Survey -What's the longest time that your homebrew has kept bottled and kegged

[mrbeachroach]

Looking for a general consensus on the longest time your homebrew has kept it 100 percent drinkable.

Kegged

And bottled.

And I'm going with the assumption that hire ABV will keep longer, but style that kept would be great to know as well.

I also know that there are some of you all that cellar beer. I would love to know how that works.

 

[kevin58]

I typically condition my barleywine, stong ale, old ales for up to 11 or 12 months.

 

[UncleAvis]

I just found a dozen or so bottles of an extract "deception cream stout" (recipe on hbt) that I brewed in the fall of 2014. I meant to keep a few to see how they aged and I guess I forgot about them. Anyway, they are still tasting really good. Maybe a touch of oxidation, but not enough to not enjoy them. They are in 16oz swingtop bottles kept in a cool dark area of my basement.. Shelf life is going to vary with style and alcohol. This stout though is only ~6%. I've had a few pale ale type beer I've left laying around for a while and while they lose their original hop flavor/brightness, most of the time they change into something different but drinkable. YMMV.

 

[grampamark]

I've been brewing for six years; in that time I don't think I've had any beer which remained on the shelf for more than six weeks.

If I want to admire my handiwork for a long time I take a picture of the beer. That way I can look at the pictures of my previous brews while drinking the most recent one.

 

[myndflyte]

My longest is an 11% barleywine that I bottled about 6.5 years ago. Had one over the holidays and is still tasting pretty good.

 

[bleme]

I have some apfelwein that is 4 years old and tastes just like it did at 1yo. I had a barleywine that lasted about 2.5 years in a keg and it just kept getting better.

I've had a mead and an RIS from friends that were both 5 years old in the bottle and fantastic.

 

[Terry Behrens]

Had a stout I found in back of closet. Four years, tasted great.

 

[ShareBrewing]

I find that I wouldn’t ever try to keep my bottled beer that’s below 7% for more than 6-8 months (except for sours). Perhaps I’m getting too much yeast in the transfer to the bottling bucket (hardly any, but still). I find it gets too oxidized, slightly over-carbonated. Drinkable, but not truly enjoyable.

 

[Oginme]

I had a bottled Scotch ale (score 38.5) that was 9 weeks shy of three years old and a Doppelbock (score 41) that was 21 months in the bottle both take gold medals back in October.

 

[homebrewer_99]

About 2 weeks ago I found some bottled Cherry Wheat that is over 8 years old. It tasted a bit winey (and still drinkable), but I attribute it to the cherries.

I have half a case of the Vanilla Leap Year mead from 2 LYs ago as well as mead that's over 20 years old and many over 10 years old.

My pale ales don't last over 6 months in the keg even when refrigerated. Why they go downhill is still a mystery to me.

 

[Lefou]

Had a batch of 6% ABV amber ale last almost one year. Some of the bottles still had a nice, rocky foam when poured. Most of my beer never lasts that long, though I have kept store-bought triples and quads in storage.
Four Victory Golden Monkey brews were still left over for me from last winter. If anything, the hops had mellowed and the beer had gotten better. Of course, it's a hoppy Belgian around 9.5% ....

 

[secondbase]

I have a few sours that are 3 years old. I have an old ale and barleywine that are approaching the two year mark. All of them are tasting VERY good.

 

[Calder]

I have a lot of sours that I occasionally drink that are about 8 years old. Taste fine. I still have some sours still in the fermenters that are 4+ years old .... must get around to bottling them.

You just reminded me that I was going to dig out some BarleyWines that are ~10 years old (~12%). Was going to have a couple over Christmas. Maybe I'll go looking for one and report back.

Belgians and dark ales store well, up to a few years and more. I find that if you add fruit or juice (without boiling), that it will cause the beer to go stale over a couple of years.

 

[Calder]

You just reminded me that I was going to dig out some BarleyWines that are ~10 years old (~12%). Was going to have a couple over Christmas. Maybe I'll go looking for one and report back.

