shelf life ? life expectancy of home brewed beers ?

[amberfiend]

im not really sure of the best way to approach this question because my knowledge of the topic at this point is so limited etc, but what kind of shelflife can i expect from the various brews i am currently and intend to brew over the next few months ?

from what i understand at this point, high alcohol volume and darker style beers apparently can have quite a long shelf life and will take on different and fluctuating characteristics over time ?

but what about beers with an ABV between %4.4 - %5.5 ? (especially more hoppy beers). how long can i ignore a hoppy pale ale and just let it slumber in a dark dry box somewhere before it starts to lose its flavor ? and also will the non hoppy ales of a similar strength begin the degrade at the same rate in the same kind of way ?

is there any kind of approximate chart or guidelines anywhere that can shed light on this for people who are new to homebrewing ? *im a bit surprised that coopers diy recipes dont mention a best used by timeframe with their recipe suggestions to be honest ?

as per usual, any information that can be offered up here is greatly appreciated cheers and hope you are all having a great weekend yeah

[Aussiekraut]

6 minutes ago, amberfiend said:

im not really sure of the best way to approach this question because my knowledge of the topic at this point is so limited etc, but what kind of shelflife can i expect from the various brews i am currently and intend to brew over the next few months ?

from what i understand at this point, high alcohol volume and darker style beers apparently can have quite a long shelf life and will take on different and fluctuating characteristics over time ?

but what about beers with an ABV between %4.4 - %5.5 ? (especially more hoppy beers). how long can i ignore a hoppy pale ale and just let it slumber in a dark dry box somewhere before it starts to lose its flavor ? and also will the non hoppy ales of a similar strength begin the degrade at the same rate in the same kind of way ?

is there any kind of approximate chart or guidelines anywhere that can shed light on this for people who are new to homebrewing ? *im a bit surprised that coopers diy recipes dont mention a best used by timeframe with their recipe suggestions to be honest ?

as per usual, any information that can be offered up here is greatly appreciated cheers and hope you are all having a great weekend yeah

Yes, dark and high ABV beers do last longer. I still have a few bottles of my 2019 Coopers Vintage ale, Some barley wine and a Tsar's Tar from about a year ago, Also some of the Toasted Coconut Porter. They're all fine, in fact some are getting better still. The Tsar's Tar, I was ready to tip out because I didn't like it is starting to become drinkable, so I'll keep it around for another year or so.

Light coloured beers usually don't get a chance to age. I think I still have a few bottles of the Lightning Strike Pale Ale left I brewed almost a year ago. I should try it. Usually, my light coloured beers are all done and dusted within a month or two but some I have kept around for a little longer.

I consider pale beers drinking beers, whereas Dark Ales or Porters are "sipping" beers. I can't imagine anybody opening the fridge and grab a bottle of Stout from the fridge after mowing the lawn in 30C heat  

 

 

[amberfiend]

32 minutes ago, Aussiekraut said:

I can't imagine anybody opening the fridge and grab a bottle of Stout from the fridge after mowing the lawn in 30C heat

 

hahahahahaha

i would love to hear how the Lightning Strike Pale Ale tastes, thats one of the recipes ive book marked for future brewing yeah

[Lab Cat]

50 minutes ago, amberfiend said:

but what about beers with an ABV between %4.4 - %5.5 ? (especially more hoppy beers). how long can i ignore a hoppy pale ale and just let it slumber in a dark dry box somewhere before it starts to lose its flavor ? and also will the non hoppy ales of a similar strength begin the degrade at the same rate in the same kind of way ?

Easily a year. Probably longer but never had any left after that time. I've some beers from last July that I didn't like. Totally fine, but I'm not drinking them and they haven't improved any. Hoppy pales will fade over time, and won't age or get better. Drink them early.

Edited September 27, 2020 by Lab Cat

[Journeyman]

When I first got into this I bought 2nd hand gear from someone deciding not to brew any more. She had a cupboard of stubbies dating back to 2013 - and this was Sept 2019. Still good, kept in constant temp (fairly low, a stone walled cellar in a cupboard) and the dark, obviously.

Hoppy beers you will lose a lot of the hops flavour - it tends not to last more than a few weeks.

[amberfiend]

1 hour ago, Journeyman said:

it tends not to last more than a few weeks.

wow thats pretty full on, my second brew which was a hoppy pale ale has already dulled down a little if the truth be told..  i wonder how brews like 4pines pale ale maintain their flavour when they have those long use by dates ?

*six year old stubbies ? jeeezus, what kind of beer was it ?

[Malter White]

If shelf life becomes an issue you are doing drinking wrong.

*Consume responsibly

[ChristinaS1]

As for hoppy beers, there are IBUs and dry hop aroma. IBUs will diminish over time, by about a third at the six month point, and then more gradually. As for dry hopped beers, they are probably best before they are six weeks old, although can still be quite serviceable for a few weeks after that.

Don't leave a dry hopped beer to slumber in a dark box. Drink it as soon as it is carbonated, and as fast as you can. If you aren't going to get around to drinking it for a couple of months, don't bother dry hopping it, as it is a waste of money. Focus on your malt bill. 

Cheers,

Christina.

Edited September 27, 2020 by ChristinaS1

[amberfiend]

1 hour ago, ChristinaS1 said:

As for hoppy beers, there are IBUs and dry hop aroma. IBUs will diminish over time, by about a third at the six month point, and then more gradually. As for dry hopped beers, they are probably best before they are six weeks old, although can still be quite serviceable for a few weeks after that.

