Longevity of kegged beer by style

[msa8967]

I will have 4 days off between the end of spring semester and the start of teaching summer school for 6 weeks. I usually have a big push for brewing once summer school is done but this year I will most likely have to have some shoulder surgery and I may not be brewing until Thanksgiving depending on my recovery. Thus, I would like to get me kegs filled by possibly doing double batches. Problem is I am not sure of how long I can expect the beer to stay drinkable for each of the styles below. Any thoughts on the numbers below? I will be storing the kegs in the basement around 67 F during the summer.

American wheats/hefe and Belgian wits, 3-6 months?

American pale ales and ipas, 3-6 months?

Stouts and porters with 5-6% abv, 3-6 months?

American lagers with 5% abv, 3-6 months?

American lawn mowers ales and amber ales around 5% abv, 3-6 months?

 

[MrPowers]

I've found that wit's and hefe's drastically deteriorate after 1-2 months in the keg. They seem best at around 6 weeks from brew day.

Lagers tend to be good quite a bit longer. I would guess stouts and porters would last longer than the other styles maybe even a year or more depending on the strength.

 

[day_trippr]

Porters/stout traditionally pretty much bury any hop character beyond the bittering balance, so those will certainly suffer the least over time.
At the other end, pales and ipas are going downhill from packaging day, but likely not quite as fast as most wheat beers.
In the middle are the lightly hopped pilsners, "lawnmowers" and such. They never had much going on to lose...

Cheers!

 

[muels]

You could make a hoppy pale ale and then dry hop in the keg when you are close to ready to drink. Stouts and porters will taste good forever.

I would say a double batch of pale ale, drink one fresh, then dry hop in the keg for the second. Oatmeal stout for the 3rd. Maybe a BMs cream of 3 crops too. That will last and is a easy summer drinker that won't have much flavor to fade.

I have ambers and cream ales that are 2 years in the bottle. They are anything fancy but the taste has been fairly consistent. Still tastes good.

Nothing will "go bad" but specific flavors will wane, especially hops.

 

[SMPress]

I just drank some American Stout from the keg yesterday that I brewed almost 2 years ago.

I made it to second round of NHC with a Rauchbier that is a year old in the keg.

I also had an APA yesterday that is 4 months old, and it was still great, don't know where it will tail off though, its my first APA...

I think beer lasts a good bit longer than most people give it credit. You need to properly store it of course. I entered an ale yeast Alt Beer in NHC this year, it was bottled, not kegged, but it was 4 years old. It didn't go forward, but it did make it to Mini-BOS...

 

[pdxal]

There's a good sticky on this in the general techniques forum:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=84005
In my experience higher alcohol beers age much more gracefully, so perhaps some heavier beers for the fall to age, then lighter beers for the summer? I have had lots of pale ales and ambers survive 1-2 years, but hop presence fades rapidly. Porters and stouts should stay good a long time.

 

[LKABrewer]

Keep them away from oxygen (zero oxygen contact after pitching the yeast, push out of primary under co2 pressure into keg purged by pushing out sanitizer) and COLD as possible (without freezing) and they will last longer than you think. I have medaled with 10 month old IPA.

 

[kman6234]

Keep them away from oxygen (zero oxygen contact after pitching the yeast, push out of primary under co2 pressure into keg purged by pushing out sanitizer) and COLD as possible (without freezing) and they will last longer than you think. I have medaled with 10 month old IPA.

Totally agree with this. Limit O2 and keep it cold and that makes a big impact on how long it lasts.