22 month old brew, is it ok to drink.

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guest5234

22 month old brew, is it ok to drink.

Post by guest5234 » Sun Dec 03, 2006 8:45 pm

I made a coopers pale ale with 2kg sugar as per instructions, (I Dont use sugar in my brews anymore) this was made 22 months it tasted not very good after a a month in bottle.I tried a bottle every few weeks and did not like the taste so left a dozen bottles at the back of my store shed and gave up on it, well!!!! I opened a bottle today and it was superb, tight bubbles and a head that lasted till the last drop, just hope it is ok after 22 months as I am going down the shed right now.

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Jim
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Post by Jim » Sun Dec 03, 2006 8:47 pm

Hey nice! If it tastes good, it is good. :P

Strong, hoppy beers are supposed to keep best. Barley wines can kept for 10 years or more.

I've never had the will power to leave anything that long, however. :wink:
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guest5234

Post by guest5234 » Sun Dec 03, 2006 8:52 pm

Jim wrote:Hey nice! If it tastes good, it is good. :P

Strong, hoppy beers are supposed to keep best. Barley wines can kept for 10 years or more.

I've never had the will power to leave anything that long, however. :wink:


Second bottle is keeping me company right now, I cannot believe the improvement over 20 months of storage, how can it go from a not very nice beer to one of the best i have ever made, it tastes like my locals Green King IPA

steve_flack

Post by steve_flack » Sun Dec 03, 2006 9:17 pm

I hope you local keeps it's GK IPA better than the pubs round here do...
8)

ColinKeb

Post by ColinKeb » Sun Dec 03, 2006 9:38 pm

i remember when my dad used to make guiness, he used those huge glass rwhites lemonade bottles to keep it in. me and my mate found a stack of them that he had forgotten in his shed ,they must have been there for a couple of years at least. it was soo nice , mind you we were teenagers then so any alcohol tasted nice. :lol:

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oxford brewer
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Post by oxford brewer » Mon Dec 04, 2006 12:09 am

guest5234 wrote:
Jim wrote:Hey nice! If it tastes good, it is good. :P

Strong, hoppy beers are supposed to keep best. Barley wines can kept for 10 years or more.

I've never had the will power to leave anything that long, however. :wink:


Second bottle is keeping me company right now, I cannot believe the improvement over 20 months of storage, how can it go from a not very nice beer to one of the best i have ever made, it tastes like my locals Green King IPA
GKIPA.....as calsblergh would say....probably the worst IPA in the world :lol:
No disrespect to your beer guest5234....not a style i would like to clone :twisted:
Try a Deuchars IPA instead 8)

steve_flack

Post by steve_flack » Mon Dec 04, 2006 9:55 am

I have had some extremely nice pints of GK IPA (no, really) but they've been vastly outnumbered by the number of mediocre ones I've had. A shame really as Greene King IPA is sold in an awful lot of pubs - both ones they own and ones they don't.

Greene King's mild is a very nice pint though...if you can find it. :roll:

mysterio

Post by mysterio » Mon Dec 04, 2006 12:11 pm

Greene King IPA can actually be amazing if it's kept well. Although there's only ever been one pub where this has been the case, usually it's swill.

Good to hear your brew lasted that long, that's probably because it's been secondary fermented in the bottle. Commercial mass produced beers need preservatives to last that long.

Talheedin

Post by Talheedin » Tue Dec 05, 2006 5:01 pm

Having only just started brewing my first kit I'm worried about making this lot last until the second one's ready to drink. Hopefully I'll get there one day.

Where does everyone get their bottles from? After prefering bottles over cans for a long time I now regret all the recycling I've done. Does anyone know if a local pub will part with their empties?

Talheedin

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Post by Jim » Tue Dec 05, 2006 5:10 pm

Talheedin wrote:Having only just started brewing my first kit I'm worried about making this lot last until the second one's ready to drink. Hopefully I'll get there one day.

Where does everyone get their bottles from? After prefering bottles over cans for a long time I now regret all the recycling I've done. Does anyone know if a local pub will part with their empties?

Talheedin
The usual procedure is to buy bottled beer then drink the contents to produce the required empties. :wink:
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Vossy1

Post by Vossy1 » Tue Dec 05, 2006 6:57 pm

Where does everyone get their bottles from?
If your stuck you can buy them for about 50p each from a HB shop :wink:

Jim's right though, easier and cheaper to use empties 8)

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Post by Horden Hillbilly » Tue Dec 05, 2006 10:08 pm

Where does everyone get their bottles from?
You could also try the local off licences, I scoured most of the local ones a few years ago & managed to persuade some of them to let me have them and the crates for storage if I gave them the deposit money. At the time bottled Double Maxim was still popular around here and the bottles were a full pint size, 550 ml as opposed to 500 ml as most of the bottled beere are today, dark brown glass, which is better than clear glass unless you can store them in the dark.

Another option is to ask friends, workmates, relations etc to save them for you, if you offer them some home made samples in return of the favour I am sure that you will soon have a good collection of bottles!

Talheedin

Post by Talheedin » Wed Dec 06, 2006 10:05 am

Thanks for that.

I am attempting to produce my own empties but as this brewing thing seemed to sneak up on me rather quickly I'm having to get 40 or so bottles in two weeks; quite a bit more than I'd normally drink. I have been asking friends but no bottles have been forthcoming as yet.

Also, once I start getting a regular supply of beer from my efforts I hope to be able to stop buying beer and as the bottles I have at the minute will not last forever I will have to replace them at some point.

I just wanted to know what people had tried.

Thanks

Talheedin

PieOPah

Post by PieOPah » Wed Dec 06, 2006 1:41 pm

You want to be careful about what type of bottles you use as well. If you are using bottles that once contained lager then these will probably be too weak for homebrew.

The ONLY bottles I keep are any that have stored real ale (or grolsch swingtop bottles). You need a nice heavy bottle so that it can withstand the pressure of carbonation.

I must admit I did buy my first lot of bottles (72 of them) but am slowly adding to that collection (drives the wife nuts)

mysterio

Post by mysterio » Wed Dec 06, 2006 2:20 pm

I used to use the litre San Miguel bottles you get. They screw closed so no need to buy caps. They are pretty thin though and I wouldn't bet on them lasting long.

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