14 year old homebrew

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John1337

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Roswell
I had brewed 6 batches in 1998 and abruptly stopped due to some odd circumstances. The bottled beer has been setting in the dark corner of my basement ever since. I uncovered them this past week while going thru my equipment to get back in the hobby again. I have a honey brown that I had brewed with some out of town friends. These friends are visiting me this weekend and I have put some of the bottles in the fridge to cool in hopes to surprise them with it.

Does anyone have any idea what I might expect? Carbonation? Do I need to have the poison control number handy?

Thanks
 
Beer doesn't go "bad" unless your sanitization is weak. Since nothing PATHOGENIC can exist in beer/wine/cider/mead, there should never be a reason to ever fear tasting something like this, no matter how old it is. Yeah, it may taste like crap, it may be vinegar, but NOTHING that could happen, could ever cause harm to anyone.

It's not worth passing by on something that could be amazing, because of fear.....

Noone thinks twice about drinking old wine.....


Homebrew is no different from commercial beer. Properly stored it can last and be drinkable for 100s of years.

To put it in perspective, 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/

And I brewed an og 1.150, 150 IBU barleywine that I won't be opening for 5 years.

Not to mention the fact that there are vertical tasting for certain beers like Stone epic, where people collect each years beer and then sample a flight of them going back in time.

I just had this expericence not too long ago... We tried 48 year old beer today. One was interesting and drinkable, and one was gnarly.

Mbowenze has a thread about tasting an over 100 year old beer recently. And In my history thread there's a video of the OZ and James Drink to Britain tv series where they taste a beer older than that.....one that goes back to Napoleanic times iirc.

It all depends on how they were stored.

Do I need to have the poison control number handy?

*sigh*
 
I've tasted a really old beer, and it was amazing. There were 2 bottles between several of us, and we were all devastated that no one knew the recipe (the guy who actually brewed it moved away ages ago).
 
I always say I'm going to save a few bottles from every batch I make in some sort of time capsule type thing. But I don't know when I'll actually drink it :)
 
My litle girl helps me bottle my brews. Last year, we did the Northern brewer No.1, which is a really strong Old Ale. We used a gold cap for one bottle instead of the usual silver. That one is marked for her when she turns 21 (in 2025). I think I'll keep an extra one on hand for myself for that day.
 
I know a guy that used to brew 20 years ago. He gave me a couple cases of bottles he had in his basement. Turns out 20 or so were full. They were good. You have to crack a couple to find out.
 
Even with commercial breweries I find cellarable beers to fade rather quickly. I prefer most stouts within the first 4 years. Old ales within the first 7 and the same with barleywines. There are exceptions though, such as JW Lees. Cantillon and other Belgian geuzes can last 20+ years. I have a Cantillon Brabantiae from 1989 that I'm excited to crack open.
I don't have much experience with strong Belgians such as quads, etc. I can't see a low gravity ale like a nut brown or an ESB to hold up much more than 2 years. It may be drinkable but you'll find very noticeable profile changes.
 
My litle girl helps me bottle my brews. Last year, we did the Northern brewer No.1, which is a really strong Old Ale. We used a gold cap for one bottle instead of the usual silver. That one is marked for her when she turns 21 (in 2025). I think I'll keep an extra one on hand for myself for that day.

awesome. I moon shined a batch of whiskey for my boys when they were each born. I'm going to crack it when they're each 21.
 
It will not kill you.

I gave up brewing for 7 years, and had a number of bottles left over for that time. The stronger 'Imperial' beers were great, but the apricot ale didn't do too well in storage.

Certainly worth finding out how well they fared.
 
drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it
 
bwomp313 said:
drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it drink it
....yes....drink it...
 
About a month ago my sons and I drank a bottle I brewed up in 1986 alongside a bottle of 1992 'vintage' Thos. Hardy's. Both were carbonated, extremely smooth with lots of cocoa on the palate. Actually preferred my own but loved them both. Enjoy yours.
 
Thanks to everyone for the input.

Well...it wasn't great, but it was pretty good. It was as enjoyable to talk about when and how we brewed it as it was to drink it. It opened with good carbonation and poured well into a glass. It smelled good and I was pleasantly surprised. It's hard to say how much it had changed because I didn't drink any when it was bottled. So I'll just say it tasted exactly as it should have.

I found my notes from when I brewed it, and needless to say, it was a simple technique. Sanitation was most important and everything was done with bleach. Carboys, instruments and bottles. PITA. So, I don't know how much the bleach effected the flavor. Bleach is one of the reasons that I gave it up.

I have included a picture of it in a glass and the receipt I found from the LHBS. Haven't priced anything lately, so I don't know what the prices have done.

I have found the four other brews that I had brewed around the same time and look forward to tasting them as well.

Plus...I still have a case of this one to drink. Lucky for me!

14yr Old Honey Brown.jpg


photo (2).jpg
 
Thanks to everyone for the input.

Well...it wasn't great, but it was pretty good. It was as enjoyable to talk about when and how we brewed it as it was to drink it. It opened with good carbonation and poured well into a glass. It smelled good and I was pleasantly surprised. It's hard to say how much it had changed because I didn't drink any when it was bottled. So I'll just say it tasted exactly as it should have.

I found my notes from when I brewed it, and needless to say, it was a simple technique. Sanitation was most important and everything was done with bleach. Carboys, instruments and bottles. PITA. So, I don't know how much the bleach effected the flavor. Bleach is one of the reasons that I gave it up.

I have included a picture of it in a glass and the receipt I found from the LHBS. Haven't priced anything lately, so I don't know what the prices have done.

I have found the four other brews that I had brewed around the same time and look forward to tasting them as well.

Plus...I still have a case of this one to drink. Lucky for me!

Excellent. I'm glad my guesses were completely wrong.

Food is not taxed in FL, so the only taxable item on that list would have been the hop sack.

Interesting that whatever machine calculated the receipt miscalculated the change back. Off by a penny. Is that normal?

Oh, and prices are significantly higher than that now. A pound of chocolate malt for 38 cents?
 
Deja Vu. OP, I was just telling someone in a different threat that same basic story about my past brewing experience. I found 14 yr old stout in Grolsch bottles. I chilled about 5 of em and have opened em up on each of my recent brew days. Maybe a strange offering to the brew day god. They were still carbonated and still tasted like stout. The flavors had diminished, but were still drinkable. I was OK drinking it, but I don't think I should serve it to anyone else.
 
I always say I'm going to save a few bottles from every batch I make in some sort of time capsule type thing. But I don't know when I'll actually drink it :)

I've saved one bottle from each batch I've ever made so far....of course my first batch was November 2011 so I don't have years of beers yet but I will! :mug:
 
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