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Best Before dates on homebrew

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  • 13-01-2012 10:34am
    #1
    crank_1975
    Registered Users Posts: 207 ✭✭


    In my wisdom i have decided to go on a diet and fitness regime which includes giving up the gargle for six months (due to my expanding belly).

    I have a couple of brews bottled, a larger which was bottled in October and a Stout which was bottled in November. Both were brewed from kits.

    Will these still be drinkable in July? How long is the shelf life of a homebrewed beer?


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    #2
    BeerNut
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 11,850 Mod ✭✭✭✭BeerNut


    They're bottle-conditioned, so they should be fine as long as your bottling regime is up to scratch and, for example, the bottles are fully sealed.

    My beer blog | The Twitter | My other beer blog



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    #3
    Sky King
    Registered Users Posts: 4,431 ✭✭✭Sky King


    I'm curious about this too - at what stage would they start to lose quality?


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    #4
    BeerNut
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 11,850 Mod ✭✭✭✭BeerNut


    YMMV.

    Beers that depend on fresh hop flavours will lose that freshness after about three months. Stronger beers age better than weaker beers.

    My beer blog | The Twitter | My other beer blog



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    #5
    rubadub
    Registered Users Posts: 32,381 ✭✭✭✭rubadub


    Just to be certain -we are talking about best before dates, not 'use by', i.e. the beer will not become toxic like meat would.


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    #6
    Shiny
    Registered Users Posts: 2,259 ✭✭✭Shiny


    I have been brewing about 9 or 10 months at this stage and the only change I have found very noticeable is the fading hop flavour in any of my 'hoppy' beer kits such as the Coopers IPA and Muntons Midas Golden Ale. Over a period of months, despite being very inexperienced, I noticed a lack of umph in the stronger flavoured [hop/bitterness not alcohol] beers.

    The Coopers wheat beer has been the most consistent and popular brew. Its flavour has remained almost the same since I brewed it 7 or 8 months ago.

    To conclude I would be confident of drinking your beers in 6 months time. :) In the longer term I don't think there is any problem drinking your beer as long as there ins't a foul smell.


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    #7
    oblivious
    Registered Users Posts: 4,381 ✭✭✭oblivious


    rubadub wrote: »
    Just to be certain -we are talking about best before dates, not 'use by', i.e. the beer will not become toxic like meat would.


    Pathogens don't really survive in beer the Ph is too low and the combo of alcohol will retard their growth


    But other non disease causing bacteria/ wild yeast can take off, but it will come down to you cleaning how good your sanitation method is for fermentation and packaging.

    I have a near 3 1/2 year old imperial stout the perfectly fine to drink!


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