of oxidation . Extreme care must be taken in minimizing oxygen exposure . A beer ’ s journey from the fermenter to the package presents many opportunities for oxygen to come in contact with the beer . No method is 100 %, there is always some oxygen that makes it to the package . The objective is to keep it at a minimum . The general rule of thumb is to keep dissolved oxygen levels in the package below 100 ppb ( parts per billion ). Any more than that and by the time the beer makes it to the glass of the person drinking it , it will likely be noticeably oxidized . When I worked at Saint Arnold in Houston , our oxygen threshold was half that at 50ppb . Larger packages like kegs tend to pick up less oxygen , and rarely spend much time outside of a cooler making draft beer more likely to taste fresh . Bottle conditioning is a great way to combat oxidation as well . Bottle conditioning is a method of naturally carbonating the beer in the bottle by way of creating a second fermentation there . A small amount of sugar is added to the beer and the live yeast in the beer consumes the sugar , creating a brisk carbonation to the beer while using up the oxygen picked up during packaging . This method , while not used very often , creates a virtually oxygen-free beer that will keep fresh for much longer .
Once beer is packaged , how it ’ s treated is going to determine how long it lasts . Keeping beer cold helps to slow oxidation and heat will speed it up ( so keep that in mind when you leave that beer in your car trunk or garage for a week or two ). When the beer leaves the brewery , It goes to temperature-controlled warehouses and coolers where it ’ s sold quickly to bars , restaurants , and retail stores . Ideally the beer should go cooler to cooler , but often the beer will find its way to a warm shelf in a brightly-lit store . This isn ’ t ideal but as long as it ’ s sold quickly , no harm will befall the beer . The issue of freshness comes up when the beer spends months in this condition . When I worked at Saint Arnold , we would monitor how our beer aged in these exact conditions . One six pack from each batch that was packaged would be placed on a shelf in a warm room under bright fluorescent lighting . One bottle per month would be tasted to see how the batch aged over a six month period . If any batch turned too quickly , we would have that beer removed from the market .
So when I ’ m loading up the shopping cart , checking out the dates , I prefer to see the date of packaging rather than a best-by date . This way I see the true age of the beer , a best-by date only tells me when the brewery predicts the beer will be fresh enough . Hoppy beers like IPAs and pale ales need to be the freshest I can get . Under three months old is ideal but my goal is under six weeks on these babies ( for hazy IPAs I try for under a month as their intense hop flavors are lost quickly ). Light lagers and blondes can go for four months pretty well but will drop off after that . Ambers and browns will do well into the sixth month . Stouts and porters can go to eight months or more if treated well .
A few beers are exceptions and can get better with age and develop new flavors . These beers include strong , dark beers like imperial stouts , barleywines , and dark Belgian strong ales . There are some lighter beers that can age well too . Barrel-soured beer , beers brewed with wild yeast , and smoked beers age very nicely . I have a small collection of these that
I ’ m aging , some of them are up to ten years old . Every once in a while I pop one open to see how they ’ re coming along .
Since that brewery switched to the new distributor , I have been able to buy their kegs regularly . I ’ ve also been seeing their beer popping up around town at grocery and package stores . When I walk through the beer aisle and see the beer that only recently I was fighting to buy now available at my local store , I can ’ t help the thought that I helped that happen . “ My little secret victory .” I think as I pick up a six pack to put in my cart ... checking the date on the cans beforehand , of course .
Chris Keller has worked in beer sales for a distributor , as a brewer for Saint Arnold Brewing Co . in Houston , and is the owner of Pint and Barrel Drafthouse in Palestine , Texas .
HOLIDAY EDITION 2022 | PALESTINE MAGAZINE | 19