How long does homebrew last??

[gaztop]

Brewers,

I bet this hasn't been asked to many times on this forum, but............
how long will my homebrew last in PET bottles? (cue the jokes)

I'm planning a brewday every 2 weeks, and would like to compare the tastes of the different finished brews in one lenghty drinking session at the end of the summer. Potentially I could end up with 12 different bottled beers to taste.

Does homebrew have a shelf life if stored correctly?

[OldSpeckledBadger]

It's partly dependent on the gravity (strength) of the beer (stronger beers will keep longer) and partly on the container. PET bottles are slightly porous to oxygen which will eventually result in off flavours. I've not seen any agreement about how quickly this happens but I'm hoping that PETs will be OK for a couple of months because I've got some summer ale in them . Bottles and kegs will keep the beer longer.

[sparky Paul]

3 months in PET bottles is no problem whatsoever, and I've kept bottles for 6+ months without any detrimental effects. The only thing you have to remember is that you must keep the bottles out of the light, and preferably somewhere cool.

[pauljmuk]

depends how quick you neck it...

[FlourPower]

Hmm

One of the best pints of homebrew I had was a brew I like to call Liebfrautit. It was about 10 months old at time of drinking. Kept in a 1.5l Coke bottle. When I moved house after 4 months it sat in our (admittedly North Facing) kitchen which went from ice on the insides of the windows to veritable oven every day.

Then again I've had Stouts that taste best at 3 months and go fast downhill at 6 months!

[vacant]

I guess I reuse PET bottles about three times.

Most PET bottles I've used have a faint date printed a few inches down from the top so I chuck out my oldest PET bottles as I get new ones. I don't use anything stamped older than a year.

Sometimes when you stand a new one next to an old one, the old one has a noticeable brown tinge, any like that get chucked as well.

Having said that, I've never noticed any drop in quality when I keep back a few bottles (9 months).

[nick_sub]

Hi. I recwntly brewed my 2nd homebrew (Woodeford's Wherry), this time in PET bottles. Does anyone know how long the beer will last after the bottle is opened (assuming I squeeze all of the air out)? I'm dying to try it but I don't want to have to drink the lot in the next couplw of days.

[adchesney]

How long would beer last in a Keg?

Would it be longer than in PET?

Many thanks folks...I love this forum

ADC

[nick_sub]

How long would beer last in a Keg?

Would it be longer than in PET?

Many thanks folks...I love this forum

ADC

Well I did my last one in a keg and it lasted about 3-4 weeks. By the 4th week it was giving me a bad stomach after every pint but I kept going
I've heard that, unopened, it can last beyond 9 months in PET bottles. I still don't know how long it lasts in PET once opened though. Anyone?

[adchesney]

Dear Nick,

Surely it must last longer than 4 weeks in a keg!

I have just ordered 3 kegs - I was hoping that 3 - 6 months was expected. If not I will need to re-evaluate how I'm going brew.

ADC

[nick_sub]

Sorry I forgot to say that is once opened. I'm afriad I don't know how long it will last unopened but I would gues it would be at least as long as in the PET bottles.