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WesP · 08-02-2012, 06:38 PM

Does anyone know if wort has a shelf life if stored unfermented in the refrigerator for a few weeks to a few months? I was considering making a bunch of smash worts stored in a big chest refrigerator and fermenting different ratios mixed together of the course of a few weeks to a few months.

My idea was to figure out the best combination of grains by simply mixing worts together and doing a handful of 1 gallon fermentations. Then the best tasting beers to come out of that test would be the starting point for my grain bill. This might greatly expedite creating a great beer recipe otherwise you are just guessing based on what you know of the grains and waiting a few weeks to see if it turned out good or not.

Thoughts?

broadbill · 08-02-2012, 06:53 PM

so they are all going to have the same hops?

I'd probably freeze them instead of refrigerate, and boil again before pitching yeast.

RainyDay · 08-02-2012, 09:41 PM

That sounds like a lot of work. I'd just go with tried and true recipes, and either see the formulas that bring success, or tweak them to your suiting. Just my thoughts though.

**Ryush806** · 08-02-2012, 10:45 PM

You could try canning them. You would most likely have a shelf life of several months if not a year like that. If you don't want to do that I'd probably freeze them. I don't know if you'd need to boil them again if your sanitation was good enough.

WesP · 08-02-2012, 11:10 PM

I agree with using tried and true recipes as a starting point.

But how do you best optimize tweaking the recipe by not spending months on end figuring out what works best? My background is online advertising so i'm a big proponent testing every single variable that could affect the outcome. If you can break down a recipe into various components and mix them at different ratios then I think you could greatly decrease the time it takes to create some really amazing beer.

Let's you wanted to tweak a beer with 3 grains. You could make a 10 gallon batch for each grain then ferment over a dozen different combinations of the grain bill together and potentially come up with something great.

I do like the freezing method of the wort. It should be sanitary as long as you transferred them to sanitized containers.

***Yooper*** · 08-02-2012, 11:21 PM

Wort is susceptible to spoiling rather easily, as it's a sugar-rich environment that bacteria and yeast love. I'd consider it as easily spoiled as milk. No way would it last "a few weeks", but maybe a week or so under refrigeration if you were perfect in sanitation.

**Ryush806** · 08-03-2012, 04:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yooper

Wort is susceptible to spoiling rather easily, as it's a sugar-rich environment that bacteria and yeast love. I'd consider it as easily spoiled as milk. No way would it last "a few weeks", but maybe a week or so under refrigeration if you were perfect in sanitation.

Even if canned with a pressure cooker?

danielbt · 08-03-2012, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ryush806

Even if canned with a pressure cooker?

That would stay good for years in all likelihood.

***Yooper*** · 08-04-2012, 01:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ryush806

Even if canned with a pressure cooker?

With a pressure canner, it should stay good for a long long time.

smokinj · 08-04-2012, 07:17 PM

Quote:

Let's you wanted to tweak a beer with 3 grains. You could make a 10 gallon batch for each grain then ferment over a dozen different combinations of the grain bill together and potentially come up with something great.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but unless your only using base grains, or grains with enough diastatic power to convert themselves, this won't work. Not that good beers cant be made without specialty grains.