You Will Drink Good BEER ... And It Will Be Delicious!

[doug rr]

picked up a 6 pack of the new SN celebration today..it doesn't seem much different than the last few years...average overall

[B]

http://flowingdata.com/2015/10/26/top-b ... thmically/

Cool map, but its hardly fair to put Rogue in the Cali mix just because they have one small public house in San Fran. Rogue is straight up Oregon....

I thought the exact same thing, especially since I've had a few at that Rogue establishment. I'd replace Rogue with Rare Barrel in Berkeley.

I suspect it had something to do with efficiency of travel.

[B]

I got one of these yesterday, and I'm pretty excited to try it, but I think I'll squirrel it away for a year.

[PHATJ]

I got one of these yesterday, and I'm pretty excited to try it, but I think I'll squirrel it away for a year.

I haven't found a Belgian style beer that I like, but that description sounds pretty appealing. How well do they age?

[Chris_H_2]

picked up a 6 pack of the new SN celebration today..it doesn't seem much different than the last few years...average overall

I just will never understand the love for that beer.

[B]

I got one of these yesterday, and I'm pretty excited to try it, but I think I'll squirrel it away for a year.

I haven't found a Belgian style beer that I like, but that description sounds pretty appealing. How well do they age?

Well, I don't know, the bottle I bought is only a month old.

[oasisfan35]

I haven't found a Belgian style beer that I like

Really? Not trying to sound like a dick, just figured you'd have some Belgian faves.

[@SkitchP]

That Bells/Founders/Dark Horse all within an hour of each other is damn strong.

[PHATJ]

I haven't found a Belgian style beer that I like

Really? Not trying to sound like a dick, just figured you'd have some Belgian faves.

You don't sound like a dick . I'm just not fan. I like stouts, porters and IPAs. I enjoy red ales from time to time. One of my good buddies likes Belgians a lot, so I've had plenty of opportunities to try lots of varieties. The aftertaste that Belgians have is just gross to me. It honestly reminds me of puke. I just can't get past that.

[PHATJ]

That Bells/Founders/Dark Horse all within an hour of each other is damn strong.

That sounds delightful.

[PHATJ]

I got one of these yesterday, and I'm pretty excited to try it, but I think I'll squirrel it away for a year.

I haven't found a Belgian style beer that I like, but that description sounds pretty appealing. How well do they age?

Well, I don't know, the bottle I bought is only a month old.

I was curious if you had aged a Belgian before. I haven't, and I've not tasted one either. Honestly, I didn't even know you could/should age those beers. Just interested in knowing more.

[Chris_H_2]

I just picked up a case of Surly Abrasive. I'm very, very happy.

[PHATJ]

I just picked up a case of Surly Abrasive. I'm very, very happy.

[dpupenya]

For those of us marshmallow watchers, who practice the art of delayed gratification, aging beers at home is a delicious way to expand the cellar. Because, like so many wines, certain beers improve over time.

All beers? Nope. Only certain beers. By common standards, that IPA in the fridge will not taste any better a year from now. In fact, you should go drink it today, because it’s losing flavors and aroma by the minute. Most beers on the market fall into this category. They’re best fresh.

On the other hand, beers that age well change for the better during the months, and even years, after they’ve been bottled. They develop new characteristics. Sometimes they become richer and more complex, as sharp edges and hoppy notes fade. Other times they develop more funk, in the horsey barnyard kind of way, or bloom with new layers of fruit or tartness.

It all depends on the beer.

Matt Brynildson, brewmaster for Firestone Walker Brewing in Paso Robles, CA, recommends cellaring two categories of beers: ”
wild beers,” which includes lambics, gueuzes, saisons, and other beers that use organisms other than yeasts to produce flavors, and ”
strong beers” with high alcohol contents, such as barleywines, robust porters, and imperial stouts.

In wild beers, living organisms change the beer as it ages in the bottle. Brynildson mentions Orval Trappist Ale as a classic example. The Belgian pale ale receives a dose of Brettanomyces yeast as it goes in the bottle. “The yeast can live in the bottle for years, slowly consuming sugars and protecting the beer’s existing flavors by consuming oxygen,” he explains. “Over time it goes from being bright and hoppy to bready, earthy and spicy.”

For the most part, oxygen is bad for beer after it’s been bottled. Oxygen plus beer can result in notes of raisin, prune, paper, soy sauce, and sherry, especially in the strong beers, which usually have less enduring yeasts. So who wants oxidized beer? Lots of people, actually, especially those who cellar beers. Notes of raisin and prune can taste wonderful in an imperial stout. They can even be worth risking more unpleasant flavors.

If you’re ready to give it a go, here are our tips for starting a home beer cellar.

Find the Right Spot

Beers age best in the dark. If you don’t have a basement, closets can work. Or garages, cellars, or empty bathroom cabinets. But before you throw a case of beer in the dark attic, think about temperature. You want your beer cellar to remain at standard cellar temps, between 55 and 65 degrees, even in the summer. That might rule out the bathroom cabinet.

