Tinned Plum Newbie Second Attempt

[Lord Aramid]

I posted a few weeks ago with my first solo batch, a coopers european lager kit to which i added a tin of dark plums for curiosity and other reasons, you were all really helpful with suggestions as to what to do, as it smelled ghastly in a rancid, cidery way.. I ended up tipping it down the laundry sink and immediately made another batch, minus plums.

I wanted to let you know I've been taste testing the second/third batch of homebrew, and the Plum beer must have been infected for sure - I was extremely careful with batches #2 and #3, paranoid even, and used iodine and sodium metabisulphate.
I was rewarded with a lovely fragrant sweet beer smell the next time it came to bottling, and although I was pissed off that i wasted a whole batch of beer, it was a good lesson to learn so early! Can't be too clean!!

So my second batch which I'm documenting right now is a Coopers Pale Ale kit, to which i added a lot of Hallertau hops during a short boil, and I put in some honey and maple syrup and crushed pepper, and star anise and dry hopped with Fuggles, it came out at 6.5%, and has been in the bottles for almost two weeks now.

Oh my its really nice!! I have to keep tasting it to make sure I'm not imagining the flavours!! It smells divine, kind of sweet and fruity, but it tastes a bit like little creatures pale ale, and has a nice bitter aftertaste.
So thank you guys very much for being supportive and realistic, proper beer doesn't have any funky smells!

I'm completely hooked now! The only trouble is I don't really drink that much, only a few on the weekend, I fear my garage is going to end up completely full of beer boxes, and scandalize my Better Half...


With that in mind, how long can you keep beer for, is it true that age only improves beer?? Because i've heard that homebrew can go off if left too long??

 

[felten]

Beer can last for years if its properly stored. Stored beer will last longer at cooler temps, if you have a cellar or somewhere that averages <10c that helps. Some beer styles are best enjoyed fresh and some are best after some time maturing.
As a generalisation, lightly hopped beers and low alc beers tend to be better fresh because the hop aroma/flavour is the first thing that dissipates; where as something very bitter and high in alc, or with a lot of roasted character is better after its mellowed out somewhat.

You can check out some of the different BJCP styles here http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/catdex.php I have the printed handbook version and salivate while reading it every so often :icon_drool2:

 

[thanme]

Very interested to hear more about your 2nd batch. It sounds really interesting

Also, if you ever get over run with beer and need some help clearing space, give us a call