[Bel Air Brewing]

My beer supply has grown faster than my ability to drink it. This is partly due to physical and medical reasons. No, I have not quit consuming adult beverages, but my intake has significantly abated.

If stored in kegs, at 31-32 degrees, how long would the beer remain fresh tasting? Two months? Longer?

Yes, I know that a good London Porter will last a long time, much like Guinness Draft (months!). But how about the Euro-Lagers that we have in stock?

Found this: https://byo.com/mr-wizard/how-long-will-my-beer-stay-fresh-in-a-keg/

[majorvices]

It depends on the beer - obviously hoppy beers will change and fall off quicker than most other styles. But if kept cold most beers should remain drinkable for 4-6 months or longer - especially at the temps you speak of.

Keep o2 pick up to a minimum to prolong shelf life

[BrewBama]

You might consider brewing smaller batches if your supply is outpacing demand in addition to paying close attention to O2 pickup and keeping it cold and dark.


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[dmtaylor]

Refrigerated it will last at least 9-12 months, and often longer.  At room temperature, not so much.  But refrigerated, oh yeah.

[fredthecat]

yeah, really depends on your storage. beers i made in the fall, still taste fine by early summer. but beers brewed in spring, that sat over summer temps are noticeably wonky by fall.

if you have a stable temp place below 70F at all, just keep them there and definitely no big problems for at least 6 months. if refrigerated, i wouldnt even worry other than long-term keg issues which i am no expert in.

bottle some?

[erockrph]

My pale beers darken noticeably by the 3 or 4 month mark of being on tap. They don't taste horrible, but I feel that they lose a bit of the fresh malt flavor they have when they're young. Other beers, even hoppy ones, are easily still doing well at the 6 to 9 month mark. They're probably fine even longer beyond that, but past that point the keg is either kicked or dumped at my house.

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[Bel Air Brewing]

Good to know. Thanks for the info.

I had Guinness on draft, and the keg was past it's pull-date by a couple months when we bought it. 6 months later, the beer was still good. But dark beers, stouts / porters, age very well.

[denny]

Good to know. Thanks for the info.

I had Guinness on draft, and the keg was past it's pull-date by a couple months when we bought it. 6 months later, the beer was still good. But dark beers, stouts / porters, age very well.

And no doubt Guinness has better process control than homebrewers

[hopfenundmalz]

Good to know. Thanks for the info.

I had Guinness on draft, and the keg was past it's pull-date by a couple months when we bought it. 6 months later, the beer was still good. But dark beers, stouts / porters, age very well.

And no doubt Guinness has better process control than homebrewers

Yes! Guinness is dark, so that helps, but it doesn't have higher alcohol or high hop rates. Strong beers with a good amount of hops can last a long time. Keeping O2 out at packaging helps extend life of the beer.

The exception to the above are the Belgian style sour beers as the low pH inhibits some spoilers, and the Brett and Pedio have eaten the any dextrins and starches, leaving no food for spoilers. Those are  ~5% and have low hop rates, but last for a decade or two.

Storage is a key factor. I've had some really old strong beers that some breweries "found" in their cooler library. Those are usually a treat.

[Bel Air Brewing]

Good to know. Thanks for the info.

I had Guinness on draft, and the keg was past it's pull-date by a couple months when we bought it. 6 months later, the beer was still good. But dark beers, stouts / porters, age very well.

And no doubt Guinness has better process control than homebrewers

Guinness for sure. I have also had kegs from The Boston Beer Company (Oktoberfest) and Anheuser Busch (Budweiser), that went bad (sour) after about 6 months.

[ravenwater]

Refrigerated it will last at least 9-12 months, and often longer.  At room temperature, not so much.  But refrigerated, oh yeah.

+1 here. I am currently finishing off a keg of Schwartzbier brewed 10 months ago - still tasted fine. I've found that of course beers the are hops-focused (IPA...) don't fare so well with age, and also that British bitters have shifted notably when older, but have had many beers where I have worked on the keg for 6 months or more and had them still be tasty - apparently stable. I run my kegerator at 36 degrees.

[BrewBama]

The Low O2 guys say that using their methods even hop fwd beers will taste the same months later as they did the day they were tapped.

[Bel Air Brewing]

Thanks again for the great input. In my experience a keg of home brew has never gone “bad”. But they normally are consumed within 3 to 6 months time. A separate freezer, kept at 31 degrees, will be used for long term storage.

[erockrph]

The Low O2 guys say that using their methods even hop fwd beers will taste the same months later as they did the day they were tapped.

I tend to overdo it when I make a trip up to Treehouse and come back overloaded. I've found cans of theirs in my fridge that were a year old or more. They didn't taste 100% the same as fresh, but they were still damn good. Control your oxygen intake and keep your beer cold and it will last a surprisingly long time.

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[fredthecat]

oh and one more thing i am starting to consider: beers with unconverted(?) starch.

i used to use flaked, unmalted grains willy nilly, throwing a bit in various brews, but ive started to consider the fact that these unfermentables which add body to the beer and head can make the beer change over a long period of time. i think this based on theory and some personal experience in which wits and dry stouts have changed greatly over their lifespan.

also not fully saccharified malts may contribute some of these things.