Last March, I brewed Oktobertfest-Marzenbier from Andreas Krennmair book, “Historic German and Austrian Beers for the Home Brewer”. It is in a keg lagering in a refrigerator since late March. It is not carbonated. But I did put CO2 in it to prevent the introduction of oxygen.
I planned to serve it at an Oktoberfest celebration this fall which has been cancelled. I was thinking of possibly continuing to lager it until the fall of 2021. Is this a good/bad idea? What are your thoughts and opinions on this?
You could, but it might stale a bit. You really want to keep it in there for another 13 months? You don’t need the space? I still wouldn’t recommend it. Better to enjoy it now and brew it a second time next year for freshness.
That being said, I personally still have bottled beers from 2016 and 2017 that still taste alright. The 2016 is oxidized but it’s a barleywine so it’s somewhat expected. The Scottish ale is still excellent despite its low alcohol content less than 4%. Sometimes you get lucky. But based on a lot of experience, most of the time… not so lucky.
I would tap the fest bier September 19 (actually, I’d probably tap it the 18th since that’s my birthday), analyze it to see if there are any adjustments I’d like to make, then re-brew it next yr. While some beers age well, most are best consumed fresh.
I know it doesn’t have much hops in it but the hops will degrade over time. And since it’s not a “big beer” any type of off flavors developed are going to stand out.
At the very least, I’d keg it right now to ensure it’s still what you want in quality/taste. That way if it isn’t - you have enough time to lager a new one by Oktoberfest.
This. I’m really getting increasingly into shorter wait times with the exception of roasted malt beers and even then there is a curve that does go down again.