I think homebrew beer has a shorter shelf life than I anticipated, certainly when stored through summer heat. I opened my last couple of bottles of Summer Flowers tonight and they were okay but not nearly as good as the rest of the batch. Maybe I was just unlucky but I suspect time, and particularly temperature, have played their part. I even used some of it to top up my garden slug traps, which indicates how far it has fallen from its previous splendour.

Next time I make a good batch, I won’t try to eke it out too long. Also, although I don’t think it will be long now before average temperatures drop to where I can pick up brewing again, I’ll figure storage temperatures into next year’s brewing holiday.