Found a case of them in the crawl space, there could be more. Looks like I added Rum, Bourbon, and Brandy to about half of them.

Opened a bottle of the base beer, no added liquor, 12.9% abv, brewed 7/10, bottled 10/10, (only 7 years old, not 10 as I assumed). Tastes excellent! A little carbonation, very malty, big depth of flavor, lots of dark fruit flavors ....... WOW!

At least 23 bottles left, maybe more. Original batch size was 65 bottles.

Time to brew more I think before this stash runs out.

 

[MaxStout]

I had an imperial stout last about 2 years to the last bottle. The last one had lost some of the hops flavor, so it was more on the malty side, but still good.

 

[atoughram]

Funny... Almost every post starts with "I had an"....

Found a bottle of Saison I brewed back in 2015 the other day.

The hops had faded a bit, but it was still heavenly and inspired me to make another batch on the next brew day.

 

[brewcat]

Nothing ever stays around too long. I think my longest was a dubbel that stayed around for 4 months or so. Maybe someday I'll brew something to age.

 

[TurnipGreen]

I have one last bottle of a wheat wine from March 2016. I was planning to drink it with my dad over Christmas but we forgot. So, it sound like wifey and I will be cracking it open for New Years! I’ve been savoring it to see how it ages and it’s awesome. Planning to brew a similar one this winter and bulk age it for close to a year, then dry hopping the heck out of it.

I also just bottled a braggot that i’ve been sitting on for over a year. Looking forward to opening that in a few weeks.

 

[PADave]

I have a few bottles of stout that are 18 months old.

 

[jerbrew]

Most of my beer gets consumed pretty quickly but I've had an IPA I gave to my parents, that they left in the fridge, about 2 years after it was bottled. Tasted pretty good still. I've also had an oaked porter that stayed around for about a year. A couple had soured, sloppy bottle sanitation, but it was a surprising treat.

 

[mrbeachroach]

I had a bottled Scotch ale (score 38.5) that was 9 weeks shy of three years old and a Doppelbock (score 41) that was 21 months in the bottle both take gold medals back in October.

What does the score mean?

 

[grampamark]

What does the score mean?

He had those judged in competition.

 

[mrbeachroach]

About 2 weeks ago I found some bottled Cherry Wheat that is over 8 years old. It tasted a bit winey (and still drinkable), but I attribute it to the cherries.

I have half a case of the Vanilla Leap Year mead from 2 LYs ago as well as mead that's over 20 years old and many over 10 years old.

My pale ales don't last over 6 months in the keg even when refrigerated. Why they go downhill is still a mystery to me.

That is just awesome!!!

 

[mrbeachroach]

Had a batch of 6% ABV amber ale last almost one year. Some of the bottles still had a nice, rocky foam when poured. Most of my beer never lasts that long, though I have kept store-bought triples and quads in storage.
Four Victory Golden Monkey brews were still left over for me from last winter. If anything, the hops had mellowed and the beer had gotten better. Of course, it's a hoppy Belgian around 9.5% ....

Golden monkey is one of my top five favorites

 

[mrbeachroach]

Found a case of them in the crawl space, there could be more. Looks like I added Rum, Bourbon, and Brandy to about half of them.

Opened a bottle of the base beer, no added liquor, 12.9% abv, brewed 7/10, bottled 10/10, (only 7 years old, not 10 as I assumed). Tastes excellent! A little carbonation, very malty, big depth of flavor, lots of dark fruit flavors ....... WOW!

At least 23 bottles left, maybe more. Original batch size was 65 bottles.

Time to brew more I think before this stash runs out.

Sounds like we need to do some trading!

 

[mrbeachroach]

OK so I need a lot more friends like you guys. Most people I know lose car keys, wallet, and sunglasses. But you're the first group of folks I know that consistently lose beer, and then find it for another happy day. I think it would be a great idea to do some swapping with some of this aged ale.