How long does home brew last?

[smellycarp]

I haven't had the problem of beer going bad because i have been drinking with anyone i can talk into it since i started brewing, but I am starting to wonder how long my beer would last if i start brewing faster and drinking slower?

I like brewing ales and might start in on some lagers for summer. so far i've brewed a cream ale and 2 blonde ales and am so happy with the results that i run out before bottling the next batch. but i'd like to get ahead and eventually have an assortment of styles.

Currently i am bottling but i hope to start kegging by the end of summer and bottling if there are no kegs available.

I look forward to some more great advice from you old pros!

Cheers!

 

[TTB-J]

Several months, possibly years if stored in ideal conditions.

 

[smellycarp]

Several months, possibly years if stored in ideal conditions.

That's good to know.
I assume ideal conditions means refrigerated for lager and ale?

 

[BBL_Brewer]

I don't know about you guys, but a 5 gallon batch of my beer only lasts about two weeks

 

[homebrewdad]

Do note that some styles - stouts, barleywines, other "big" beers - seem to do better than others. Some styles - mainly wheat beers and IPAs - don't go bad, per se, but they lose their zing over time.

 

[TTB-J]

That's good to know.
I assume ideal conditions means refrigerated for lager and ale?

Sure, refrigerated is a fine way to store beer for the long term. You just want to avoid conditions that will potentially cause spoilage or degrade the integrity of your caps/bottle.

 

[BradleyBrew]

I agree big beers tend to mellow and age much better then wheats, IPA's, and lower gravity low hopped beers. But all can last for years if your sanitation practices are good.

 

[House12]

A frequently cited figure is that beer oxidizes/stales twice as fast for every 10 degrees celsius increase. So beer stored at around room temperature will go bad about 4 times as fast as refrigerated beer. 8 times as fast in a warm closet. Granted, longevity is really based on brewing practices. The more sanitary the longer, and in general, darker beers will last longer.

 

[JonK331]

I don't know about you guys, but a 5 gallon batch of my beer only lasts about two weeks

Yeah. It's a serious problem. I think I need a bigger brew rig.

 

[jbsg02]

2 weeks tops, then after that you can send it to me for proper disposal

 

[eppo]

It lasts quite a while. As a point of reference, I had a brown ale that fellow homebrewers were saying was very good, at a year. I found a bitter that was 2 years old, that was tasty, and brilliantly clear. I do store my beers cold, so I know that helps. Probably want to dry hop an ipa if it sits a while.

 

[stellaontap]

I am still drinking beer that I brewed in 2011.......and it still tastes as good as when I first tapped the keg.

Eric

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

I have some high ABV Belgians (10-11%) I brewed summer of 2010 that I've kept at room temperature in bottles. It's stable and hasn't degraded. I have several 4-6% beers that have been bottled for a year or more and most are stable but I think there's been a little degradation. I have multiple other higher ABV beers from last spring still bottled and delicious.

 

[smellycarp]

Thanks to all y'all!
So far i am in the same boat as the guys whose beers only last 2weeks. But i plan on steppin it up!

Cheers! You guys are great!

 

[Revvy]

Beer doesn't go "bad" unless your sanitization is weak.

Homebrew is no different from commercial beer. Properly stored it can last and be drinkable for 100s of years.

To put it in perspective, in the Dec 07 Zymurgy Charlie Papazian reviewed bottles of homebrew going back to the first AHC competition that he had stored, and none of them went bad, some had not held up but most of them he felt were awesome...We're talking over 20 years worth of beers.

This is a great thread about one of our guys tasting 4-5 years of his stored brew.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/revisiting-my-classics-160672/

And I brewed an og 1.150, 150 IBU barleywine that I won't be opening for 5 years.

Not to mention the fact that there are vertical tasting for certain beers like Stone epic, where people collect each years beer and then sample a flight of them going back in time.

I just had this expericence not too long ago... We tried 48 year old beer today. One was interesting and drinkable, and one was gnarly.

Mbowenze has a thread about tasting an over 100 year old beer recently. And In my history thread there's a video of the OZ and James Drink to Britain tv series where they taste a beer older than that.....one that goes back to Napoleanic times iirc.

It all depends on how they were stored.

 

[beerloaf]

I have a tripel that I brewed over a year ago and it's fantastic now. The complexity of flavors is just amazing. I think it will be even better if I manage to hold onto at least one bottle for another year.

beerloaf

 

[smellycarp]

Wow
U guys really know your sheet

Thanks a million

 

[MimersMead]

I have a pale ale that I brewed almost exactly a year ago, that's only just reaching the point that I consider it a good beer. My boyfriend always liked it, but I always felt it was too green..

But now it's good. Time cures all.

 

[AGadvocate]

I don't know about you guys, but a 5 gallon batch of my beer only lasts about two weeks

I have this same problem BBL_Brewer lol

 

[Dougan]

depends, the hoppy stuff only lasts about 2 or 3 hours before it gets pooped out for me

 

[dbreienrk1]

EDIT: wrong post...my bad

 

[david_42]

Had a 9% barleywine around for 4 1/2 years, but the keg finally gushered.

 

[dbhokie]

My beer doesn't last very long at all. I thought brewing bigger beers would make it last longer, but it just made everyone around it more drunk.

That's why I recently converted my MLT to 10 gallons, and am working on a 15 gal bk next, only way it can last longer is to make more I figure.

Cmon you knew everyone was going to take it that way.

 

[ajf]

I brewed an IPA 6 years ago, and gave some to a colleague at work. Turns out he doesn't like IPA's but was too polite to say he didn't like it.
Then I retired this year, and at my retirement party he returned my 6 year old IPA (with a humorous label on the bottle).
I drank it. It was lacking in hop flavor and aroma, but the basic beer still tasted fine after 6 years in his basement.

-a.

 

[cbarnett5]

For a summer time beer, you may try a Kolsch.