Cellaring beer
UPSLynx
:KAPPA:Redwood City, CA Icrontian
in Food & Drink
Ever since @ryanmm gave us that excellent opportunity to try some of his more rare cellared beers at Expo this summer, I've been thinking a lot about starting my own collection of rare, one-off, and spectacular west coast beers. I have pretty easy access to some pretty spectacular stuff out here (like Firestone Walker, Stone and Lagunitas) and I'd like to try my hand at holding on to some bottles and seeing how they turn out in a year or so.
Currently I have the following beers stashed away
-Firestone Walker Parabola (2013 vintage)
-Stone Farking Wheaton W00tstout (2013 vintage)
-Samuel Adams New World Tripel (2012 vintage)
I've got two questions for those who currently cellar beer:
1. Does storing temperature matter? I've got my beers stashed away in a closet out of view of any sunlight (don't have a basement, lolapartments). As such, I cannot control the temperature in there in any way.
2. Would a barrel-aged tripel, such as the New World Tripel I have, age well at all? I know most beers that age well are quads, stouts, barleywines and other big beers like that. I know high ABV beers last long when aged, but I have no clue if this beer will improve at all over time, especially considering it's a barrel aged tripel. If the returns aren't worth it, I think I may just crack it open and drink it.
Any other general tips from those in the know?
Currently I have the following beers stashed away
-Firestone Walker Parabola (2013 vintage)
-Stone Farking Wheaton W00tstout (2013 vintage)
-Samuel Adams New World Tripel (2012 vintage)
I've got two questions for those who currently cellar beer:
1. Does storing temperature matter? I've got my beers stashed away in a closet out of view of any sunlight (don't have a basement, lolapartments). As such, I cannot control the temperature in there in any way.
2. Would a barrel-aged tripel, such as the New World Tripel I have, age well at all? I know most beers that age well are quads, stouts, barleywines and other big beers like that. I know high ABV beers last long when aged, but I have no clue if this beer will improve at all over time, especially considering it's a barrel aged tripel. If the returns aren't worth it, I think I may just crack it open and drink it.
Any other general tips from those in the know?
1
Comments
I want to be this guy some day:
No seriously. I want that someday.
So I've done a little bit of research, and I think I'm going to break out the Sam Adams and open it in another month or so. The beer is bottle conditioned, so aging will have changed the beer, but after talking with some others who have had it or held on it it for a little while, it seems like 6-12 months is the prime age range for a beer like that. Much longer and you get diminishing returns.
So hmm.. October 4 or 5 might be a good day to open it....
You're cellar should be at least 7 feet tall.
You should sit on something comfortable, like a couch or a nice chair.
You will want to store yourself upright so the blood does not rush to your head.
Every once in a while you should both feed and relieve yourself.
Try to avoid sunlight, since you are a light beer, or it could have an unwanted effect.
Aging will improve your decision making but weaken your body. However, at a certain age even your decision making will begin to go bad. So drink yourself when you want the optimal combination of body and mind, depending on your likes. Just don't wait until your mind goes bad.
best if they have cork, they can last for 10 years in some cases...
also, i'm keeping a 750ml bottle of Fin du Monde (corked bottle) for ten years. i'll bring it to ICExpo in then.
Yet another reason one of these would be handy. In a week you have 7-year aged IPAs. A month goes by, and you have all-you-can-drink of 30-year scotch.
Oh, the possibilities.
Living the Icrontic Life
@pirateninja goddamit. I knew someone wouldn't be able to resist.
Anyways, in my recent research, it seems a lot of people cellar 12oz bottles just as much, if not more than bigger 1pt 6oz bottles. I was under the impression that the larger bottles were mostly the only thing people cellared since that's often the only way to get the limited, big beers that breweries make. I'm seeing a lot of collections with sixers of specific beers in their cellars. This would make it easier to test the beers over time and find their prime age range, but it seems like a lot of these aren't bottle conditioned. So I'm starting to think bottle conditioning is important, but not the only worthwhile factor when deciding to age a beer. It's interesting, I've seen conflicting reports on the corks in my research. Some say they're great, some say they can ruin the beer. Either way, everyone agrees that they need to be stored upright so the beer doesn't touch and saturate the cork, that'll kill it long time. I had initially stored my New World Tripel on its side (which is corked with a cage), but have since set it upright. Putting bottles on their side also offsets the yeast sediment, so when you go to pour eventually, you can ruin the taste with yeast poured into the glass. Also, if the cork isn't caged, they can be forced out over time and leak beer if they're stored on their side.
The more research I do, the more I'm fascinated by all of this. I can't wait to get a real house someday, build shelves and temperature control and do this for real.
next, IF you live in a Bacchus forsaken land and your beer cork aren't caged, well try duct taping them or do a makeshift cage with paper clip (i'm half-serious here.)
to be honest i'm not sure about this one since here all our 750ml bottle, which are called Quille, the french word for bowling pin, are corked and secured with metal caps & wires. Most notably the Unibrou products, but also french and belgium imports.
I now have 2 favorite beer styles:
Barrel aged (Imperial and standard) porters/stouts
Belgians of all kinds.
I only tend to hold on to BBA and special release stouts for the most part. I do a lot of trading on Reddit.com/r/beertrade for stuff that I cant find local.
Hoarders.
I'm hearing purists say that 58 degrees, NO HIGHER!!!11 for cellar temp, but I'm of the mind that I don't care -that- much. I doubt I'd notice a difference between an aged beer at 65 degrees compared to 58. Eventually, if I have a home and the means to control temp I'd probably stick closer to 58 just for fun sake, but basement temps sound just fine to me.