Beer shelf life problem

[Thomo]

Hello

I brewed a Dead Pony clone and it turned out well. It was only my third all grain brew so i was quite chuffed. On first drinking, once it had gone through two weeks of secondary fermentation in the bottle, it smelled and tasted great and not a million miles from the original beer. Now it's been in the bottle for six weeks the flavour has gone as has the smell. It's no longer clear and the sediment in the bottle, rather than being white/creamy is now grey.

Any ideas what has happened and how I avoid this in the future?

Thanks for any help

Iain

[AceMcAce]

No idea what has happened, but on how to avoid this I would say this.


If you think this has happened due to shelf life, drink it quicker

[BrannigansLove]

Hoppy beers tend to suffer from fading of the hop flavour/aroma. As suggested by Ace, sup it faster, or make smaller batches.

[joe1002]

What colour bottles are you storing it in?

[simon12]

I can't help but can confirm this has happened to me, 1 beer I had just suddenly went totally tasteless. Hoppy beers always loose flavour over time but just this 1 very suddenly lost all its flavour.

[Bad 'Ed]

It going from clear to cloudy would worry me. I can't think of any reason this would happen other than infection (assuming you've not disturbed the sediment). Taste more of them to see if it was just a one off.

[BenB]

I've noticed that with a few of my beers. I think it might be storage temperature. I was conditioning my beers at the recommended temperatures then keeping them at around 12 degrees. Now I'm storing them at fridge temperatures once the conditioning time is done. It's upsetting otherwise- nice complex beers turn into quite one dimensional Malty-then-bitter type profiles.

Then again this process does seem to happen quick that I think it should and I strongly suspect my fermentation chamber is harbouring a mould. The last FV bucket full of beer (thankfully sealed and with a bubbler airlock) had a grotty blue-cheese mould all over one of the sides. Annoyingly I had sprayed a shed load of dettol type anti-bac stuff all over the inside of the chamber before closing it (albeit with a cursory wipe) and I think that was the problem- lots of liquid into a confined space. I've just bought some natty passive recycleable dehumidifiders to stick in my fermentation chambers to control humidity. I think it getting a bit moist in there which was encouraging fungal growth.

[Soay4699]

bought some natty passive recycleable dehumidifiders to stick in my fermentation chambers to control humidity.

What were these? Can you post a link of them. Would be interested.

Rob.

[BrannigansLove]

I use one of these in my ferm fridge. Once it's absorbed all it can handle, you can microwave it, and it's good to go again. I've not had to microwave mine yet.

http://www.therange.co.uk/200g-moisture ... duct/68023

[orlando]

Do you have the ability to check the pH of your finished beer. A high pH can be a factor in beer instability, you're looking for something less than 4.2

[BenB]

I went for Ebay 291697481614
It comes with a cable to plug in the unit to heat it up to "recharge" it