Shelf life of wheat beer

Does wheat beer have less shelf life than all Barley malt?

I dunno, mine never lasts that long. (But there isn't less malt than normal beers, it is just wheat malt as opposed to Barley malt)

I thought it was alcohol and IBU's which have preservative powers. That's why IPAs were invented, you need that much bittering hops to survive the ocean voyage from England to India. Beer history is cool.

ChemE said:

I thought it was alcohol and IBU's which have preservative powers. That's why IPAs were invented, you need that much bittering hops to survive the ocean voyage from England to India. Beer history is cool.

Click to expand...

So is it the low IBU's that shorten it's life span or the wheat itself?

That is my understanding but I'm far from an expert.

Higher IBUs can mask some of the loss of freshness, or off-flavors. Plus, they tend to drop out themselves, so after a long voyage in a hot boat, an IPA is likely to fresher tasting, or at least not bad, and also the style of IPA shipped back then was likely not as bitter s the IPAs we see today.

A wheat beer is likely going to last "long enough" if it's kept cool and dark, especially if it is refrigerated. Remember that the boat ride to India went through some of the hottest parts of the world.

Soperbrew pulled out a Wit from June last night, and it was still terrific, the spices were muted somewhat from age but it was otherwise an awesome Wit.

Maybe somebody should do a Weizenbock and age it for a year so we can find out. :cross: