variety of styles. My understanding is that some tasted terrible others aged pretty well.

People have drank beers far older than that (in the "most expensive beer" thread that's been going recently, Denny mentioned drinking a beer that was 74 years old). It's not going to hurt you. One of the wonderful things about beer. You can absolutely store beer for decades and then drink it. The question is how it's going to taste after aging.

 

[brewinchef_fairfax]

ABV and density are the key factors here. A nice, strong, thick beer high in ABV (above 5-6%) will last a damn long time (at least a year or two) if stored properly. Dark, cool and consistent... At least that has been my experience. Lighter wheat beers? Not a chance.

 

[TNGabe]

Notable exception to the dark/strong generalization are lambics. Both pale and low abv, these beers can be stored for decades. A friend recently acquired a bottle of 63 Dre Fonteinen for his 50th bday this year.

 

[brewinchef_fairfax]

You're absolutely correct it was a generalization... Thanks for pointing that out - because it's something I didn't know..

 

[Qhrumphf]

Notable exception to the dark/strong generalization are lambics. Both pale and low abv, these beers can be stored for decades. A friend recently acquired a bottle of 63 Dre Fonteinen for his 50th bday this year.

Yep. Can generally go beyond that and say just about any beer with Brett/bugs.