How long can you age?

BENDJOSEPH · Apr 3, 2007

How long can you age before the beer starts to go bad? I have been brewing for camping trips this summer and I was wondering how long can I age the beer. I am brewing Cooper's Pislner with two pounds of lite malt.

c.n.budz · Apr 3, 2007

If you mean age in the bottles, your beer will last for around a year. If you mean age in the fermenter, you don't want to let your wort sit on the yeast cake for too long, but 3-4 weeks won't do any major damage. If you have a secondary, you can leave it in there for well over a month.

BENDJOSEPH · Apr 3, 2007

It's in bottle's. So, I should be fine. I was going to let it sit till Aug.

Toilet Rocker · Apr 3, 2007

What kind of beer is it? Some beers hit their prime well after a year.

TheJadedDog · Apr 3, 2007

You can also age for a lot longer in a secondary vessel if you don't want to bottle right away.

david_42 · Apr 3, 2007

A Pilsner, a year max. Barley wines may not be drinkable before a year. Hoppy ales 6-8 months.

ddod33 · Apr 4, 2007

I was thinking the same thing, because i want to start brewing some stouts for next winter. I have heard they take a while to hit their peak.

the_bird · Apr 4, 2007

ddod33 said:
I was thinking the same thing, because i want to start brewing some stouts for next winter. I have heard they take a while to hit their peak.

Depends on the recipe. Imperial stouts can (and should) age a while, but smaller stouts (like a typical dry Irish stout) don't really need any more aging than any other kind of beer, as far as I can tell.

With that said, I've had some 9% Russian Imperial Stouts that were very good without a lot of aging, two weeks in the bottle IIRC (I'm talking about YOURS, Vermicious!)

ddod33 · Apr 4, 2007

Thanks Bird, maybe I'll brew a few more summer brews before i work on anything for the winter. lol

TheJadedDog · Apr 4, 2007

I brewed a stout and 7 weeks later it was the best beer I've made yet. Longer aging times are really only required for big beers with OGs above 1.070 to let the malt profile do its thing.

Yuri_Rage · Apr 4, 2007

Taking a lesson from the history of beer brewing, the higher the alcohol content, and the higher the hops (AA) content, the longer your beer will last. Both are natural preservatives (see IPA).

How long can you age?

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