Don't leave a dry hopped beer to slumber in a dark box. Drink it as soon as it is carbonated, and as fast as you can. If you aren't going to get around to drinking it for a couple of months, don't bother dry hopping it, as it is a waste of money. Focus on your malt bill. 

Cheers,

Christina.

thanks christina, that makes good sense. i will be more strategic moving forward yeah, was hoping to have a good little range of finished beers so that when covid lockdown is finally over and i get the chance to catch up with a few old friends that i will be able to let them sample my new hobby from the first brew to the most recent etc, but based on this advice there might be a few gaps in stockpile ive created so far yeah lol

[Aussiekraut]

On 9/27/2020 at 2:10 PM, amberfiend said:

hahahahahaha

i would love to hear how the Lightning Strike Pale Ale tastes, thats one of the recipes ive book marked for future brewing yeah

Well, you asked for it, I did it  

I checked and this was bottled on 14/12/2019, so it's a tad over nine months old and I think I should have had it about 8 months ago  I was admittedly never a big fan of it to be honest. It's the reason I still have some left  Head retention is as poor as it was back then but the flavour is rather...let's say uneventful. It got a fair bit darker as well. There are no detectable hop flavours, no maltiness or anything but it is tasting a little "bandaidy". There are two more tallies left and I think I will send them to the beer place in the sky. In essence, drink it as soon as you can.

[amberfiend]

2 minutes ago, Aussiekraut said:

Well, you asked for it, I did it  

I checked and this was bottled on 14/12/2019, so it's a tad over nine months old and I think I should have had it about 8 months ago  I was admittedly never a big fan of it to be honest. It's the reason I still have some left  Head retention is as poor as it was back then but the flavour is rather...let's say uneventful. It got a fair bit darker as well. There are no detectable hop flavours, no maltiness or anything but it is tasting a little "bandaidy". There are two more tallies left and I think I will send them to the beer place in the sky. In essence, drink it as soon as you can.

damn so it wasnt a great recipe to begin with then ? what a shame to hear.. point taken though about drinking em a fresh as possible, ive loaded a bunch more of the hoppy ales in the fridge and will be making them a bit more of a priority over the next 2-3 weeks

[Aussiekraut]

1 minute ago, amberfiend said:

damn so it wasnt a great recipe to begin with then ? what a shame to hear.. point taken though about drinking em a fresh as possible, ive loaded a bunch more of the hoppy ales in the fridge and will be making them a bit more of a priority over the next 2-3 weeks

Don't get me wrong, it wasn't a bad beer, it was just not something I'd rush out and brew again. Drinkable but nothing compared to the  Pacific Summer Ale, which I really liked. However that one is hard to brew as Summer hops are no longer commercially grown, so getting your hands on some isn't easy. Just drink your light coloured beers quickly as they;re best fresh and keep the darker ones for long term storage. If you brew a few dark ones now, you'll have some really nice beers on hand come Winter. I currently have a Nut Brown Ale and an Irish Red Ale in the fridge. The next two batches will be something for easy drinking again, before I do another Porter and/or a Stout to keep for next Winter. After that, it'll probably be summer beers for the next few months.

[amberfiend]

13 minutes ago, Aussiekraut said:

However that one is hard to brew as Summer hops are no longer commercially grown, so getting your hands on some isn't easy.

ive been noticing that with a few of the hops in the recipe section, seems like there is quite a few hops that are now obscure and difficult to source, a few. that come to mind are the african queen hops and the pink boots combo.. i havent given up yet but its a bit annoying that they are no longer easy to obtain only a year or so later

[Journeyman]

29 minutes ago, amberfiend said:

i havent given up yet but its a bit annoying that they are no longer easy to obtain only a year or so later

Have a look here for substitutes...

https://www.txbrewing.com/hop-substitution-chart.html

 

[amberfiend]

2 minutes ago, Journeyman said:

Have a look here for substitutes...

https://www.txbrewing.com/hop-substitution-chart.html

 

cheers

[Mark D Pirate]

If you enjoy hop forward beers but can't drink the whole batch within ~6 weeks then you can refrigerate and keep away from light. 

Reducing temp will increase shelf life the same as many other products .

This is why halo level breweries insist on cold transport and storage 

[amberfiend]

3 hours ago, Mark D Pirate said:

If you enjoy hop forward beers but can't drink the whole batch within ~6 weeks then you can refrigerate and keep away from light. 

Reducing temp will increase shelf life the same as many other products .

This is why halo level breweries insist on cold transport and storage 

i could knock down the whole batch in a few weeks but i like variety and having mulitiple brews on hand means some might get looked into more than others etc i think im fermenting brew number 7 currently and brew number 3 & 4 are just finishing secondary bottling fermentation stage and will be ready for drinking now, my hoppy pale ale which was my second brew is just reaching half way finished and still tastes good even though not as punchy as the first time i opened a bottle. seems at this point i will have to experience things first hand to know for sure huh ? *it does make me wonder what tricks 4pines, little creatures and all these other people making hoppy pale ales etc do to give their beers such and extended use by date on the bottles ?

[John E Miller]

On 10/1/2020 at 10:39 AM, amberfiend said:

*it does make me wonder what tricks 4pines, little creatures and all these other people making hoppy pale ales etc do to give their beers such and extended use by date on the bottles ?

I wonder the same thing