5 replies to this topic

[North]

everytime I bottle up my batch I put a 6-pack aside and let it age. How long do you think this beer will actaully last? I have some beers going on 2 years.

[ncbeerbrewer]

everytime I bottle up my batch I put a 6-pack aside and let it age. How long do you think this beer will actaully last? I have some beers going on 2 years.

I think it can all depend on beer style and alcohol % as well. I think some beers Imperial or ones like Stouts and Barleywines, Tripels improve with age. Imperial IPA and Imperial Stouts can last awhile as well. Some Belgians too Dark Strong and such. To me there is nothing wrong with what you are doing I just think some styles age better than others. I am currently drinking a few bombers of an Imperial IPA that I brewed in January 2010 and its still nice and bitter. I would not wanna age or keep say a wheat or maybe even a Pale Ale for long term aging. I am not sure there is a right or wrong answer all you can do is follow your system and try them at intervals you want, some will be good maybe some others won't. Last week on vacation I opened a stored bomber of Saison that I brewed last summer and shared it with my cousin. He thought it was a good beer and I enjoyed it too. I never would have thought though as well. Hope that gives you some perspective. $0.02

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

I think it can all depend on beer style and alcohol % as well. I think some beers Imperial or ones like Stouts and Barleywines, Tripels improve with age. Imperial IPA and Imperial Stouts can last awhile as well. Some Belgians too Dark Strong and such. To me there is nothing wrong with what you are doing I just think some styles age better than others. I am currently drinking a few bombers of an Imperial IPA that I brewed in January 2010 and its still nice and bitter. I would not wanna age or keep say a wheat or maybe even a Pale Ale for long term aging. I am not sure there is a right or wrong answer all you can do is follow your system and try them at intervals you want, some will be good maybe some others won't. Last week on vacation I opened a stored bomber of Saison that I brewed last summer and shared it with my cousin. He thought it was a good beer and I enjoyed it too. I never would have thought though as well. Hope that gives you some perspective. $0.02

I've made two batches of dunkelweizen that I've bottled. The first lasted about a year and it tasted great to me up until the end. The second batch is still young but pretty much after the first few weeks in the bottle I found it to be pretty similar to the batch I had just finished drinking. I think that anything can still be fine with a good amount of age, the beer will just be a little different in some cases.

[jayb151]

I have been doing the same thing, I just drank a few of my 2 year beers and most were higher alcohol so they were fine. I've also had beers go bad after only months. The biggest factor is how clean your process is. Also, how big the beer...normally, bigger beers have more hops too so that's my "slide rule."Also, JZ believes that beers with dark malts, and smoked malts, have a better chance of aging better. I think he said something to do with the pH?

[davelew]

I have a 6 year old Bohemian Pilsner that's quite good, but a few bottles started to show signs of infection (green apple aroma) after 4 years. That's the only beer I've ever triple decocted, and I attribute some of its longevity to decoctions driving oxygen out of the mash.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

I have been doing the same thing, I just drank a few of my 2 year beers and most were higher alcohol so they were fine. I've also had beers go bad after only months. The biggest factor is how clean your process is. Also, how big the beer...normally, bigger beers have more hops too so that's my "slide rule."Also, JZ believes that beers with dark malts, and smoked malts, have a better chance of aging better. I think he said something to do with the pH?

I think that is mostly sound advice there. More alcohol, darker malts, this has to help. Not to say that something that doesn't meet this spec can't be fine for an extended period if you have good procedures.