Homebrew conditioning vs commercial brewers conditioning?

One thing I've learned in the 6 short months I've been doing this hobby, the longer I wait after I bottle, the better the beer gets. Just wondering why commercial brewed beer like Fat Tire doesn't seem to change any after it's bottled? Is their process so exact that the beer is always "as good as it's going to get" when it's bottled or does it improve and I'm just not noticing?

Curious on your thoughts?

I've never had it so I'm not sure about Fat Tire, but there are plenty of commercial brews that can be aged and some fora very long time. I have only ever aged one, Chimay Grand Reserve for 2 years, and it was awesome.

A lot of commercial breweries pasteurize their beer and run it through a filter. In a fairly basic homebrew setup the yeast, being live creatures, continue to change the beer over time, but if the beer is filtered or pasteurized the yeast activity is stopped and the beer flavor remains unchanged for quite awhile. Of course oxidation may play a role in degrading the beer over time...

There are a lot of breweries using the "born on" date sytem. I presume they are all pasturized.

Can the homebrewer pasturize?

Most beers should not be aged. They are best fresh.

I don't buy "the yeast changes the beer over time." The yeast falls out over time. It's done a day or so after FG is reached. I know there is a false assumption that it takes weeks but I've not found that to be true. John Palmer is often misquoted on the matter. He said this recently,

With the right pitching rate, using fresh healthy yeast, and proper aeration of the wort prior to pitching, the fermentation of the beer will be complete within 3-8 days (bigger = longer). This time period includes the secondary or conditioning phase of fermentation when the yeast clean up acetaldehyde and diacetyl. The real purpose of lagering a beer is to use the colder temperatures to encourage the yeast to flocculate and promote the precipitation and sedimentation of microparticles and haze.

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It's the clearing of yeast and proteins that improves the flavor of the beer. Filtering will do what takes many weeks to happen naturally.

I'd bet Fat Tire is filtered, re-yeasted and package conditioned.

At the brew pub they ferment for 3-7 days. Cold crash at 4 degrees -- no filtering or pasterizations - for 3 days and then you drink. It is decent enough beer. I like the blonde, but it has this -- not sure if 'metallic' is the word -- metallic aftertaste.

http://www.les3brasseurs.com/art-de-la-biere-aux-3-brasseurs.html