Shelf Life?

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tigerdentist

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What is the average shelf life for a homebrew? I was cleaning out the closet that I keep my brew stuff in and found 4 bottled brown ales in a box with empty bottles. I never gets too hot, house stays about 72-74 year round. Any problems with throwing these in the fridge and enjoying them a little later.
Second question...I have made ed wort's apfelwein numerous times, and enjoy it more every time i think. I got my neighbor into homebrewing about a year ago. He made some apfelwein last november (2009 not 2010). The carboy is still sitting in his house. He wants to set it up on his keg system he just built. I have some reservations about brew that has been sitting in the carboy for 1+ years. Although is looks remarkably clear. Any thoughts?
 
In the Dec 07 Zymurgy Charlie Papazian reviewed bottles of homebrew going back to the first AHC competition that he had stored, and none of them went bad, some had not held up but most of them he felt were awesome...We're talking over 20 years worth of beers.

This is a great thread about one of our guys tasting 4-5 years of his stored brew.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/revisiting-my-classics-160672/

Beer's like wine, a lot of them improve with age....That's why stone has "vertical epic" with vintage, and people have vertical tasting parties

I made a beer that won't even be opened before 5 years go by on . https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/he...emorial-5-year-aged-barleywine-recipe-195096/

The first beer I brewed was a sweet stout. And I got 3 years out of it. But I didn't put any more bottles aside to see.

It won't be the same beer, but who says it won't be a great beer.
 
What is the average shelf life for a homebrew? I was cleaning out the closet that I keep my brew stuff in and found 4 bottled brown ales in a box with empty bottles. I never gets too hot, house stays about 72-74 year round. Any problems with throwing these in the fridge and enjoying them a little later.
Second question...I have made ed wort's apfelwein numerous times, and enjoy it more every time i think. I got my neighbor into homebrewing about a year ago. He made some apfelwein last november (2009 not 2010). The carboy is still sitting in his house. He wants to set it up on his keg system he just built. I have some reservations about brew that has been sitting in the carboy for 1+ years. Although is looks remarkably clear. Any thoughts?

Homebrew will last a long time depending on the amount of alcohol and beer style it is. Don't be afraid to try it. 15 year Old Beer.

The apfelwein may be awesome at this point. AFAIK the apfelwein behaves like a wine so a year may have done it good.
 
Beer doesn't spoil in the sense that it becomes poisonous or disgusting. I've read in many places that nothing that can make you sick can live in beer due to the alcohol. It will eventually go stale and get a papery/cardboard flavor, or get sour and funky if you had an infection. But by all means give it a shot, don't just dump it!

Shelf life depends on storage conditions (colder is better), and how much oxygen got into the beer during brewing and bottling (less oxygen is better).
 
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