shelf life of home brew.

[H0U5ECAT]

So I have a question...
In April next year I'll have the pleasure of being my fiancée hubby.
Between now and then, I'll be working out the perfect beers for the day. Brewing my own partial mashes for 100 or so thirsty patrons.

But... here lies the question.
If I let my beers sit and mature, what's a good life span for my beer?

I usually let my beers condition for about 3 months before I start throwing them back.
When's a good time to start brewing for the main event?

 

[manticle]

Depends entirely on the beer, your processes and the storage conditions. Piece of string question.

 

[jaypes]

I have been knocking back a 1 year old Bo Pilsner that I found during a garage cleanup!

Tastes pretty damn nice, the garage temp is pretty stable all year round which helps in long term storage

 

[sponge]

I've started brewing for my big day in October. Having 5 beers and a cider to keep the mrs (and non-beer drinkers) happy.

I just keep the beers in kegs under pressure and will be fine for the next 5 months.

Plan your brews accordingly, ie, you can get away with storing stouts/porters for longer than APAs and milds, which are drank much younger.

 

[pcmfisher]

Bottles or kegs?

 

[sponge]

Kegs. I force carb them and just store them under pressure in the garage and will cool down for a week prior to the wedding.

Bottles probably wouldn't be too different and may even be a little better over that period due to bottle conditioning being a slower process than the force carb.

 

[H0U5ECAT]

Tossing up taking the keezer along or doing all bottles.
Most likely if I go for taps will be a pale ale, steam ale, hopped up ipa and a blonde (yet unknown). Cider in flip top bottles and wine.

I'll most likely be approving the styles in July. Just thinking about the right time to start brewing.

 

[sponge]

I'll be bringing the keezer down the day before and letting the kegs settle and chill as we can set up the day before. We still need to get the basic drinks package with ours so I have decided against brewing a lager for the swill drinkers as they will still have that available to them if need be.

I have a porter, saison, US wheat, mild and APA. Covers a few styles without anything being too offensive for the masses. I made a mild for our engagement party (along with a couple of other kegs) and drank that for most of the night so that I was still able to function by the end of it. Worked out quite well indeed..

You could probably get away with doing some more test batches (if need be) up until say October and start brewing for the day within those last 6 months. That's just IMO though..

 

[H0U5ECAT]

Brew more beer to taste? Oh OK. If you say so....

 

[Dan Pratt]

I would go 1 of two option for using kegs ( much fresher IMHO )

• make ther beer, keg and force carb it (taste beer) remove from the fridge (under pressure) and let them sit till 1-2weeks before wedding, chill and serve.
• make the beer, transfer to secondary container/s, cold crash until 3weeks before wedding then keg, force carb and keep cold till D day.

 

[manticle]

Tossing up taking the keezer along or doing all bottles.
Most likely if I go for taps will be a pale ale, steam ale, hopped up ipa and a blonde (yet unknown). Cider in flip top bottles and wine.

All better younger rather than older.

kegs will store better and be easier to transport and serve.

 

[TheWiggman]

If your guests are like most wedding guests then I don't think they'll critique your beer and challenge whether flavour profiles fit BJCP guidelines. If you're careful about oxidation and are a decent brewer, you could safely start brewing in the next month or 2.

As sponge said, plan beer types accordingly. Start with an RIS

 

[Florian]

The other option(and I know you didn't ask for it) is to leave the brewing to the pros and enjoy that big day without having to stress about potential off flavours, people who don't know how to use a beer tap, wrong carbonation levels or that regulator that took a bad hit during transport.

I know what my wife would prefer...

 

[sponge]

I know with our wedding, the staff are still required to serve the tap beers as part of their license - they'll just be serving them along with the other beers available as part of their package. They do all the pouring of beer and cleaning of glassware, I just need to bring the keezer, beers and gas.

My mrs was the one who suggested I look into supplying homebrew with the venue to start with after all of the package beers were either aussie or euro lagers and we couldn't choose anything else.. Pretty convenient having such a supportive mrs as much as she complains about my spending

 

[jacknohe]

Tossing up taking the keezer along or doing all bottles.
Most likely if I go for taps will be a pale ale, steam ale, hopped up ipa and a blonde (yet unknown). Cider in flip top bottles and wine.

I'll most likely be approving the styles in July. Just thinking about the right time to start brewing.

Take the keezer!!! I had a party with bottles once, nightmare...

Took my kegerator with four taps to my 40th which was at my local rugby club (no license or stupid package issues) and it went off. Drained 4.5 kegs!!!

 

[mb-squared]

If you are thinking of a pale ale or anything with a nice aromatic hop punch, then I think Stone Brewing has got it right: The fresher the better.

Check this out: http://enjoyby.stonebrewing.com/

 

[H0U5ECAT]

Oh, I'm quite comfortable in brewing.
Temp controlled fermenters, cool conditioning room, dedicated bottle washer/dishwasher....
Its just that I've never had to wait too long to taste the batch.

Kegs obviously would be the better of all options. Bottles, I don't mind either.
The keezer will fit well in with the theme too.
Re RSA etc, its a private venue, so licensing isn't an issue.

I know commercial beers usually can sit on a shelf for 8 months (average), that's why I'm asking about shelf life of home brew

 

[muddyriverbrewer]

Just thought I'd add something to the discussion. All the beer I brew is lucky to survive for more than a few months, aside from the odd stout, or specialty ale which have all been fine up to 6 months after bottling.

However on the weekend I went to a garage sale and the bloke there was clearing the shed out for a woman whose hubby had passed some years ago. There were some stout bottles there dated 2005, so I thought i'd grab them and see how they'd travelled. I have no idea what went into the brew, or how they were stored. But they were still very drinkable, a really mellow flavour. Held carbonation despite the caps being so rusty I could almost peel them off by hand.

When I started out I was told by a few old school homebrewers that beer generally continues to steadily improve with age up to around the 6month mark where it tapers off. The degredation of the beer begins around 12months with a gradual decline. Not sure how accurate this is. But after finding those bottles on the weekend I'm going to attempt to keep a few of my current stouts till next year at least and see how they go.

 

[manticle]

Probably not that accurate. All beers are different - alc level, colour, hop rates and mash and packaging processes will all impact. Staling/ageing/oxidation chemical pathways occur early on (mash) - some beers benefit, many don't.

 

[peas_and_corn]

You mature your beers for 3 months?

As already mentioned, it's all dependent on style. IMO wheat beers start going downhill after a couple of months and are best drank two weeks after brewday. Low alcohol beers and English style beers such as bitter also have low life spans. If you make something really hoppy then it would last longer, not just because of the antiseptic properties of hops but because hop flavour evolves over time. Same with higher gravity beers and beers with darker malts. Pale ales sit in the middle, and have a reasonable lifespan.

...so how's everything going with the brewing?