How long is the shelf life of brandy?
Brandy has not expired. Generally, the shelf life marked on wine bottles is 10 years or more.
There is no specific shelf life for sealed unopened brandy, because the alcohol content of brandy is particularly high. Under sealed conditions, the longer the storage time, the better the taste, and there is no expired deterioration.
Brandy can't be kept for a long time after opening a bottle, so it's better to drink it in a short time. However, if brandy can be sealed for the second time and then put in a cool and ventilated environment, it can be preserved for one to two years without deterioration.
The following problems should be paid attention to when storing brandy:
1. Brandy cannot be directly exposed to the sun.
2. Don't put brandy in high temperature, and don't put it in cars and locomotives, otherwise there will be a danger of bottle explosion.
The bottle cap of brandy is made of cork. Put the bottle flat every once in a while, keep the cork moist, and avoid the cork breaking at the bottle head when opening the bottle.
Brandy has no shelf life, but if it is stored for too long, the wine will volatilize, leading to shortage.
The best drinking time of brandy is within three years after purchase.
6. Brandy has no aging effect after bottling, and the aging calculation is based on the storage time of oak barrels.
How to preserve brandy
Whether the bottle has been opened or not, it will always stand. This is the biggest difference from storing wine. Why is this?
The purpose of wine lying is to soak the bottle stopper with wine to block the gap where air may slip in. However, whisky, cognac and other spirits will corrode the cork because of their high alcohol content, and the taste of the cork will destroy the taste of wine. For whiskey or cognac that has not been opened and sealed, the upward volatile alcohol in the bottle will make the cork wet and achieve the same effect. If the bottle has been opened, you can put it down every half a minute to one minute during storage, so as to soak the cork better.
Secondly, wine should be stored in the shade. Although you may not have an underground wine cellar, you can put it in your bedroom box or closet, or in the kitchen cupboard. Generally speaking, it is appropriate to keep the temperature at 7- 12 degrees, but there is no big problem in the temperature range where the human body feels comfortable (we assume that you can turn on the air conditioner).
Well-sealed whisky or cognac can be preserved for several years as long as it is stored properly, otherwise it will taste much worse, although it will not go bad. So how long can an open bottle of whisky or cognac last? There is no definite answer to this question, because it depends on how much air there is in the bottle. In other words, the less wine left in the bottle, the faster the oxidation. The most conservative view is that if half to two-thirds of the wine is left in the bottle, it is no problem to store it for one year. If there is only a quarter left, it should be completed in 3-4 months.
When one-third of the wine is left in the bottle, invite your friends to share it with you, which will be much more interesting than enjoying it slowly until the wine becomes dull. But if you happen to be short of drinking friends, you can pour the rest of the wine into a dark bottle that can be sealed. The purpose of this is to reduce the air content in the bottle. A higher-tech method is to use a spray bottle for wine preservation, fill the bottle with inert gas to isolate the wine from oxygen, or pump air out of the bottle. But this process needs to be repeated every time you open a bottle to drink.
Brandy is a transparent brandy stock solution obtained by fermentation and repeated distillation of grapes, which is stored in oak barrels with charred inner walls and blended with new wine after years of aging.
The aging of brandy is calculated from the storage of brandy stock solution in oak barrels. In oak barrels, the color and taste of brandy will change from transparent and spicy stock solution to amber and elegant brandy. Generally, the aging of brandy is 20 to 50 years, and it can't exceed 70 years at most, otherwise the quality of brandy will decline.
Generally, the aging time of VSOP-grade brandy is 5 to 8 years, Napoleon-grade brandy is 8 to 12 years, XO-grade brandy is 12 to 15 years, super-grade brandy is 15 to 20 years, and the highest collection grade brandy is over 20 years, which is very valuable.
After brandy is bottled, it can be stored for a long time as long as it is stored at low temperature in the dark and ensures no leakage.