Is 8-9 months in the bottle too long?

I would like to brew a holiday ale but I would prefer to do it now and let it condition in the bottle 'till fall/winter. Is that to long to let it sit? I would hate to wait 8 or 9 months just to find out my ale has gone bad... is there a standard time period in which any bottled homebrew should be consumed?

Unless you have a track record of infections it should be fine.

LOL ok sounds good... considering I've only brewed a few batches and don't really have a track record at all

Now is the time to brew high gravity beers for next winter! Plan ahead, then when the
"snow" flies down there, you'll have some good brew to keep you warm.

I'm planning to do a mead & a barley wine for sure, maybe a couple others. Of course, I need a little more oomph to keep me warm up here

Perfect time for holiday ales, right now. Thanks for reminding me!

OXYGEN is your enemy. I respect you admitting your noob status, but as such, NO BUBBLES.

Perfect your bottling technique before attempting a long term bottled beer.

commonsenseman said:

Now is the time to brew high gravity beers for next winter! Plan ahead, then when the
"snow" flies down there, you'll have some good brew to keep you warm.

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HAHA! I WISH it snowed where I live! We just get a ton of cold A$$ rain.

Thanks for the advice everyone! I think I'm going to just go for it... worst case I end up brewing another batch in early fall.

Your beer will be fine in 8 or 9 months. Especially something high gravity.

Good to hear. I bottled a Christmas beer in November or early December that wasn't ready this year and I have two cases sitting in a dark closet for next year. I'm hoping the most expensive brew I've done so far is awesome about 9-10 months from now.

What temp should beer that's already carbonated sit at to age for that long?

cheezydemon3 said:

OXYGEN is your enemy. I respect you admitting your noob status, but as such, NO BUBBLES.

Perfect your bottling technique before attempting a long term bottled beer.

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how do you bottle without getting any bubbles. some of those bubbles are CO2 being released

The only downside is you may lose some of the hop flavor from your brew. I made an Octoberfest last year that sat for 9 months and the hop flavor what not what it was 3 weeks after bottling.

flabyboy said:

how do you bottle without getting any bubbles. some of those bubbles are CO2 being released

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Co2??????? Hardly.

I can bottle a batch and only see 2-3 bubbles.

I bottle(d) from a bucket with no hose, and an upturned spout. /(<<) filled fairly slowly.

A downturned spout allows O2 into the spout between pours. The hose from a downturned spout cycles the O2 in the spout through every beer bottled.

If you see a bunch of bubbles and chalk it up to Co2, you are kidding yourself.

Ok perhaps i missed it how do u bottle with an upturned spout and no hose cheezy?

tchuklobrau said:

Ok perhaps i missed it how do u bottle with an upturned spout and no hose cheezy?

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First you have to enter orbit.

When you shut off the spout, liquid is still filling the spout.

My next bottle, held almost horizontally, touches the spout (which is at a 45 degree [NorthWest if you dig]).

When the spout is opened slightly, beer runs slowly into the horizontal bottle, which you slowly tilt down as needed.

Get the beer going too fast, and you will still get bubbles.

cheezydemon3 said:

When you shut off the spout, liquid is still filling the spout.

My next bottle, held almost horizontally, touches the spout (which is at a 45 degree [NorthWest if you dig]).

When the spout is opened slightly, beer runs slowly into the horizontal bottle, which you slowly tilt down as needed.

Get the beer going too fast, and you will still get bubbles.

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So I take it you are not using a bottle filler?

jtkratzer is that a triple 7 in your avatar?

your kidding yourself if you believe there is no co2 in suspension when you are transferring that beer. why do they bother asking beer temp with priming calculators?

have you ever seen footage from the bottling line of a brewery? they fill those things fast and there are bubbles on top.

my beer and wine has turned out fantastic so far with no signs of oxidation. all I use is a racking cane, tubing, a bottling wand, and gravity. I will bypass on the oxidation OCD and enjoy my hobby

If your going to leave you're beer for a long period of time I would suggest getting some oxygen absorbing caps. I used them once for a beer that sat for quite a while. Beer still tasted fine so I'm assuming the caps helped.

I think you all are looking into this a little bit too much. 8-9 months will be great, bottle as usual.

flabyboy said:

your kidding yourself if you believe there is no co2 in suspension when you are transferring that beer. why do they bother asking beer temp with priming calculators?

have you ever seen footage from the bottling line of a brewery? they fill those things fast and there are bubbles on top.

my beer and wine has turned out fantastic so far with no signs of oxidation. all I use is a racking cane, tubing, a bottling wand, and gravity. I will bypass on the oxidation OCD and enjoy my hobby

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Agreed.. Also the bubbles are a sign of the CO2 coming out of suspension and putting a great CO2 blanket in the neck of your bottle pushing out the oxygen

edmanster said:

Agreed.. Also the bubbles are a sign of the CO2 coming out of suspension and putting a great CO2 blanket in the neck of your bottle pushing out the oxygen

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Just curious where that O2 is being pushed if you have a sealed/crimped cap on the bottle sealed sufficiently to contain the CO2 from that mini fermentation that results in carbonation?

I'm not saying you're wrong or arguing with you, just doesn't make sense that O2 is going anywhere...

jtkratzer said:

Just curious where that O2 is being pushed if you have a sealed/crimped cap on the bottle sealed sufficiently to contain the CO2 from that mini fermentation that results in carbonation?

I'm not saying you're wrong or arguing with you, just doesn't make sense that O2 is going anywhere...

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At bottling time!

If it helps, I'm drinking the last of a barleywine that was bottled three years ago. It still has carbonation and the taste has really mellowed and smoothed out. If you think you are going to store for a long time, more than a year or so, over hop the beer because you will lose a lot of hop flavor as it ages.

flabyboy said:

have you ever seen footage from the bottling line of a brewery? they fill those things fast and there are bubbles on top.

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That beer is already carbed, not carbing up in the bottles.

That said, OP, your beer will be fine after 9 months. I have a DIPA that's sat that long just because it pisses me off that it didn't turn out right.

munche said:

That beer is already carbed, not carbing up in the bottles.

That said, OP, your beer will be fine after 9 months. I have a DIPA that's sat that long just because it pisses me off that it didn't turn out right.

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good to know

kyleaubu said:

I would like to brew a holiday ale but I would prefer to do it now and let it condition in the bottle 'till fall/winter. Is that to long to let it sit? I would hate to wait 8 or 9 months just to find out my ale has gone bad... is there a standard time period in which any bottled homebrew should be consumed?

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No, it is not too long, but keep the beer somewhat cool. If you let it get too warm in the summer, you might ruin your beer.

LVBen said:

No, it is not too long, but keep the beer somewhat cool. If you let it get too warm in the summer, you might ruin your beer.

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Oh I plan on keeping it in one of the many lagerators I have scattered around lol. it'll be plenty cool. Thanks for all the info everyone. Have to say, I see Cheeze's point, however while using a bottling wand I would have to argue that there is NO O2 in the hose at any point. Just beautiful beer.... Thanks again.