Bottled shelf life?

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Hi lads
I've read a lot here on how most brews improve with age but I need to ask if there's a limit to this, a 'Best Before' date after which beer turns a corner and starts to deteriorate?
I know the usual difficulty is actually keeping it in the bottles long enough to reach optimum condition :drink:, but my plan was to put a few bottles by from all my brews and then compare them all at a much later date when they'd all be comfortably have gotten a sgood as they ever will.
But that's not going to work if some/all might have gone past their best.
I've read about chaps finding a few overlooked bottles more than a year after they were put by, and the verdict on these usually seems to be'delicious', but maybe it depends on the beer?
Just to add interest, what's the oldest bottle you've ever drank? Was it ok?
As always grateful for any input.
 
General rule of thumb..the higher the ABV the better it will keep. We are not talking vintage vines or beers. A 10% Barley wine will taste better in 5 years time, but lets be honest......The lower the ABV..the quicker it should be drunk.
 
General rule of thumb..the higher the ABV the better it will keep. We are not talking vintage vines or beers. A 10% Barley wine will taste better in 5 years time, but lets be honest......The lower the ABV..the quicker it should be drunk.

+1

Darker malty beers keep longer than hoppy beers like IPA's as the hoppy flavours can fade
 
I'm only going by my own experience with shop bought beers but anything past it's sell by date tastes much worse than fresh beer.
 
Ok, so if we take, say, a 6% (ish) abv IPA as an example (no oxidation at bottling, good sanitation, stored in the dark..) could I expect at least a year before it deteriorates or is 6 - 7 months about the best I'm likely to get?
I realize no one has a crystal ball but just a 'best guess' wiould help, as tbh I don't even know how long commercial beers are supposed to last..
 
I can't speak for IPA beers with a heavy hop profile but I can say that malty beers, especially Belgian trappiste beers, do often hit their stride when they've been bottled for a while.

For a far more regular example I give you: Woodforde's Wherry.

I brewed a batch in May 2014 and, after 4 weeks, assumed it would be ready. I then moved house and didn't touch my beer (save to move it into the new shed) for ages. By October I was thirsty and opened up a WW to be blown away by a clear, malty, delicious ale that was unrecognisable from the swill I'd initially brewed.

My point it: the time left to condition is crucial. I wouldn't think an IPA would suffer unduly but possibly the hop profile could fade.
 
Ok, so if we take, say, a 6% (ish) abv IPA as an example (no oxidation at bottling, good sanitation, stored in the dark..) could I expect at least a year before it deteriorates or is 6 - 7 months about the best I'm likely to get?
I realize no one has a crystal ball but just a 'best guess' wiould help, as tbh I don't even know how long commercial beers are supposed to last..


Historically IPA is designed to last a long time as the beer had to travel for weeks or months on a ship to india (or other countries). The heavy hopping would have helped preserve it as well as a high ABV%. I don't know whether those original IPA were late and dry hopped as is common now but those more subtle flavours and aromas of late/dry hopping will be the first to fade the longer you leave it to condition
 
in my limited experience kits and beers circa 5% can start to thin out a little after 7months, due i think to the yeast slowly breaking down the complex sugar chains giving the body but thats conjecture not established fact. If my conjecture is correct then this could be offset by storrng the beer at a temp below that which the yeast fall dormant

darker heavier beers fair better with many porters and stouts improving with 12months plus in the bottle/keg, (kegged beer matures quicker something to do with the bigger volume).

at the end of the day tho its got a lot to do with personal taste, i tend to prefer beers after a good month or 2 in the keg or bottle.
 
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