Can a beer get worse over time?

I made a brown ale back in December, left it in the primary for about 10 days, then racked to the secondary and dry hopped (1 oz Cascades). I tasted a sample and it was pretty good. I was very busy and couldn't bottle it soon enough, so I racked to the bottling bucket 3 weeks later to get it off the hops, tasted a sample, and it was damn good. I couldn't wait to drink it proper. A week and a half later, I primed and bottled it without transferring it again, I just added 2/3 cups of sugar to the bottling bucket. I tasted it then, and it wasn't as good as I remember it being when I transferred to the bottling bucket. Tonight I tasted the first bottle after 8 days at 70F, 2 hours in the fridge, and it was pretty good, but not as good as when I transferred it to my borrling bucket a few weeks ago. I tried to be as clean as possible on all my transfers, but it might have picked something up. All said and done it's been 54 days, 8 of which was in the bottle. I'm not having any more for at least another week, and I am sure it will be better.

So my question is, has anyone had a beer get worse over time? I'm talking about after it's been bottled. All of the stories I've read is that all beers get better with time. I am not afraid that my beer will get worse, but I am curious if they do sometimes.

Adding priming sugar does something to taste. Cranks up the yeast to carbonate. That's what you might be tasting. Carbing for me is about 3 weeks. Then I wait about 2 weeks in the fridge and give it a taste. Your beer is still very young. Its green.

I don't start tracking age until its bottled and the yeast is 90% done. I don't bother with days either. Usually weeks and months. Don't get the wrong idea I watch the calendar during fermentation. I don't judge the beer until I'm certain that its ready.

Patience Grasshopper!

The sample I tasted was from before I added the sugar, and was not as good as when I transferred it from the secondary. I know it will get better, it's pretty good now. It got me to wondering if beer sometimes gets worse over time after already being in the bottle. Say, after three weeks in the bottle and it's great. Three weeks later it awesome. Two months later, all of a sudden it's not as good as it was before.

I will be interested to see what the guys say that have been doing this a while have to say but my understanding is that it should have a really long shelf life, much longer than filtered beer. As long as the process went well, I can't see why it would just get bad in the bottle.

I don't know what your ingredients were but I did a Brown Ale in November and after bottling I let it sit 6 weeks before tasting. At 6 it was not ready and was kind of sweet tasting, and like you said it had a different flavor from the taste it had at bottling. So I gave it 2 more weeks and wow, what a difference. The sweet flavor was gone and the beer was really finding its groove. It has improved even more since then. I had a couple of bottles last night and was astonished at how delicious that beer is. So, for my brown ale, I have learned that it needs to condition at least 8 weeks and 10 or 12 is better to be really, really good.

Dennis

You didn't exactly say why it wasn't good anymore, but it is still probably green and will get better again in a few weeks.

The other thing that I have noticed with all of my dry hopped beers is that the hops flavor mellows out a lot in the first 3 weeks. I do wish that not so much of that flavor would disappear. Not that they turn into awful beers, just not as hoppy as they were at one week.

I don't know, but this beer sure didn't.

A fresh future for flat old beer - Telegraph

mev said:

The sample I tasted was from before I added the sugar, and was not as good as when I transferred it from the secondary. I know it will get better, it's pretty good now. It got me to wondering if beer sometimes gets worse over time after already being in the bottle. Say, after three weeks in the bottle and it's great. Three weeks later it awesome. Two months later, all of a sudden it's not as good as it was before.

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Some times its depends of your mood, state of mind and if you have eating anything that would effect your taste.

One thing you have to remember is that what you are drinking is a living thing, so it will evolve as time goes. Hotness of alcohol wane with time as does a very prominent hop flavor.

They good thing is what you are drinking isn't bad. (At least from the sounds of it.)

If the hop change bothers you that much you will have too start kegging and make yourself a randall.

The Hash Back (aka Moorminator, Homebrewed Randall or Draft Hopback) - Maltose Falcons Home Brewing Society (Los Angeles Homebrewing)

nibiyabi said:

I don't know, but this beer sure didn't.

A fresh future for flat old beer - Telegraph

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I pulled this from that article.

This sounds amusing. Never had a Worthington White Shield IPA.

I wasn't implying that it wasn't good before bottling it, it was just better when I took it out of the dry hopped secondary. I think it's because I love hops, have never dry hopped before, and was really impressed with how it came out. Maybe a week later when I went to bottle it, some of that hop flavor died down a bit and therefore wasn't as good in my mind. I think Schlenkerla hit it, it could have been my state of mind on the first taste ; )

This is a great hobby, and I love how a beer changes over time. My oatmeal stout from November is really turning out to be a great beer. It's great to hear someone say "Wow, you made that?"

Well I'm glad to see that a beer generally won't get worse over time. Again I am not concerned about this one, I was just curious about if it can and does happen.

I have had instances of beer going downhill with age. German wheats in particular are better young, and after six months or so they age to the point of complete mediocrity even if they were outstanding back around 5 weeks old.

Buford said:

I have had instances of beer going downhill with age. German wheats in particular are better young, and after six months or so they age to the point of complete mediocrity even if they were outstanding back around 5 weeks old.

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This is very true, it helps if you rouse the yeast if it in the bottle. Roll it on its side or pour half, then swirl it a bit then top off.