Best Before / Expiry Date?

[Willy Weizenbier]

Hi,

Curious to know what sort of expiry date can be expected? I understand some beers will go bad faster than other styles, but would like to get a ballpark on how long a beer will hold a) in bottles, and b) in a 10L keg - before it goes bad?

Cheers!

[Rob Courtney]

9 hours ago, Willy Weizenbier said:

Hi,

Curious to know what sort of expiry date can be expected? I understand some beers will go bad faster than other styles, but would like to get a ballpark on how long a beer will hold a) in bottles, and b) in a 10L keg - before it goes bad?

Cheers!

Kind of one year but ales and stouts can last longer.

I have some vintage ales that are 2 and a half years old, another six months and I reckon I'll open a longneck

Not sure on kegs though, others will answer that

 

[Steve Gyldenvand]

12 hours ago, Willy Weizenbier said:

Hi,

Curious to know what sort of expiry date can be expected? I understand some beers will go bad faster than other styles, but would like to get a ballpark on how long a beer will hold a) in bottles, and b) in a 10L keg - before it goes bad?

Cheers!

Like Rob, I couldn't advise on the kegs. I've been brewing about a year and a half so far and have yet to have a beer "go bad" due to age. Generally, my brews don't last more than a few months just because they are so darn good, and between my bride, my friends, and myself, we have a lot of glasses to fill. I do have about a dozen bottles of Belgian Strong cellared from a batch I brewed about 9 months ago, and the last time I cracked one open - maybe 2 weeks ago - it was doing just fine. Overall, I believe higher ABV beers don't mind long-term storage; say anything over 7-8%. The one thing I definitely would advise against, is long-term cellaring in growlers. Those screw-on caps just don't hold carbonation well. I had a very disappointing experience with a growler of my dear Belgian Strong that had waited almost a year, only to pour as flat as water. 

Slainte!

[Gillies Brewing]

When C3D was posting he claimed to have some very very old bottles of stout. I can't speak for kegs, but in bottles, the bottle will generally be the fault before the beer inside it, letting out CO2 and letting in Oxygen. Most people here have found by 6 months in PET things get pretty flat and oxidised.

[Mike A]

I can only speak to 7-8 months in kegs (so far). They keep very well, easy to purge/control for oxygen and even possibto add to them, transfer between kegs if you’re careful and practice good technique.  I just transferred an Old Saxon from my larger keg to a smaller serving keg that i can transport around in a esky setup i built. Larger keg is 10L so good for a batch from the droid, serving is 5L. Had a little taste during the transfer, still great and is a good aging vessel.  Used co2 for the transfer, forgot to purge the o2 from the serving keg before I started the transfer, should be ok though as i purged immediately after.

in a lot of ways kegs are easier to fix issues after, less so with bottles.  
you are taking on more work for maintenance such as usig PBW on them, checking the valves, replacing the o-rings, etc but it hasn’t been time consuming, usually just clean in place,

Second issue is you need a lot of gear, taps, transfer lines, co2 bottles, regulators, fittings, foodsafe grease, you name it.

i do kinda like having a portable brew & tap kit to bring to parties and events though.