Beer freshness depending on style

So thanks to this incredible site I am now looking at date codes when I purchase a beer, though I readily admit I have a hard time deciphering some of them and would welcome any input. My question is what is the average shelf life for a beer before it starts to decline?

 

Depends on the style. For most moderate gravity beers you want it as fresh as possible. Increased ABV can take some age. Some of my favorite beers have been aged Thomas Hardy's Ales. But in general for a moderate ABV beer I'm looking at 3 months or less from bottling date. Some brewers like SN I trust more and will go out on a limb on a 4 or 5 month old batch.

 

Depends on the style of beer and how it's made. Some producers take extra care with removing sediment without actually filtering the daylights out of it and bottle with a minimum (or none) amount of oxygen, all of which improves shelf life. Some produce exceptional unfiltered beers with high hop levels that tend to go South quickly.

As for reading codes our local reps have an app on their phone that does that for them. Don't know where they got it but shouldn't be hard to find.

 

What do you mean by a moderate gravity beer?

 

For me that's ABV of 5.5% or less, generally speaking.

 

Oh ok. So basically the gravity of a beer is its ABV. Forgive the newbie questions. Just very eager to learn.

 

How does the title of this thread relate to the question?

To answer your question, make it a rule of thumb to drink most of your beers as fresh as possible. This is most crucial for hoppy beers, beers with flavor additives/adjuncts like fresh fruit, coffee, flowers etc., and beers on the lower side of the abv spectrum. Personally, I really try to buy my beer within a month of when it was packaged, and unless it's a style with a very good shelf life, don't really consider it after 2 months in the bottle/can.

 

agreed, unless I find some 2014 Dragons Milk or Devil Dancer. Then I gobble that up!

 

Sorry, I'm a homebrewer so I get lost in vocabulary sometimes. Yes, the main issue is ABV. The higher the ABV the longer it may appreciate with age, the lower the ABV it will depreciate with age.

 

Boom. Most bottles that are good to age will be your big stouts, barleywines, barrel aged stuff, belgians (except saisons, petites, some blonds), some sours, etc. If a bottle says "reconditioned" or the likes on it, generally those are good to age as well. Good luck, enjoy, and most of all...don't stress! It is just beer after all! Cheers!

 

generally speaking, FOR ME, it totally depends on beer style

IPAs/doubleIPAs/PaleAles - within 45 days of bottling/canning, preferably within 30 days
RIS/double stout/Barleywine - any age, i prefer them fresh so i can enjoy some fresh and age some. i note the age but am ok with an old one
Pilsner/Hefe/Kolsch - i'm ok with up to 3 months but prefer it fresher than that
Barrel Age - doesn't matter at all. again, i like to have some fresh and age some

IMO a fresh IPA (within 21 days, or under 14 days) is something i can really enjoy. an old IPA just doesn't taste like it does while fresh. Barleywines are my favorite style to enjoy fresh vs aged. they really change with time, can be hoppy and huge then change to mellow and smooth.

 

You will find out on here that any hippy beer older than an hour is old.. the hops are gone and it is just a Dr appt malt bomb.

 

Yeah, except 2015 BCBS and variants....

 

To expand things a bit further bottle conditioned brews of say, 5.5 to 6% should last a bit longer because the ongoing activity of the live yeast also eats up residual oxygen in the bottle which puts off staling.

 

had the chance to grab a 4 pack of 2014 Dragon's Milk earlier this week& fell madly in love with it. I understand the source of your zeal,sir.

 

I hope it's just the variants. I squirreled away a couple bottles of regular BCBS.

 

Per postings on several threads and quoted exchanges with GI, it includes BCBS - particularly certain dates. At first they seemed limited to Florida, but subsequent reports show much wider distribution. Many folks - such as myself - drank through their stock a few weeks back. Mine were not infected.

 

Unless its a barley wine or some other age friendly style, a good rule of thumb is your beer should be <6 months old. After that, oxidation is likely to have begun noticeably staling your beer. Hop forward beers should be consumed earlier than that, because the time frame for hop fade is shorter than the actual life of the brew.

If the beer is stored cold, it can stay good for much longer. The rule of thumb there is that for every 10 degree increase in storage temp, the shelf life of the beer reduces by 3x and similarly a 10 degree decrease lengthens the shelf life by 3x.

 

What of bottle conditioned Belgian styles such as saisons, quads, etc with yeast sediment?Should that be factored in or does it even matter? It seems to be a grey area in my experiences thus far...

 

For me it doesn't matter but I'm not rigid about that.