ABSTRACT
The vast majority of beers are never better than when they are 6 rst 6 lled into their containers. Perhaps some of the more alcoholic brews-those with an alcohol content approaching or even surpassing those of wines (Sherman, 2003)—may register interesting ; avor changes with time-for example, the development of ; avorsome materials such as ketals through the interaction of alcohols and acids. However, for beers in the customary range of alcohol content, the vector of ; avor change is downward, through staling. Furthermore, other quality attributes of beer, such as clarity, color, and foam, are also likely to deteriorate over weeks and months of storage.
