NMR-focused metabolomic analysis has been employed to ascertain the extent to which a diversity of non-volatile substances change in level during maturation and storage on a pilot and commercial scale. No substantive changes were observed, leading to the conclusion that, once materials such as vicinal diketones and acetaldehyde have been dealt with, there is no merit in the prolonged storage of beer. © 2019 The Institute of Brewing & Distilling.