How long does beer bought from a micro-brewery keep?

I think it lasts about as long as any beer. A week or so certainly shouldn’t be a problem.

Keeping the beer under refrigeration, should eliminate your problem. it might be a little flat, so excpect this. the alcohol content should remain the same. my mother has a bottle of Old Forrester in her fridge, thats been there since the 70s, its as good as ever today.

@Snarp-Someone had said 2 days,but I think they were hammered.It seems it would keep longer than that.
@john65pennington -We just gave a bottle to a friend that’s been around for 2 years.I hope he lives!lol!

I would try to drink beer when it is fresh, but I would expect any beer to keep a month for sure, no matter how it was brewed assuming it was properly bottled. After that you’re taking your chances, but mostly just on taste. Keep it from light though, light is bad for beer (that’s why most bottles are brown).

The airtight bottle will keep it good for long time, months, maybe even a year, even if its not refrigrated. In fact i think microbrews will last longer than domestics.

@lucillelucillelucille So the consensus is that your “someone” was wrong. Unless the microbrewery just has very poor quality control or stores the bottled beer for too long before selling it. Both unlikely.

I should’ve specified that it’s not bottled with the standard meatal crimped top.It just has a screw on top like a bottle of bleach ;)

@lucillelucillelucille Like a plasic bottle? is it airtight?

@snarp-Believe me,I do want to try it as soon a s possible!lol!Yummy wheat beer :))

@Ruallreb8ters -No,it’s a glass jug with a screw on top.I’d like to pick it up tonight and not have it taste funny by Friday.

I don’t know about screw top bottles and beer. But what brewery that wanted to stay in business would sell beer that won’t keep 2 days?

Meh, wheat beer? Don’t they have an ale, or a porter or stout?

@lucillelucillelucille Wait, I just thought of a beer with a glass bottle with a screw top. I bought it once, but I drank it that night. I expect it had been in the cooler at the store longer than two days though.

@snarp-they do have all those beers.I just like wheat .I like ales too.
At this brewery,they tap it right there for you and I think my drunk friend then told me all that useless info about it keeping for only 2 days….hmmmm…perhaps he wanted me to share?

Personal it only last for a couple days at my house!

Growlers ( what you are talking about I believe ) realistically on are good for 5 days, the brewers for most micro brews do NOT pasteurize the beer. The growlers are filled at the tap will be be flat by Friday. They can go bad and rancid after a week.

@Tropical_Willie I’ve had a beer that was not a growler that was a glass bottle with a screw top. It was a metal top like old screw top soda bottles, with the little tabs around the bottom edge. But if it is in fact a growler, your advice sounds good.

@Tropical_Willie -YES! Growlers….couldn’t remember the name.lol!I will get it the day before I go then :)They don’t last long here either!

@lucillelucillelucille

Get more than one, Saturday too.

Well, that’s settled. Nothing like a good question about beer on a Monday.

@Tropical_Willie-You are right!I hope they have a good batch this time.Usually it’s very tasty,but you never know:)

@Snarp -That’s what my dear Grandmother used to say!;)

@Tropical_Willie I think that sums it up… 5 days, any longer and theres no way a growler will taste good.

@lucillelucillelucille ,

Where are you located? Country or state is enough.

Michigan

@lucillelucillelucille

Never had a micro-brew from Michigan.
Enjoy and support your local brewer…. I do.

@Tropical_Willie -I do :)
My favorite is a brewery in North Carolina-Weeping Radish.Yum1I even like their dark beer

@lucillelucillelucille

You hit it at least one of them, I’m in NC. Weeping Radish has moved since I first started visiting them. They’re closer to the Virginia border. Saturday drive or Sunday.

Great food still.

My favorite Brewery is Anderson Valley BC. There in norther California. Though I just recently had the best beer ever, it was brewed by a company out of Belgium called Huyghe, the beer was called Delirium: tremens. It was by far the best beer Ive ever had, better than any Shamay or…anything. Well worth the price.

