So I know that you should only buy and drink beers within a certain amount of time after they've been bottled. So my question is how long after bottling will a beer(by type) be good for? I know stouts tend to age well and I've heard about 3 months for IPA's but other than that I couldn't really say.
The two principle enemies of beer are oxygen (i.e., oxidation) and temperature (heat). How long a given brand of beer will stay fresh (i.e., before staling yields an unenjoyable beer) is strongly dependent on the level of TPO (Total Packaged Oxygen) when the beer was packaged and the temperature in which the beer is continually stored. For example a beer brand with a low TPO value and it is continually stored cold (e.g., 40 degrees F) will hold up for a longer period of time. You made mention of "I know stouts tend to age well" and it is true that darker beers like Stouts and Porters tend to last longer since dark malts (e.g., Black Paten Malt, Chocolate Malr,...) have antioxidant properties and consequently slow down the oxidation processes (i.e., staling processes). "I've heard about 3 months for IPA's.." One of the effects of oxidation for hoppy beers like IPAs is hop fade. After a relatively short period of time (e.g., 2-3 months) the hop aroma/flavor will fade. Cheers!
I think @JackHorzempa gave a very good response. Note that he is mentioning things that are not dependent on beer style/type - packaged oxygen (which will vary from brewer to brewer), and storage conditions (which will vary from establishment to establishment). The one thing that I'll add is that a list like you are asking for might be good for general advice, but I'm of the opinion that one shouldn't treat advice like blanket rules.
One thing I do more now is buy what I plan to drink immediately and then I have no old stock around. I do buy items to age but they are high ABV and I know they should hold up. But as far as the rest I snag my allotted amount and then buy more when done. This way I always have mostly new stuff on hand. I admit I have some floaters in the fridge from 12 packs or such but I try to drink what I buy to keep it good, plus that gives me reason to head back out to the store LOL (My wife hates it)
It varies by style, brewer, batch, storage conditions, etc as noted by others. I tend to favor stouts, quads, scotch ales, and porters. Lucky for me that they tend to last longer, because I tend to buy faster than I drink, and I tend to favor new beers over cellared when deciding what to drink. I've found some stouts not only hold up well, they improve; Abyss, Prairie Pirate Bomb and Pirate Noir, Central Waters BA Stout. Others seem to fade; BA Fidy and 2015 KBS. And some take on unplanned tastes; a one year old FBS coffee stout tasted like green peppers, which can happen with coffee beers. I really need to start drinking away my cellar, which is heavy with high-ABV BA stouts.
Certinly most beers are brewed to be consumed fresh. Some styles do age better than others, darker malt driven beers for instance, sours etc. many lagers and Pils are good at 4-5 months if stored properly. Highly hopped beers seem to be the trouble maker, certain hops fade faster than others, beers that are heavily dry hopped can be a problem. So to the Brewer bottling procedures count, some are much better at little oxygen at bottling, and keep them cool and dark. To the distributior keep them cool and dark, don't over buy. Same applies to the retailer, check dates, don't buy more than you can reasonably sell, keep them dark and cool. Cans are better than bottles. I'd think most high hopped beers are better at 10 days than 30, better at 30 than 60. I don't think many beers I've had excluding Heady are all that great over 3 months, I think HT is an anomaly.
These are my timeframes for the beers I drink the most, with my personal preferences in parentheses (I tend to want all beers as fresh as possible, even those that hold up well with time - but that's just me)... IPAs: 3 months (2 months; less than 1 month is ideal) --> includes many pale ales, pilseners, etc. - lighter/hoppier beers in general DIPAs: 6 months (3 months; less than 2 months is ideal) --> includes higher ales or beers where hops may be more subdued Imperial stouts and barleywines: years, really (6 months; less than 3 months is ideal - BUT - I totally appreciate scoring aged versions of these beers, though I'm still inclined to want a fresh experience first) --> includes many barrel-aged products Cheers, man...
In a perfect world I would be able to buy beer like I can buy bread which is to say as soon as it's packaged for sale.
I think people go a bit overboard with the freshness thing. Ipas are still good for 6 months in my opinion. Stouts can easily be still good after a year.
