How long will beer stay drinkable in the bottle?

Assuming it's kept fairly cool and out of the light--does anyone know how long beer will remain fresh? I've started saving a six pack of the Anchor Steam Christmas Ales the past couple of years for drinking side-by-side at a later date with friends, but if these beers are getting weird in the bottle after a time, there's no point.

Is there a general guideline for this?

Thanks for any input--

Reply to
disavowed
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It really depends on the beer. In general, the higher-alcohol beers will keep better and longer than average-strength beers. As long as you keep the temp cool and consistent and the bottles out of the light, average beers should be good for at least six months. Stronger beers are often designed to be laid down for years, and will be just fine. Note that no matter how well you care for beer, it's going to change over time. Hop components lose their volatility, and there's always a bit of oxidation. And for bottle-conditioned beers, the yeast continues to slowly work at the beer, changing its character slowly over time.

By the way, Anchor is a brewery, and Anchor Steam is one of the beers they brew. Anchor also brews a beer called Our Special Ale, which they sell at Christmas.

There's no harm in giving them a try every year. And it is the sort of beer that lends itself to those sorts of vertical tastings. If they've obviously gone bad, ditch them.

-Steve

Reply to
Steve Jackson

Having done this myself, I must add that Anchor OSA is NOT one of these stronger beers designed to be aged--I believe it clocks in at around 5.5-6%, if that. They won't necessarily "go bad", but their flavors, particularly the spices, will lessen over time. They're better enjoyed fresh, and I certainly don't hesitate to lay down bottles from batches to do annual tastings. But do NOT expect them to "age" and get better a la the famed Thomas Hardy's, George Gales Prize Old Ale, or J.W. Lees Harvest Ales.

Reply to
Alexander D. Mitchell IV

It mainly depends on whether the beers are bottle conditioned (that is, contain live yeast) or pasteurised. Pasteurised beer will steadily deteriorate in flavour even if stored well, and should probably be drunk within a year of purchase (or observe the 'best before' date, if there is one). When these beers get older they taste worse, but may still be perfectly drinkable. They won't do you any harm in any case.

OTOH, BC beers will continue to mature in the bottle. This isn't a steady process - sometimes they'll get worse for a time and then get better. A really old BC beer (say 10 years old) will probably taste completely different than it would have done when fresh, but some develop amazing complex flavours as they age.

HTH, Paul

-- Paul Sherwin Consulting

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Reply to
Paul Sherwin

I'm not going to bother with any general guidelines, but I'll give you some data which is probably more useful: last year I had a 5 year old bottle (1998) of "Anchor Brewing's Our Special Ale" and it was really nice.

Reply to
Expletive Deleted

Thanks to all of you who offered feedback, as well as correcting my naming error of the brewery/beer. Honestly, though, I don't see the name "Our Special Ale" anywhere in the description on Anchor's website, but I probably just missed it somewhere.

Thanks again, and I'll just have to decide if I want to save them for later with a possible flavor change, or enjoy them now.

Reply to
disavowed

Oh, Sandy, I'd disagree. Older OSAs develop a wonderful creamy character that I highly prize. I've been drinking off some 1994 for a few years, and it has yet to head downhill.

-- Lew Bryson

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Author of "New York Breweries" and "Pennsylvania Breweries," 2nd ed., both available at The Hotmail address on this post is for newsgroups only: I don't check it, or respond to it. Spam away.

Reply to
Lew Bryson

Well, I'll be damned. Anchor seems to be creating some confusion themselves. All over the site, they use "Christmas Ale."

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And yet, if you look at the label, the words "Christams Ale" aren't anywhere on there (well, at least not adjacent to each other). Yet if you look at every label from 1977 on (the 1975 and 76 ones are too small for me to read to see if they're listed there; some other years are pretty small, too), "Our Special Ale" is.

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So, hell, I don't know what the damn thing's called anymore.

-Steve

Reply to
Steve Jackson

No, you didn't miss it. They seem to call their holiday beer "Christmas Ale." The name "Our Special Ale" is on the label.

Reply to
Joel

I don't think referring to Anchor's OSA generically as Anchor's Christmas beer is causing any major confusion. Don't be such a beer geek.

Reply to
Arptro

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