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Lifespan of Beer

Wildrover

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How long can say an average strength pale ale (of average bitterness, hop flavor and aroma) last on the keg before people would probably notice that the beer has past it's prime? 
 
Even talking about one specific style; there would be WAY too many variables and conditions that would nail down an "expiration date".
The other problem (like how many licks in a tootsie-pop) -- I can't see beer lasting long enough in my kegs to find out :D

Wheat beers are supposed to be drank early. Barleywines and heavy beers can last years. I'd guess and stab in the middle -- 6 months to a year if stored properly? just a guess.
 
I'm lucky if a keg lasts a month, sometimes a week in the summer!
 
Yeah, I'm normally the same way, kegs don't normally last too long.  I'm thinking (actually my waistline is telling me) that they should last longer than they do so I'm curious about cutting back and how much time a beer can reasonably be on tap before before people start to notice
 
With the large number of variables, including one not listed -- the average taster, I think the only reasonable answer to the OP's question is, "An average amount of time."
 
I brew lots of beer during the winter. I brew mostly lagers because I brew all ales in the summer. I have a bedroom that I keep about 48 or 50 F. This will keep the 6 or 8 kegs in suspended animation? So I drink lagers as well as ales most of the summer. As of yet they have not been "off"? in late summer. Hoppie beers do fade as time goes by but I drink them as soon as I can just because I love them so! I have never brewed "too much beer" My friends sacrifice there waistlines to help me out at times!
 
RandomSF said:
With the large number of variables, including one not listed -- the average taster, I think the only reasonable answer to the OP's question is, "An average amount of time."

This isn't a reasonable answer, it's a smart ass answer, thanks for your help, wait.........ahhhhhh no, thanks for wasting my time with your poor attempt at humor. 

I'm not looking for an exact freshness date, just a ballpark figure.  Obviously, there are lots of things that can influence the aging of a beer.  I'm not naive to that, temp, handling, oxygenation, the type of beer, hopping, alcohol etc. etc. etc.  I get that but I don't believe for a second that the distribution of these variables is so wide that we can't come up with a ballpark figure when care is taken to account for these variables in the manner typically prescribed.  That is to say, if someone typically takes the time to make sure their beers are stored out of the light in a cool dry place and took great care to keep the amount of oxygen being introduced into the beer to a minimum, approximately how long can one reasonably expect it to last before the beer will pass it's prime and start tasting stale or old or simply not as good as it used to. 

I know there are some experienced home brewers who can offer a reasonable though not exact approximation of this amount of time for the type of beer mentioned in the original post. 
 
BobBrews said:
I brew lots of beer during the winter. I brew mostly lagers because I brew all ales in the summer. I have a bedroom that I keep about 48 or 50 F. This will keep the 6 or 8 kegs in suspended animation? So I drink lagers as well as ales most of the summer. As of yet they have not been "off"? in late summer. Hoppie beers do fade as time goes by but I drink them as soon as I can just because I love them so! I have never brewed "too much beer" My friends sacrifice there waistlines to help me out at times!

Bob,

thanks for the thoughtful and helpful reply
 
Ya know, while trying to find this answer (a good question) for beer lifespan I discovered something interesting.  Off topic, but interesting. Big commercial breweries will put an expiration date in some beers that has nothing to do with freshness. It's all marketing. Gotta move that product.  "make them think it's spoiled and they buy more" Then I found several articles on how rampant and blatant this practice is in the food industry in general. It's almost criminal.

Sorry Wildrover. I thought for sure I had seen a chart by Palmer or Papazian or etc. but I couldn't find it. But ya gave me some brain activity that should help me keep breathing for now. I'll keep looking
 
Ziggy,

Thanks for looking into it.  That info regarding the freshness dating is interesting.  I wonder if all that Sam Adams that gets dumped is really all that off? 

Let me know if you find anything

WR
 
No, I don't have any scientific answers for you, but... I find that taste will determine when a beer is bad.  I made a Spruce Ale which wasn't my "favorite" so I will have a mug of it once a month or so.  I brewed it in May.  Recently I tried it and it is way different and much better tasting.

It seems to me that there is a rule of thumb that states that lower gravity beers should be consumed sooner, and ales in particular.  Higher gravity beers can age (in a cool place) up to several years.

So drink the lower gravity ales as fast as you can and tell your significant other(s) that it is in the interest of preserving the flavor.

What's the saying? Relax, have a homebrew!

(Or if you're really worried about it going bad, invite BobBrews & me over!)
 
Beer_Tigger,
                Well spoken (err typed)! I concur on everything you said. I think a lot of beer will spoil soon so let's get at it!
 
   I had to take out two kegs (1/4 left in each keg) from my Temp controlled chest freezer, to ferment a doppelbock.
One of the kegs, a Belgian Pale ale the other was an IPA. Both were left out at room temp for about two weeks.
Besides them being warm, I didn't notice any off flavor starting to appear, nor any drop off in hops.
stevemwazup
 
stevemwazup said:
   I had to take out two kegs (1/4 left in each keg) from my Temp controlled chest freezer, to ferment a doppelbock.
One of the kegs, a Belgian Pale ale the other was an IPA. Both were left out at room temp for about two weeks.
Besides them being warm, I didn't notice any off flavor starting to appear, nor any drop off in hops.
stevemwazup

how old were those beers? 
 
    They were both between three weeks to a month old. I have my Temp Controlled chest freezer set between 33 and 34 degres, which I think helps preserve the beer.
But I also was curious to see how the beer would hold up being keep at room temp.
Like I said, two weeks seemed to be ok,
 
Those are both young beers, they'll be fine.  Besides, 1/4  keg can't last long if you keep drinking out of them.
 
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