Aged Beer (bottle conditioned)

[cyfan964]

This is a debateable topic that I would love to hear peoples opinions on. I know most people maintain that beer is usually at its prime in the 6 month or under range. I have read that beer that is conditioned in bottles can last much longer because it contains yeast.

My question. I have saved some bottles of a Nut Brown Ale I made 2 years ago in my basement which is cool and dark. Do you think the beer is ok to drink? I realize there is probably nothing in it that could hurt me, but is it going to be terrible? Is it going to be great?

What are everyones opinions?

 

[llazy_llama]

I know most people maintain that beer is usually at its prime in the 6 month or under range.

Who told you that? I think you were lied to. As for your 2 year old nut brown, I think it'll be amazing. There's no real risk that the beer will hurt you. Even if it was infected, the worst case scenario is that it'll gush and/or taste like crap. Best case scenario, you've got a 2 year old vintage beer that might just blow your mind.

Pop one open and find out!

 

[BarleyWater]

Who cares what it might taste like, you have two year old beer. That's definitely at least worth a try. Worst case is it's gotten oxidized and flat or gone sour, but probably won't taste too bad.

 

[Clonefarmer]

You won't get hurt by drinking it. As for being good or bad you will have to let us know .

I drank a 5 year old trappist I got in a box of empties from my dad that was not kept cool. It was smooth, smelled and tasted like sherry. Quite an interesting experience. I say crack one open and give it a shot.

 

[cyfan964]

Those were the responses I was looking for. The 6 month thing comes from John Palmers "How to Brew" He states that bottled beer will "keep for 6 months."

I know I have had some old trappist ales before.... I'll let you all know how things taste!!!

 

[chefmike]

My practice is to always hide some of every batch in with another batch or in another closet. It is ALWAYS better in my experience thus far. And it is educational to see how the taste changes as well.

Now if I can just build up my pipe line enough to age some Apfelwine...

 

[Boondoggie]

It's always been my experience that homebrew (bottled, I've never kegged) does seem to peak in terms of goodness, and then decline.

Is there something I'm not doing, or doing wrong? Why do so many people here claim it just gets better and better and better?

 

[Clonefarmer]

It's always been my experience that homebrew (bottled, I've never kegged) does seem to peak in terms of goodness, and then decline.

Is there something I'm not doing, or doing wrong? Why do so many people here claim it just gets better and better and better?

I think it is because not many of us can hang on to beer long enough to go past it's peak .

 

[ross3648]

Aging beer is a good question, a high gravity well hopped beer will be good for years. I still have two bottles of 10 year old Strong Belgian dark ale. I had three at X-mas but cracked one open with a friend. Still had some carbonation, taste was nice, my friend loved it. I thought a little more hops would of made it great.

 

[cyfan964]

Well... I cracked the Molasses Nut Brown Ale and it was fantastic. Best beer I have drank of mine yet. I'm going to only have to drink a few a week and savor them! My Cherry Oatmeal Stout on the other hand was horrible. I wonder if the Cherry flavoring went bad after 2 years maybe? The stout tasted exactly like licking a spoon... very metallic taste.