Post #525777 by litlfrog on Fri, Apr 23, 2010 5:05 PM

Hi folks,

I made a batch of falernum about 9 months ago, faithfully following the kaiserpenguin recipe.

http://www.kaiserpenguin.com/make-your-own-falernum/

I was disappointed at the time; the clove flavor overpowered everything else. I was doing spring cleaning today and went to pour it out today so I could wash and reuse the bottle. To my surprise, it still smelled fine when I opened the bottle. I poured a little on my finger and it was delicious! The flavor had mellowed over the months. My wife is concerned that it might have spoiled. There's definitely a vaguely dark cloud in the middle of the bottle, but there's absolutely no smell or taste of fermentation or rot. There was sugar when I bottled it, of course, but I strained out the lime zest and ginger--no other organics should have been present. Does anyone have experience with the shelf life of homemade liqueurs and syrups? Thanks.