How long does bottled beer (non-pasteurized) last

[hiphops]

How long does the beer last after it has been bottled? I've heard that its only good for a few weeks. Others said its good for a few months. Others said that, once you put it in the fridge, you got about a 2 week window of opportunity to drink it before it does downhill. So many opinions out there.

 

[broadbill]

Regular OG beers are good for a couple of years at least.

High OG beers are good for probably 10-15 years, maybe longer...

But 2 weeks? Nah, my beers aren't even fully carbonated at that point!

 

[KillerKellers]

Hrmm.. Well, I cracked one open a few weeks ago that my dad brewed back in 1995. Beer was still good. Not the same as it was 15 years ago, as most of the flavors had blended together, but it was still a very enjoyable beer.

 

[munche]

It depends on the style of beer. Some beers are better the fresher they are, some beers get better with age.

As a rule of thumb, hoppier beers will get less hoppy with time, and maltier and high abv beers will mellow out with time. Personally I would drink an IPA or a wheat beer on the fresher side, and give any other styles time to mellow.

There are guys on here who've had beers sit for over a year and turn out great. There are some people who swear by conditioning every beer for at least a month or so before even thinking of drinking it.

I don't think you really have to worry about your beer "going bad"

 

[ctufano]

Was curious of this same thing. At the Sweetwater Brewery they talk about how they dont pasteruize so they only sell to the region near us here in Atlanta, since the beer would age to much to get it out to the west coast and stuff

 

[bafroom]

i'm not for sure, but i think if you use regular caps they can start letting in oxygen after a year. you can always go with the extra special oxygen barrier caps though, if you think you'll have it around that long (hasn't been an issue for me).

 

[Revvy]

In the Dec 07 Zymurgy Charlie Papazian reviewed bottles of homebrew going back to the first AHC competition that he had stored, and none of them went bad, some had not held up but most of them he felt were awesome...We're talking over 20 years worth of beers.

Since nothing pathogenic can grow in beer, there's no worry needed about getting sick from them. All that can happen is that they may not have held up over time.

 

[redalert]

Beers don't go bad they just change.

 

[ajf]

Less than a couple months. However, that's not because it has gone off, it's just because it has gone.

Actually I have some pale ales that I brewed about 24 months ago. I didn't particularly like them when they were ready to drink. They still don't taste very good, but they are no worse than they were 2 years ago.

-a.

 

[homebrewer_99]

In the Dec 07 Zymurgy Charlie Papazian reviewed bottles of homebrew going back to the first AHC competition that he had stored, and none of them went bad, some had not held up but most of them he felt were awesome...

Papazian??? So who died and made him an expert???

Going to Beercamp this year?

 

[Beernik]

I got a lambic going on it's 3rd year in the bottle. 4 years sinced brewed.

The only beer I've had go stale in less than a year was a hefe.

 

[RiverCityBrewer]

The only beer I've had go stale in less than a year was a hefe.

Agreed, I made a hefe and an american wheat and felt they were both at their peak around 1 1/2 months after brewing. By the time the kegs blew they were around 4 months old and OK at best.

 

[Jewrican]

sweetwater's IPA is excellent at the brewery. IF you buy it in a store... make sure it was brewed recently. As it nears it "expiration date" the hops are damn near non existant