How long is beer good for once bottled

My first attempt at a homebrew is a holiday ale (brewers best kit). Og 1.063. I kind of just want to set it my basement (55-60 deg) after I bottle it and drink it next holiday season. Will it still be OK to drink in a year?

thun00 said:

My first attempt at a homebrew is a holiday ale (brewers best kit). Og 1.063. I kind of just want to set it my basement (55-60 deg) after I bottle it and drink it next holiday season. Will it still be OK to drink in a year?

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That depends on lots of factors. The higher the OG usually the better, but the biggest factor is how clean you were at bottling. Did you use oxygen absorbing caps? Was your furnace running in your house and possibly blow contamination into your bottles, did you breath on the open bottles, was the bottle neck full of foam when you capped (less oxygen in the bottle)? All these are possible factors that could effect your beer. But in general most bottles will last a year. Many years with really good bottling practices.

Most likely it will be quite tasty. It probably will lose a little bit of hop freshness, but that is no big deal.

The biggest problem with storing homebrew is light damage. Wrap that sucker in a black garbage bag and you are good to go.

Oxidation could be a problem, but as long as you were pretty careful during bottling, you should be fine.

I have not bottled yet, how do I limit oxidation?

use oxygen absorbing caps. Turn off your furnace while bottling. Don't you breath on the open bottles, Make sure the bottle neck is full of foam when you capped (less oxygen in the bottle). All this will help.

Thanks for the reply