How long can brew sit out of fridge after bottling??

[Mavrick7881]

Hi all, what's the longest brew can sit out of the fridge after bottling??

 

[kh54s10]

I suppose that you are talking of bottle conditioning. You need to keep them out of the fridge for at least 2 weeks and more likely 3 weeks or longer for them to carbonate properly. I keep my bottles on a shelf until I need to restock the fridge. I put 6-12 in to chill of a particular style and add more as the get low. I have a winter ale on the shelf that is now a year and 9 months. Light, low gravity brews would not last that long.

 

[quincy07]

I am only on my second brew so I can only regurgitate what I have read as I do not have experience of my own to speak from.

Now that the disclaimer is out of the way. A bottle of beer that has been properly sanitized can pretty much be stored indefinitely. Some styles of beer benefit more from a longer bottle condition, stouts and porters, while others are better fresh, hefeweizen's and IPA's.

 

[Qhrumphf]

I suppose that you are talking of bottle conditioning. You need to keep them out of the fridge for at least 2 weeks and more likely 3 weeks or longer for them to carbonate properly. I keep my bottles on a shelf until I need to restock the fridge. I put 6-12 in to chill of a particular style and add more as the get low. I have a winter ale on the shelf that is now a year and 9 months. Light, low gravity brews would not last that long.

This. If you put beer that is not carbonated in the fridge, it will never carbonate.

After a week in bottles I usually toss one in the fridge overnight before opening as a tester (to make sure that it's carbonatING, not necessarily carbonatED), but the rest get at least 3 weeks at room temp before I even think of refridgerating them.

From a safety point the beer can stay at room temperature indefinitely. Beers decades (or even centuries) old have been tasted without risk. Might not always taste great, but it won't hurt you.

As far as quality, that will depend on the beer, but on your process as well. If you take care to minimize any staling (not oxidizing the beer after fermentation, etc), some beers will keep getting better for years (strong beers, darker beers, and sour beers typically improve with age). Other styles will deteriorate more quickly and fresher is better (wheat beers, IPAs and hoppy beers, etc).

Whether it's stored in the fridge or room temp makes a difference. Colder temperatures retard aging, and for styles that don't keep, they should be stored in the fridge if possible once they're carbonated. Other styles (particularly sour beers, and really high gravity beers) will mature more slowly at that cold of a temperature, and are better stored at a ~55°F cellar temps.

 

[Beernik]

I keep mine in my cellar, sometimes for years. But my cellar is effectively a fridge for 9 months of the year.

 

[Mavrick7881]

Thanx for the help guys!!!