Looking for beers or beer styles with a longer keg life

[msa8967]

I have a keezer that can store 8 corney kegs and I have 4 taps. We are expecting our second child in November so I would like to get much of my brewing for the next 9+ months done very soon (assuming this heat wave subsides.) I have 10 corney kegs total and I would like to fill all of these before mid-September. Can anyone suggest beer styles appropriate for long term keg storage either in the keezer or at 65 F? I do not have the ability to lager at the moment. I am wanting to have reasonable abv% available for my wife to drink small quantities of after the baby comes so kegging imperial stouts, many belgians or barely wines won't really be an option.

If you don't have a suggestion of which styles to use for long term storage but you could tell me styles to avoid that will also be appreciated. I have been told that pale ales and wheats are best when consumed young but does that mean they can go bad after 6-9 months of storage?

 

[masonsjax]

They wont go bad. The pales, IPAs, anything dependent on big hop aroma may go out of style because aroma fades with time. Many wheat beers are intended to be consumed with some yeast still in suspension. That yeast will settle out over time. It will taste fine, just will be clear rather than cloudy.

Try an English mild for the wife, they are lower octane but full of flavor.

 

[day_trippr]

Gotta have at least one Imperial Stout in there for the long haul. They just keep getting better. The wife can sip a short pour...

Cheers!

 

[JuanMoore]

Any malt forward beer usually gets better better with age for the first couple years. As mentioned, hop forward beers will lose a lot of the hop flavor and aroma, but will still be fine, just not as good as when they were fresh. Milds, porters, brown ales, or stouts are going to be your best bets for session level ABV beers that will age well.

I agree with day_trippr though, gotta make at least one massive beer and let it age while you're at it.

 

[CTownBrewer]

Anything with some roasted malt will usually age well. I agree that you should go with porters, stouts, browns, & scottish/scotch ales.

It may be fun to brew the same recipe 4 different times & tweak each one with a special ingredient (ie. a base robust porter recipe aged different ways...one oak, one chocolate, one fruit, one mint or spiced)

 

[david_42]

Imperial (or just big) Stout
Robust Porter
Any of the bigger Belgian styles
Barleywine
Scotch ales

 

[shelly_belly]

I filled a couple of bottles of EdWort's Kolsch from the keg and cellared them for a year. I couldn't believe how good they were 1 year later.

 

[msa8967]

Anything with some roasted malt will usually age well. I agree that you should go with porters, stouts, browns, & scottish/scotch ales.

It may be fun to brew the same recipe 4 different times & tweak each one with a special ingredient (ie. a base robust porter recipe aged different ways...one oak, one chocolate, one fruit, one mint or spiced)

I already have 4 gallons of Imperial stout bottled and 5 gallons of brandywine bottled that will come of age next year. I like your suggestion of a roasted malt and/or more forward beer so I think I will try doing a session style scottish ale and a nut brown ale. These could be well suited for the cold Iowa winter that is going to follow this really hot Iowa summer.

 

[msa8967]

I filled a couple of bottles of EdWort's Kolsch from the keg and cellared them for a year. I couldn't believe how good they were 1 year later.

I have not tried making a kolsch style beer for kegging so I will probably do this one for me to drink next summer.

 

[dannypo]

Biere de Garde is perfect for this. Malty, slightly estery and ABV is very flexible from around 5 to 7.5. Another option is pseudo lagers. A marzen made with a clean ale yeast can be very good.

Like others said avoid hoppy beers or hefewiezen. Also there us no reason you can't make a dubbel like beer at 5%. Just make as much as you can and make a variety. Our youngest is 14 months now and I just brewed for the 2nd time since she was born. Free time is hard to come by.

 

[msa8967]

Is a Biere de Garde a type or farmhouse ale (or maybe it is the other way around.)?

 

[dannypo]

Yeah. It's usually referred to as a farmhouse ale. it's really very different from a saison though.

 

[ShinyBuddha]

Imperial (or just big) Stout
Robust Porter
Any of the bigger Belgian styles
Barleywine
Scotch ales

These are what you're looking for.

 

[OldWorld]

Baltic Porter...hop it good with an abv of 5.8-7.0