12 replies to this topic

[ColdAssHonky]

There's plenty of talk out there about the benefits of long term storage for high ABV brews and how they hold up well, but at what ABV would you encounter negative effects at 1, 2 and 5 years?I've been contemplating getting a large stock of bottled beers socked away in the basement, but wouldn't want them all to be doubles and stouts. How long do you think a 4% cream ale would sit before you'd start to notice something off?

[passlaku]

I seem to recall hearing on the Jamil Show (mild/scottish 70+/-) that low abv beers are okay for long storage but that the darker beers tend to do better. I think it had something to do with the anti-oxidants found in dark malts. I guess they help stave off oxidation(?). He said he popped open a 4 year old low abv beer and it tasted great. Just throwing ideas out there.

[3rd party JKor]

Has mostly to do with your sanitation practices and keeping oxygen out of the package.

[ChefLamont]

Has mostly to do with your sanitation practices and keeping oxygen out of the package.

This is definitely the case. However the dark malt/beer thing is tru too. I have had small dark beers improve for many months and they were just under 3%. I guess I should have beergunned a couple and set them aside for long-term experimentation.

[3rd party JKor]

Light beers definitely won't age as well. No matter good of a job you do, oxygen will still get in and cause slight oxidation and other anaerobic reactions also occur, such as the breakdown of hop compounds. If you do an outstanding job of sanitation and oxygen removal, these effects will generally be small but even a small competing flavor in something like a helles or cream ale will probably detract from the beer.

[stellarbrew]

No matter good of a job you do, oxygen will still get in and cause slight oxidation...

This is why storage temperature plays such an important role in the freshness life of a beer. The colder the storage temperature, the longer it takes for oxidation damage to take place.

[drewseslu]

Use of smoked malt seems to help some beers survive longer than they normally would.

[Stout_fan]

I pulled a one year old keg of Black Cat clone out, and it was OK.So I made 25 gal of it last month!

[stellarbrew]

This thread has got me thinking about something that I believe ties into the OP's question. I know that hops are considered to have presevative qualities, and that IPAs historically derived from Burton ales being heavily hopped in order to preserve them for export to India. But I have also heard that very hoppy beers are prone to more rapid oxidation. What I'm wondering is if there is an optimum balance of hoppiness in a beer for long aging. For example, could you say that, in general, a 60-IBU barleywine will age better or worse than a 100-IBU barleywine, all else being equal?

[davelew]

For example, could you say that, in general, a 60-IBU barleywine will age better or worse than a 100-IBU barleywine, all else being equal?

It depends on the beer, and more than just IBU levels.I find that my perception of hopiness (especially hop aroma) declines as a beer ages. I think hops are a preservative partially because they oxidize so easily and keep the oxygen from affecting other flavor compounds.If the 100-IBU barleywine were cloyingly sweet and needed a lot of hops to be balanced, I think it would age poorly. On the other hand, if it were dry but had "hot" higher alcohols and was over-hopped to start with, it would age well.

[3rd party JKor]

This thread has got me thinking about something that I believe ties into the OP's question. I know that hops are considered to have presevative qualities, and that IPAs historically derived from Burton ales being heavily hopped in order to preserve them for export to India. But I have also heard that very hoppy beers are prone to more rapid oxidation. What I'm wondering is if there is an optimum balance of hoppiness in a beer for long aging. For example, could you say that, in general, a 60-IBU barleywine will age better or worse than a 100-IBU barleywine, all else being equal?

I think the "preservative" qualities relating to hops in IPAs is in reference to suppressing bacterial infections.

[ColdAssHonky]

Thanks for all the replies. Maybe I'll try some amber, browns and dry Irish stouts and see how they do. I'll let you know how it turns out in 5 years.

[dondewey]

Lactic acid seems to do a good job helping low ABV beers age well!