Beer Storage

6 months is the rule of thumb i've heard/read, though like you, my batches rarely last that long. depends on the type of brew, i'd think, and isn't hard and fast. i've had a scottish ale still be drinkable after a year's storage in cool temps. i've seen others report longer times than that.

best way to find out if your beer is still "good" after protracted storage? open 'er up and give it a go!

cheers,

bob p

I sometimes have more than I can drink in 3 months. I have not noticed any difference in periods of 6 months or sometimes more. I keep it in a basement room where it stays fairly cool. If it is going "bad", I can't tell it. I bottle mine, but presumably kegged beer would be similar. Maybe longer since the keg will likely be in a dedicated fridge.

I asked this question last night at the meeting of a local homebrew club. Most people agreed that it varied a lot with the beer style. High gravity beers can last for years, like many red wines. We sampled some 5 year old very high gravity beer and it was excellent. All hint of hops had long since gone though. Lighter beers have shorter shelf lives but all the "old timers" at the meeting agreed that up to a year, an ale stored in a relatively cool place will probably be fine. They did say that it was pretty variable though. I'd say drink light ales as soon as you can but up to a year you are probably fine.

I just had some dark wheat I bottled about 18 months ago and it was very smooooth. It's kept in the basement at 50 degrees and out of sunlight. It hasn't been uncommon for my beers to last this long so maybe the conditions it's stored in as I have a mix of ales & wheats. GL and bottoms up :)