So…. I brewed a holiday ale this season & I bottled quite a bit more than I can drink in a reasonable time. I’ve read some mixed things about the shelf life of ales, so I’m wondering if anyone has had any (good and/or bad) experience aging their ales for longer than say…. 4 to 12 months. Mine is malt forward, noticeable amounts of cinnamon, honey and ginger in recipe. Amber colored. Final ABV = ~6.8. (Recipe similar to - but a bit more complex than - Great Lake’s Christmas ale. Fermented with kveik yeast).
Any Experience Aging Holiday Ales?
- Thread starter asg816
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
That's exactly the kind of beer that'll come out better the other side of 12 months.
The holiday ale that I made lost the spice character in 4-5 months. It was probably due to oxidation but I didn't know about that when I made it.
Beerstein
Well-Known Member
I now age my holiday ales 3-4 months. More if I plan ahead. I found that some ingredients seem to fade faster. The fastest that Ive noticed was ginger. 
I’ve had similar experiences with ginger. The ginger aroma/flavor was gone in less than a month with this beer even at warm serving temps. It faded in about 3 months in a mead I had been aging. Not sure what to make of that and worried that adding much more to recipes will create ginger bombs. A lot of folks have struggled to stay on the tasty side of that fine line.I now age my holiday ales 3-4 months. More if I plan ahead. I found that some ingredients seem to fade faster. The fastest that Ive noticed was ginger.
Beerstein
Well-Known Member
That is exactly my experience. Aroma/taste gone in 30 days. I'm really careful with oxidation, so I hypothesize that its some kind of chemical interaction?
I have some Christmas ale that I bottled 5 years ago. I open one each Christmas Eve and it just keeps getting better and better. My average for a long aged brew is 9 to 12 months.
Similar threads
