Keg holder / how long does beer last?

[Ringmaster]

Finally moved up from the Mr. Beer kit but i'm a little worried about keeping the temperature constant on the carboy.


Cooler
See the cooler i was using with the mr. beer although convenient for 2 gallons. isn't going to cut it with the big boy set up.

So i've been looking for a way to keep it cold, been thinking of using one of those giant buckets used for holding kegs and throwing some water + Ice bottles in there.

Is this a good idea? I'd imagine the insulation will be crap. Was also wondering about aquariums, you know how they have to keep them a certain temperature i'd imagine there's equipment involved that could serve my purpose?


Beer Longevity
Other question was more of a bet kind of thing. My dad has a batch going and i keep bugging him to let his beer sit for longer before trying it. He seems to think the beer will go bad before 4 months is up because it's homebrew... Is there any truth to this?

How long can you usually let beer sit? Is there a limit once it's been bottled? Or any extra care needed in case you've let it sit to long?

 

[HalfPint]

Finally moved up from the Mr. Beer kit but i'm a little worried about keeping the temperature constant on the carboy.


Cooler
See the cooler i was using with the mr. beer although convenient for 2 gallons. isn't going to cut it with the big boy set up.

So i've been looking for a way to keep it cold, been thinking of using one of those giant buckets used for holding kegs and throwing some water + Ice bottles in there.

Is this a good idea? I'd imagine the insulation will be crap. Was also wondering about aquariums, you know how they have to keep them a certain temperature i'd imagine there's equipment involved that could serve my purpose?



Beer Longevity
Other question was more of a bet kind of thing. My dad has a batch going and i keep bugging him to let his beer sit for longer before trying it. He seems to think the beer will go back before 4 months is up because it's homebrew... Is there any truth to this?

How long can you usually let beer sit? Is there a limit once it's been bottled? Or any extra care needed in case you've let it sit to long?

Cooler-
Type "Swamp Cooler" into the search bar at the top right of your screen.

Longevity-
Are you talking about after bottling? If so, the age in which a homebrew will last depends. It depends on the alcohol content of the homebrewed beer and the packaging you've stored it in. Typically, the bigger the beer (in alcohol content), the better it gets after long amounts of storage time (3 months to 3 years for most barleywines and RIS's). However, not all beers should be stored for long periods of time (Such as IPA's b/c you'll lose that beautiful hop aroma). With all that said, most homebrews in the 2-6% abv range due well with at minimum 3 weeks in the bottle up to heck, a year or so.


If you're talking about how long you should let your beer sit on the yeast cake in the primary, most of us let the yeast do their things for 2-4 weeks, then rack to bottling bucket or keg.

Use that search bar, it works wonders.

Hope that helps,
J

 

[Ringmaster]

Thanks, i was referring to after bottling and before bottling actually. Tried to make the questions clear thus the labels

As for the swamp cooler type thing.. i don't think it's really a swamp cooler since i'm using ice and not the evaporation type of cooling. I was doing the ice bottle method in a cooler but i'm a little concerned with the crappy insulation with a thin piece of plastic.

Will it really work? or will the ice melt way to fast?

I looked at ice chest type things that would be big enough to hold the carboy but they're about 50 bucks or more.. but so is making one of those son of fermentation chillers so it seemed like a waste. But one of those plastic buckets is only about 8 dollars. I'm just not sure if it can cut the job.

I will try this "search" function but it's not like i don't know how to put water and ice in something. I'm more concerned with how efficient it will be.

 

[Nurmey]

I have not had to use the swamp cooler method but lots of folks do and it works. Those large plastic tubs seem to do the work just fine.

Most beers will last a year or two. There are exception of course. Barleywines can be aged for years and IPA will lose some of their hoppy-ness after several months but generally a year is normal. Having said that, we have several beers in our basement that are fine after several years.

edit: Your dad has it backwords. Homebrew will last much longer than the dead, filtered beers you buy.

 

[HalfPint]

I use plain ol coolers. Since I live in Houston, it's almost never cooler than 74*F in my house, so year round I have to use something to control my fermentation temps. IF I'm only fermenting one carboy, I'll use this cooler http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002VQ9PU2/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20, but if I'm fermenting two carboys, I'll use this one http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000G64FJK/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20. It's just stuff that I had laying in the garage that I've needed over the years. I'd reccommend buying the ice cube b/c it's extremely good at keeping the temperature of the water constant. Also, you can even make a sweet lid for it like yooper did https://cdn.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=2768. I usually put about 4 frozen water bottles in there after I pitch my yeast, and after that, I only have to add 2-4 once a day to keep the temps in the low 60's.

Hope this helps,
J

 

[Ringmaster]

thanks guys you've been really helpful.

And HalfPint i was actually looking at that exact cooler(the smaller one) problem is i wouldn't have much a use for it outside of brewing beer, already have a couple coolers. So i think i might be better off with something geared more towards making beer..

Not entirely sure i'm jumping between a son of fermentation chiller or a keg bucket. Depends on how cheap i want to be for the first couple of batches.. i'll probably do the keg bucket at first.

But you guys have been helpful thanks!

 

[ajf]

30 something years ago, I made some barley wines. They took between 1 and 2 years to condition in the bottle before they were fit for drinking.
Last year, I made a Bohemian Lager. It took over 9 months before that was fit to drink, and I've had several low gravity Stouts that have taken several months to mature.
If your father's beers go off within 4 months, he's doing something wrong, but perhaps he just doesn't have the capacity to condition for extended time periods.

-a.