Ideal conditioning period for brews in bottles

BeerNut

No, there isn't. I'm not even sure what you mean by "keep". Beer doesn't go off like milk does. Light strike and oxygen are your enemies moreso than temperature.

cyburger

I know it's not like milk. The question I was asking was about off tastes developing if the yeast continues to be active (or maybe it just stops when all the sugar's gone - I don't know, it's why I'm asking peoples advice ), I'm just concerned that lots of people are talking about conditioning for periods of less than a month, so I was worried that there's something wrong with leaving it longer.

Sorry if I'm not using the right terminology, I'm new to HB.

BeerNut

One thing to bear in mind is that it's just beer: homebrew doesn't behave differently to commercial beer, assuming your hygiene and methods are all kosher. If beer only had a shelf-life of a month it would be a tough life for commercial brewers That the beer you make is bottle-conditioned means it can be aged even longer than beer which has been filtered and/or pasteurised.

Bottle conditioned beers do change, and in unpredictable ways. It's fairly normal to find the best bottle out of any batch is the last one, but even that's not always the case.

I'd recommend drinking paler, lighter, hoppier beers young and giving darker and stronger beers more time to mellow. But there are no rules, really, and nothing you need to worry about.

tteknulp

cyburger wrote: »

fair point on the variables.

If I was to have a more... stable conditioning environment, is there a maximum time that a homebrew will keep at 18-19 degrees celsius before you should fridge it, or is it all just down to experimentation and personal taste?

Its good for months , i have left beers for 8 months in the bottle with no ill effects , Belgian beers can take 6-12 months to reach there best condition and taste , Generally stronger abv is longer Condition time. Yeast remains alive till you chill it were it goes dormant,Potassium Sorbate is used sometimes to stop yeast cells Multipling (but hard to kill it )

hope this helps

azzeretti

I don't really buy the whole "beer goes bad" theory to be honest. I would love to research the molecular change of beer over time and how this effects perceived taste. In my simple mind the beer is "locked" in there under seal so it amazes how the taste can change with time - which it unquestionably does. I once tried a 5 year old bottle of IPA I brewed. I was shocked at how little it had changed to be honest - slightly less hoppy I would think but tasted fine and look ed amazing. (I try to lay down at least one bottle from every batch so I have a lot of bottles years old!)

Only last month I stumbled across a 25L batch of cider I pitched in March 2012 (long story - life took center stage for most of last year!) and when I cracked the lid it smelled fine. I bottled it and have been drinking it over the last couple of weeks.

As BN says, keeping light and oxygen away will help alot!

adamski8

Wow, over a year in the fermenter

azzeretti

adamski8 wrote: »

Wow, over a year in the fermenter

Yup, in the primary. No off taste or smell at all. In fact, It was the last brew I had done and it was in my fermentation fridge, in my garage, but I had switched off the temperature controller so it sat there, freezing during the winter and hot during the summer and still come out fine!

sharingan

cyburger wrote: »

I know it's not like milk. The question I was asking was about off tastes developing if the yeast continues to be active (or maybe it just stops when all the sugar's gone - I don't know, it's why I'm asking peoples advice ), I'm just concerned that lots of people are talking about conditioning for periods of less than a month, so I was worried that there's something wrong with leaving it longer.

Hop freshness will disappear with time, but beer spoiling comes about from light strike and oxidisation.

As for how long a beer will last, I know a brewer who is making a majority ale for his friends new born. Basically a beer to be consumed when the child reaches adulthood.