@Tropical_Willie -Yep.I’ve been to that one last summer.The one on Manteo is gone.I’d always get a reuben sandwich and a beer when I’d go.

@Ruallreb8ters -Sounds nice :))

@lucillelucillelucille

That’s good stuff. There are several other breweries and more coming on line this year in NC. All the way from the Smokey mountains to the Outer Banks.

I try to get to the Outer Banks once a year.I would like to live there.I am not afraid of hurricanes and very large spiders.

@lucillelucillelucille If you keep it super cold it will slow the outgassing of the carbonation on jug beer as you describe and as long as you don’t open it it should still be yummy and foamy when you open it on Friday! Cheers!

Also tell the bartender to “gently” fill the jug so as to minimize the release of the carbonation and fill her to ½” of the top too!! I would also get more than just one…one jug is never enough!! In fact you should get 2 of each flavor they make and think of it as an experiment where you will see which flavor keeps the best.

@Cruiser -Two of each???HS!Not only will I be able to solve all the world’s problems,I’ll be able to dance like Micheal Flatley!Yes!That MF! lol!do you think he gets called MF alot?;)

@lucillelucillelucille Yeah a lot!! But not the MF you are thinking of!

Now that you mention it I even think there is a micro brew called Feets of Flame! lol!

@cruiser-That’s is what they make their stout from ;)

@lucillelucillelucille I was thinking more along the lines of a Scotch Ale with that extra smoky flavor!! YUM!

@Cruiser-
“Scotch Ale will land you in jail”-yet another snippet from the mind of my dear grandmother upon her release from the pen!;)

@Cruiser

That’s called PEAT beer, not WHEAT beer. LOL

@Tropical_Willie -Yes! believe one has to drink that face down!

@Tropical_Willie I prefer to drink my Pete’s Wheat with my feet up on my desk and I don’t like to drink alone! ;)

@Cruiser The proper position and with company…..

Until right before I put it in my belly.

I’m a homebrewer, so I have some experience on this. You said it’s a wheat beer—those should be drunk immediately as wheat beers do not age well at all. Wheat beers tend to be made with lager yeast, and is lightly hopped. This makes it delicate and will get off flavors very quickly. Other beers that do not age well are IPAs, and other pale ales, ambers, etc.

Beers, however, that do age well, are those with higher alcohol, more robust yeasts, and higher malt contents. Examples are imperial stouts, barleywines, and many Belgians.

Now all of the above that I wrote is for bottled beers. If a beer is in a growler, meaning that they poured it from the tap into a bottle, a beer should be drunk as soon as possible regardless of the style because the carbonation will eventually leach out.

@mowens -I see!:)

@Rarebear -Thank you for your answer.I will get it before I go then :)

I realize it’s probably too late to be helpful, but if anybody else comes upon this question, I’ll add my answer from experience. A growler will keep for a few weeks if unopened and filled to the top, as long as the cap is tight and sealed well.

Once you open it you really only have a day to drink it, maximum. I personally have left growlers unopened for a few weeks and they have tasted perfect when I finally got to drinking them. I know people who have left growlers for months, with little to no ill-effect.

Yes, a wheat beer can be a slightly more delicate beer style, but it should last perfectly fine for a week in an unopened growler.

And, as an aside, almost all wheat beers are brewed with ale yeast, not lager yeast… although this won’t have a huge effect on how the beer lasts, you should worry more about the amount of alcohol and how flavorful the beer is. There are many lagers that are very strong and flavorful and many ales that are light and delicate.

@Jeff_from_DrinkCraftBeerDOTcom You’re right. Ale yeast. I stand corrected.

@Jeff_from_DrinkCraftBeerDOTcom -Thanks for you answer :))

Eleven

I would have to agree with snarp! You should drink it as soon and as cold as possible. And let us know what you think. The Brew Station is famous for their beer brewed on the Outer Banks!

And on the Inner Banks is the Weeping Radish.