Aging/Cellaring Beers

[Central PA Cowboy]

Do any of you age your beers? If so, how has your luck been? I've aged a couple and plan to do some more. Belgian styles like Tröegs Mad Elf have aged best for me.

 

[fivetricks]

I do. I've done well overall. I've had a few random duds here and there. If you have a dark, cool area to store them and they're not disturbed too much, then you'll generally be good to go.

Some just turn out to be duds though..you think you're gonna crack open a great beer, and it just turns out tasting like booze.

I've got a case of Alaskan smoked Porter's aging right now. I've had them at 1 year aged (meh), 3 years aged (also meh), 10 years (much better), and 15 years (awwwwwwesome). So I've got 8-12 years left to go on most of that case :-)

I'm also inadvertently aging Bell's hopslam kegs. Bought too many in 2018 and have had a hard time finding events for them to get tapped. Problem is we always end up with 100 other beers we want to try as well.

Edit: I should say that this goes only for beer types that are appropriate for aging. :-)

 

[hb99]

I've inadvertently aged a couple of my homebrewed beer past 8 years. Some started tasting a bit on the syrupy side while others like Dubbels/Tripels fared well. I have a couple dozen bottles of aged (8-20+ years) mead and cider.

 

[Berettaclayshooter]

Bottled beers have a shelf life, a flip top would maybe be better than your average crimp on cap. But it's meant to be drank not admired on a shelf. Plus that's why Mad Elf is a seasonal, ment to be enjoyed during that time frame (although it's not for me). Troegs chocolate stout was rather tasty though from their winter variety case. I've gravitated toward German style beers.

 

[hb99]

I hear you on the German-style beers. I lived in Germany (Bavaria) for 9 years and did A LOT of "research".

I did brew a "Breakfast Oatmeal Stout" 5 days ago that will be fortified with coffee and kegged in a day or two and ready for St. Patrick's Day. (My grandmother was born and raised in Kilkenny...and I've visited there).

 

[SGMan]

Bottled beers have a shelf life, a flip top would maybe be better than your average crimp on cap. But it's meant to be drank not admired on a shelf. Plus that's why Mad Elf is a seasonal, ment to be enjoyed during that time frame (although it's not for me). Troegs chocolate stout was rather tasty though from their winter variety case. I've gravitated toward German style beers.

Id have to disagree with you on the flip top aspect (from my experiences)
More times than not when doing homebrew, the beer will carbonate in the bottle by adding more sugars post fermentation/secondary. The pressure will rise from the newly created CO2 and then absorbed back into the beer.
Flip top bottles are not meant for this pressure, crimped caps (and the appropriate bottles are)

 

[hb99]

Id have to disagree with you on the flip top aspect (from my experiences)
More times than not when doing homebrew, the beer will carbonate in the bottle by adding more sugars post fermentation/secondary. The pressure will rise from the newly created CO2 and then absorbed back into the beer.
Flip top bottles are not meant for this pressure, crimped caps (and the appropriate bottles are)

One size does not fit all. I've been brewing since 1994. I brought back about 18 racks (cases) of .5 liter beers and empties from Germany after my last tour there, both flippies and crimp-style bottles. I've use both for Hefe Weizens without any issues. But I usually keg lagers.