How long will home brew last?
 

Well I ask this question because I just found out today that I am leaving for Iraq in six weeks. Will the bottled brew I have last for 14 months while I am out of town? Most of what I have is all standerd gravity but I was also thinking of doing a high gravity in hopes of it being well aged when I get back. I also had planed on doing an amber tomorow but now I dont know if I should take the time to brew it. The grains are already crushed but if the brew wont last I would rather not take the time. Please let me know if the beer will last.

The beer is more likely to make it than the grains. I say go for it but thats just one mans humble opinion. It depends how much work it is to you. But I understand it would suck if you couldn't drink it. Definatly go for the big beer thought. It will age more gracefully.

It should last but when all else fails make a "Barley Wine"

Also Thank you For your Service!!!

Ditto. I was in the USMC 84-88 as 0811 aka 'Cannon-Cocker"

Make a good heavy ale like a Belgian triple. Lots of ABV. Just what you'll need after being dry 14 months!!

Higher ABV w/ high hop rates last longer. Even a Imperial IPA might work well.

You can keep beer for awhile even lower abv and hop rates if kept in a fridge.

I'd make something that needs to sit for awhile. Barleywine, Stouts, Porters, Triples, IPAs... Mead???

BTW my fist thought when reading the thread title was...not very long...glug, glug glug

Ditto as well!

Yeah an amber probably isn't going to taste that good after a year, but hey if you already have some brew bottled, either drink it fast or take the chance.

Definitely a big gravity beer will be nice with 14 month age. Some nice meads would be great as a welcome home gift as well!

Cheers and be safe!

I suggest that you give it to a buddy and remind him to send you lots of cigars, jerky, and socks regularly while you are deployed. Free boxes and postage available form P.O. Those are the most requested items from our cousin. I'm assuming you are U.S. Military, of course.

When I finally sold my house after 10 months (after retiring from the Navy) the packers found a case of long forgotten homebrew.. The bottles were between 10 and 18 months old.. every one of them tasted great (1 even told me a recipie I thought sucked, just needed a long ageing period to be great)

Last year I brewed an imperial IPA that turned out pretty good so I entered it in a comp early this year and won a gold medal. Then this October I found a couple more bottles of it that I had misplaced. Knowing that the hops fade badly after a few months and that this one was over a year old, I debated whether to drink them or enter into another competition. I decided to enter them and took another gold medal! Just goes to show that even a big IPA can also age that long and remain good.

Wayne
Bugeater Brewing Company