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Maturing brews in PET bottles


Marty_G

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Hey ladies and gentleman, I am in the process of reducing the number of bottles I age and am getting rid of all my PET bottles approx 200 ... and i have started to notice as i drink them that those with over 6 months in the bottle seem to have poor head retention and have lost some of the depth of flavour .... am I imagining this or is this actually possible ... as opposed to glass do the contents of PET bottles not mature well ? 

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The plastic lets in oxygen, albeit very slowly. I don't think that's the main problem though, it's more that the CO2 escapes and the beer goes flat. That's why these bottles aren't recommended for long term maturing but it's surprising to hear them deteriorating after 6 months, at least from a head retention aspect. 

In saying that, it does depend on beer style as well. I wouldn't age a pale ale or IPA for 6 months because most of the hop flavour and aroma would be gone by then. On the other hand, stouts and porters improve with age, so I wouldn't use PET bottles for them but often aged them 6+ months in bottles. I keg them now, and they mature faster but I still give them a minimum of 6 months if I can. 

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Thanks OVB .... that just makes me more determined to drink all those PET and sell them off ... I picked up 11 boxes dirt cheap $30 as part of a bundle I did with 5 doz empty coopers tallies and was going to sell them but got a bit carried away and used them .... I now wish I had not ...  once again thanks for the feed back as I was unaware of that ...  any I have left over i will ensure  use for Ales  ... 

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13 hours ago, Otto Von Blotto said:

....so I wouldn't use PET bottles for them...

I've matured a porter in well-used PETs for around 8 months once.   The beer seemed to benefit from aging  - tasted more mellow and rounded.  Didn't notice any issues at all. 

I think the degree of oxygen ingress is dependent on the particular bottle but I think most PETs these days have barrier coatings of one form or another.   I recall reading 180 days storage is achievable and that has certainly been the rule of thumb I have adopted...  though having said that, my beers rarely ever make it past 2 months!  😄

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