Advanced beer cellarers tinker further with temperature. Brynildson, for example, keeps strong beers in a cooler kept under 50 degrees. “It slows oxidation,” he says, “but still allows interesting mellowing and ripe stone fruit characters to develop.”

Store Bottles Upright

Beer is not wine. Most beers are capped with a “crown,” or bottle cap, which has a plastic lining that protects the beer from the metal. If you store a beer on its side, the beer will eat away that lining over time, which will make the beer go bad.

Beers with corks are another story. Some collectors prefer to store those beers on their sides, but that position allows sediment to settle on the side, which creates cloudy beers at the time of pouring. Since very few beers are capped with corks, don’t worry about it too much.

Drink Beers at Their Prime

This, my friends, is the hard part. Aging beers is a delightfully inexact science, and perfection is a subjective thing. It’s hard to know when to open a stashed beer. Too early and you risk meh flavors and aromas that could have developed into something spectacular. Too late and you’ll always wonder what could have been.

Mine the internet for information. Beer Advocate has a Cellaring/Aging Forum, where people ask for advice on when to open specific beers. Also, talk to the staff at a good bottle shop. Many now sell vintage beers; the staff will intimately know how those beers change over time.

Also, check the “bottled on” and “best by” dates that breweries are adding to some labels. These dates are a good place to begin.

Get Organized

Don’t let the challenge of making a spreadsheet keep you from cellaring, but once you get hooked, it’s a good idea to keep track of what you have. CellarHQ can help you do just that online.

Take notes, too. If you’re anything like me, you won’t remember if you liked Deschutes’s The Abyss 2009 better at 12 months or at 2 years.

Buy More Beer

Specifically, more bottles of the same beer. In a perfect world, you’d drink a bottle of the freshest Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout now. Then you’d drink another one in six months. Maybe you’d drink one every May Day for the next five years. It’s a no-brainer, says Brynildson: “The beautiful thing about beer is it’s a very affordable luxury.”

5 Beers That Age Well

1. Hair of the Dog Adam, 10% ABV. The first beer brewed by HOTD tops many collectors’ must-have lists. Try it at 5+ years. Check the brewery’s Vintage Adam Guide for brewed- and bottled-on dates.

2. Firestone Walker Sucaba, 13% ABV. A big boozy barleywine, which, if you hit it around 1 year, can have notes of chocolate and cherry. Age 3 to 5 years for a richer, more oaky flavors.

3. Sierra Nevada Bigfoot, 9.6% ABV. An initially hoppy and intense barleywine that mellows as it ages. Try it between 1 and 10 years.

4. Russian River Temptation, 7.5% AVB. A Belgian-inspired sour ale that’s aged in used Chardonnay barrels. Delicious at 1 to 3 years, and possibly life-changing between 3 and 10.

5. Cantillon Geuze 100% Lambic, 5% ABV. A classic wild beer from Belgium that can develop extra funk, tartness, and fruit flavors over time. The brewery suggests aging for up to 20 years, if you’ve got the time.

5 Beers to Drink Right Now

1. Russian River Pliny the Elder, 8% ABV. This beloved Imperial IPA is best fresh.

2. Anything with “fresh hop” in the name. These seasonal beers are made with fresh, undried hops at the time of harvest, and those delicate hop flavors begin to fade immediately.

3. Budweiser, 5% ABV. However you feel about this lager, you should drink it fresh.

4. Brooklyn Brewery Lager, 5.2% ABV. This East coast classic should be consumed as close to the brewery as possible for maximum freshness.

5. Victory Prima Pils, 5.3% ABV. One of the best German-style pilsners in the U.S. demands your full attention. Right now. Achtung!

[oasisfan35]

Vintage Beer: A Taster's Guide to Brews That Improve Over Time was an enjoyable read.

[E.H. Ruddock]

Lol @ Budweiser

[epilogue]

So Brooklyn Brewery challenged Boulevard Brewery (in KC) to a World Series bet, whereby the loser has to pour the winner's beer in their tasting room and for a week.

Looks like I'll be heading over to Brookyn Brewery.

[Chris_H_2]

Same thing happened last spring with the Blackhawks and Lightning. Three Floyds hosted a tap takeover by Cigar City. Huna continuously flowing. It was awesome.

[epilogue]

I'm actually super bummed to see that Brooklyn will only be pouring Tank 7.

I gut that it's Boulevard's signature beer or whatever. But they have better. And I can get Tank 7 on tap around the corner if I want.

Oh well. Still cool, I suppose.

[Monkey_Driven]

I'm actually super bummed to see that Brooklyn will only be pouring Tank 7.

I gut that it's Boulevard's signature beer or whatever. But they have better. And I can get Tank 7 on tap around the corner if I want.

Oh well. Still cool, I suppose.

What are some of your favorite Boulevard beers?