22 month old brew, is it ok to drink.
22 month old brew, is it ok to drink.
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.
Jim wrote:Hey nice! If it tastes good, it is good.![]()
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.
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
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. 

- oxford brewer
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GKIPA.....as calsblergh would say....probably the worst IPA in the worldguest5234 wrote:Jim wrote:Hey nice! If it tastes good, it is good.![]()
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.
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

No disrespect to your beer guest5234....not a style i would like to clone

Try a Deuchars IPA instead

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

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.
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.
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
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.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

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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.Where does everyone get their bottles from?
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!
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
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
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)
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)