Pasteurisation of bottled TC

[ebbadger]

Got a demijon of TC on the go (about a week) its still bubbling every couple of seconds so nowhere near ready to bottle but when it is.....

also got a 23ltr batch going last night so....

What is the general concencus about pasteurising as you can do with wine in order to make it longer lasting, or if not how long would a bottled TC or any beer for that matter be likely to keep after bottling, dont think it will last long enough to worry but if i get a fair few brews ready who knows....

ps Ive searched and only found posts on filtering the pasteurising which apparently strips the flavour due to filtering , I wasnt planning on the filtering stage....

Cheers Steve

[steve_flack]

DO you actually pasteurise homebrewed wine? Pasteurising is heating the wine to a certain temp for a certain period of time to kill most of the harmful bugs. If you mean filtering then that ain't pasteurising.

Anyway, it's TC and at the risk of being flamed, it's not exactly a quality brew and I doubt it's worth the effort of doing anything except bottling it normally.

[ebbadger]

DO you actually pasteurise homebrewed wine? Pasteurising is heating the wine to a certain temp for a certain period of time to kill most of the harmful bugs. If you mean filtering then that ain't pasteurising.

Anyway, it's TC and at the risk of being flamed, it's not exactly a quality brew and I doubt it's worth the effort of doing anything except bottling it normally.

Steve, yep (having pulled a few remnants of A level Chemistry and Biology from the last few remaining grey cells ) Im quite sure I mean pasteurisation as I put in the post I dont intend filtering due to the flavour stripping comments on here, but there is a lot of info on the net re pasteurisation of wine after bottling wondered if there was an obvious reason its not done with home brewed beers etc..... I realise the TC isnt exactly an award worthy brew which is why I added 'TC or any other beers'

Other than they never last long enough to warrant the process

Cheers Steve

[steve_flack]

wondered if there was an obvious reason its not done with home brewed beers etc.....

To much effort and it tends to damage the flavour are the probable reasons. Additionally having a very small amount of live yeast (not too much) is good for beer stability.

[ebbadger]

Cheers for the swift reply... guess that explains why its not done

Cheers Steve

[Aleman]

IIRC its only the ultra cheap crappy wines that get pasteurised! I've not got that good a palate but I'm pretty sure I can spot a wine that has been 'done'

I've got wines here that were bottled in the 80's and are still sound, in fact my elderberry is still improving, I compare it at the moment to a damn fine St Emillion premier cru . . .I can't see it improving much more however as there won't be any of it left after the Christmas season

With all beverages if you take care over the production you don't need to do anything special to them to make them last, be they beer, wine or cider!

[ebbadger]

Sounds very convincing so far, knew there would be some good reasons.....

So how long can I expect my kegged beers to last??? should I aim to drink within a month after 6-8 weeks of conditioning?? will they last longer in a keg??, would they last longer in bottles??

Its currently being stored in my garage at around 10 degrees, admirals has been in there 2 weeks, TC will probably be going in there in about a weeks time but wont last long as its only a demijon full....

Cheers Steve

[Curious Brew]

My TCs last hardly any time at all...

[Aleman]

So how long can I expect my kegged beers to last???

My Black Wheat was Brewed in March, and the Mild in April, Still very good. There is a report in Old British Beers and How To Make them of a brewer keeping a beer in Corny for 5 Years, with no measurable signs of problems.

Generally speaking though, bottle beers will tend to keep better than kegged, hence the reason for Thomas Hardy Ale etc to be in bottles. Lay them down and drink them in 20 years!

Obviously bigger beers keep better than session beers, but even session beers will keep, if stored correctly.