Best Material used to age beer

[Elijah]

Glass is probably the material which comes to mind when thinking of "aging beer" or any kind of drink ...

I want to age beer for 6-12 months without having to worry about material de-composition, off tastes and health hazards...

I don't have too many choices if I want to age whole batches of beer:
1- glass (carboy)
2- plastic (carboy or bucket)
3- Stainless Steel 304 (keg)
4- Wood (and this would leave me broke and beer will get wood flavors)

From my personal experience plastic is the cheapest and the least recommended. I had never tested stainless steel, hence I cannot judge.

Can anyone give me an "expert's" opinion? Can I age beer for that long (maybe longer) without having to fear decomposition of material and off flavors with steel? (yes, 304 steel would also rust at some stage)

 

[RM-MN]

I'd say glass is your only real option. I use 12 oz bottles to age mine.

 

[Teromous]

Corny keg. You can either fully carb it or just add enough CO2 to pressurize the lid, they're designed to be air-tight, you don't have to worry about them breaking, and (for me) they're very easy to store.

 

[BigJack]

 

[VladOfTrub]

Stainless. Corney's.
Worry more about the brewing method and how to brew beer which has the backbone to age for as long as you are wanting it to, than the decomposing of material.

 

[LLBeanJ]

IMO, kegs are without a doubt the best choice for aging. Durable, light and oxygen tight, easy to move and store.

 

[Zepth]

I have done all without issue. Rack it to a "secondary" does work but ends up needing one additional transfer. If you can CO2 purge the headspace it won't be as bad. Not that it was bad to begin with.

Corny kegs are great for aging. As mentioned you can fully carb it, just carb it enough to set the lid, you could even naturally carb it with priming sugar if you wanted to. If it's going to age a good long while you might as well unless you despise the idea of a little extra yeast running through your lines. Smaller footprint than a carboy and some are stackable if you really need space. Main disadvantage for me for a while is that kegs aren't cheap and I only had a couple at one point. Taking a tap offline to age a keg wasn't in the cards.

Bottles are often my preferred method for aging. Main reason is that I haven't been doing this a really long time in the grand scheme of things and it's the easiest way to have a sample every now and then to see how the profile changes at 2 months, 4, 6, etc. Doing so with a corny in my setup would require a tap being constantly swapped to start chilling the aging keg just to pour a pint and take it out. Perhaps if I knew that "This batch will be perfect in exactly _______" I would change my mind.

 

[MileHighBrewer]

I brew a lot of sours and brett beers. I use almost exclusively plastic, Better Bottles, Vintage Shop carboys (smooth sides are easier to clean months to years old caked on gunk) and the big blue barrels LME comes in. I have seen no real difference between those beers and beers aged in the couple glass carboys i have, or the 1/6bbl kegs i also use with the spears removed.

 

[Elijah]

Thanks all, I guess it's time to get me some cornelius kegs...

 

[solbes]

#1 - Keg - CO2 headspace means no oxidation
#2 - Bottle - Why not just bottle it?
#3 - Glass Carboy - Fill to the neck and remember to top off the airlock every month or two

If you are looking for a reason to get into kegging, by all means go for it. If not, then why not just bottle it up and cellar?