Old Homebrew

So I scored a deal on craigslist yesterday picking up extra equipment...plastic pail fermenter, 6 1/2gallon carboy, bottling bucket, 3 cases of bottles, capper, hydrometer, and a bunch of misc stuff. The guy also mentioned he had a 12-pack of homebrew left that I could take to dump out for the bottles (23oz so of course I was on it). He said the beer was brewed at least a year and a half ago so it wouldn't be any good. Would YOU drink it? I made a stout and kept a 6er for a year and it was still really good so I'm kind of optimistic about the stuff.

I'm probably going to chill one down and try it as I brew tonight, just wanted to see how old of homebrew you've all had.

 

it depends on what it was, its probably still good. unless the guy made bad beer. try it.

 

I plan to try it. He said there was a stout and an amber. I figure the stout is still good, as long as it started off "good".

Part of me kind of wishes the beer isn't any good so I can dump it in good conscience so I have the 23oz bottles available for my APA I'll be bottling this weekend, but I won't complain at all if it turns out to be good beer. I've just never had beer sitting around my house for that long to know!

 

You at least have to try it.

I got a ton of old bottles from a guy cleaning out his parent's house and he had a bottle of wine from the 70's. The label said it was white wine but the liquid inside was the color of whiskey. Still, I had to at least give it a taste.

 

while I'd say try it for sure, it makes you wonder....guy is liquidating his home brew stuff, and never drank those bottles. It doesn't sound like he was intentionally cellaring them.

To answer your question, I have had the pleasure of sampling 8 and 9 year old Barleywines that were homebrewed by one of our club members (who is a master home brewer). There arent really words to accurately convey...

 

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.

This is a great thread about one of our guys tasting 4-5 years of his stored brew.

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/revisiting-my-classics-160672/

Beer's like wine, a lot of them improve with age....That's why stone has "vertical epic" with vintage, and people have vertical tasting parties

I made a beer that won't even be opened before 5 years go by on . http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/hel...emorial-5-year-aged-barleywine-recipe-195096/

The first beer I brewed was a sweet stout. And I got 3 years out of it. But I didn't put any more bottles aside to see.

It won't be the same beer, but who says it won't be a great beer.

Since nothing pathogenic can grow in beer there's no reason NOT to try it.

 

I've had brews I made that where sitting around for more than a year and they didn't go bad(or at least any worse than they originally where). Some I intentionally aged and some I didn't. I say try it though.

 

He may be selling everything because he made nothing BUT bad beer! I'd try it anyways :cross:

 

I'd try them. I bought out a guy who was getting out of the hobby due to alcoholism, so it could be good beer

 

maybe he laced them with something and is waiting outside your house right now...just waiting on you to hit the ground, so he can come in and steal your stuff

 

Was it Charlie sheen ?? Lol

 

Hahaha, if it were Charlie I'd still be at his place partying and not at work!

 

Winning!

 

I doubt he was a very good brewer. I doubt he followed any ideal fermentation procedures and I'm pretty sure the beers were made from a kit. All that being said I would try them and hope for the best.

To answer your question I have a stout at home that is 7 years old and I still drink about 1 of them a month. It is better than when it was young but it is past it's prime.

 

Well, 0 for 2. First bottle was nothing but overcarbonated beer that foamed everywhere when opened. Second bottle was a very sour stout that wasn't appetizing at all, and took forever to clean the bottle. At least I have the bottles...