Tag Archives: Aged Beer

Stale Beer and the Beer Cellar

Brasserie Cantillon Brouwerij Celler - Brussels

Brasserie Cantillon Brouwerij Celler – Brussels

A number of years ago I put together a post about ageing beer. This post grew, as did our cellars, and eventually the post turned into a dedicated cellar page. At the time, Chris and I were each starting to develop our own cellars and we didn’t know what to expect as our collections grew older. Not being a patient person makes stocking a beer cellar a challenge, but a number of bottles remained untouched in a cool dark location for a number of years. Having raided most of my cellar, I have come to a realization – ageing beer may not be all it is cracked up to be

The idea of ageing beer was exciting when we first started, and it still is to some extent. It is a gratifying feeling to have the patience to let organic chemistry change and develop a bottle of Old Cellar Dweller, prior to consuming it years later.  Over the past year I watched my cellar peak and decline. And let me tell you, the decline of a beer cellar is the better of the two slopes.  Sure, the way up is filled with excitement and mystery, but the way down is alcohol fuelled.

The most enjoyable aged ale experience was a vertical tasting of Fuller’s Vintage Ale.  I managed to stow away a bottle of Fuller Vintage Ale each year starting with 2007.  Chris was gifted a bottle of Fuller’s 2006 to finish off the collection from 2006 to 2012.  My patience got the best of me, an the impending sale of my current residence rushed the tasting from what should have been during the cold of winter to the heat of summer.  The group of tasters, Gavin, Chris, Me, and the women that come attached to us, got together to work our way through the Fullers collection last August.  The tasting itself was a great experience, but I would be hard pressed to say that the 2007 was better than the 2012.  Not that the bottle of ’07 was off, in fact it was very enjoyable, but it also wasn’t stand-out-excellent.  Age didn’t seem to make the beer any better, it just made it different.

Does old beer taste better?  No one really knows this, but I do not believe beer gets better with time, it just changes.  The effect time has on beer still remains somewhat a mystery as the idea of laying down a bottle of beer (or sitting upright on a shelf) for an extended period of time is new.   The market for old beer is small, but growing, and very little research on the topic is available.  Most research is focused on how to slow the ageing process in an attempt to keep beer fresh longer.  As beer ages it goes stale and it turns out some of these stale flavours are enjoyable.

When beer ages, existing molecules and flavour compounds that give beer its fresh taste degrade and other new compounds are created.  With time, organic compounds within a bottle of beer slowly react with one another, changing the beer’s overall flavour profile and to some extent mouth feel.  Many of these reactions are oxidative, and the general consensus is that too much oxidation will result in the development of cardboard like flavours.  Keeping a bottle cool slows the development of assertive off flavours, such as the previously mentioned wet cardboard taste.  While many stale beer flavours can be nasty, age does have the potential to improve the overall beer experience.

Organic molecules within beer are developed during the brewing and malting process.  Poorly brewed beer will stale prematurely and is not a great cellar candidate.  The off flavours found in poorly made beer will age-out, but during the ageing process many of these unwanted tastes will convert into an even more unpleasant off-flavour.  Well made beer will fair much better as it ages, as will beer with a higher alcohol content and an assertive flavour profile.  Big beers are typically cellared for two reasons: their bold flavour profile will help hide the inevitable development of off-flavours during a lengthy maturation period, and the intense, often imbalanced young flavours will dissipate as the flavour compounds degrade.  The degradation of key flavour compounds is why aged beer is often times described as mellow or smooth.  As beer ages, big flavours will fade away and subtle flavours, both pre-existing and newly created, will shine that much more.

My cellar is now very small and my mindset on ageing beer is far more short-term than before.  I like fresh, hoppy, and assertive beer, all of which are not characteristics of matured beer.  Aside from bottles with Brettanomyces, which is yeast that remains active for years, my cellar is quite small.  A few bottles of big beer will sit for a few months in my cellar, but anything beyond this and I find the flavour degrades more than it improves.

There is a certain romance behind ageing beer that appeals to many dedicated craft beer drinkers. The mystery, uncertainty and the required patience makes many beer drinkers overly positive when it comes time to crack open a bottle.  After a hard day of physical labour, even a poorly made sandwich will taste like heaven – effort makes the reward that much sweeter.  The same may be true of aged beer.  I believe that age kills most good beer.  Very few bottles, even when stored correctly, benefit from an extended maturation period.  However, this is the opinion of just one beer drinker.  Ageing beer is still a mystery, it’s a new thing.  So please, continue to age beer and see if you enjoy the outcome.  Drinking beer should be fun, and if ageing beer is just that, please carry on.

Cheers,

Erik

The Beer Cellar: how to cellar beer and why

My Cellar - A cool basement closet

My Cellar – A Cool Basement Closet

Over the past month we have commented a fair bit on cellaring or aging beer. Most beer drinkers, mainly those who drink generic lager, don’t know that beer ages just as well as wine. A passionate beer drinker will almost always have a beer cellar, and if not they will have tried aging beer only to discover their pallet is not fond of cellared beer. Aged beer tastes dramatically different than fresh beer, and there is no shame in disliking aged beer, but there is shame, lots of shame, in not trying it. Being an inquisitive person, I searched far and wide, the internet mainly, for information about how to properly cellar beer, and to learn what is actually going on in a bottle while beer ages.

How to Build a Basic Cellar

I have been cellaring beer for just over a year now. My cellar is probably one of the most popular styles; it is a closet in my basement. There is a heap of information available on the internet on how to build a cellar, some is good and some is over the top ridiculous. Creating a basic cellar is quite simple; find the coldest place in your house, turn out the lights, place beer in the cool dark room and patiently wait. Ideally a cellar should be between 50-60 degrees Fahrenheit with minimal temperature fluctuation. If the room used as a cellar, a crawl space for example, drops to around 40 F or colder, it is not well suited for cellaring beer. Most homes have a room or closet close to an appropriate cellar temperate, so please feel no need to renovate.

There is great debate about aging bottles standing up or laying down. I don’t think it matters a great deal either way. Beer Advocate has a good article in support of the bottles standing up approach.

What Beers to Cellar

Any beer can be aged, but generally speaking the best choices are bigger ales. Barley wines, old ales, imperial stouts, big IPAs, and most strong Belgian ales are great candidates for aging. I have a small preference for bottle conditioned ales, beer that has been re-fermented in the bottle, as the yeast sediment helps in the aging process. With beer there are no rules, only guidelines, so feel free to experiment with your favorite brew – pick beer that agrees with your pallet.

Many people recommend buying two or three bottles when cellaring beer. One for immediate consumption, one after 6-12 months (if you bought three) and the final one for as long as your patience can last. I have heard of beer being aged well past 10 years successfully. If you only have enough money for one bottle, that is perfectly acceptable – drinking good beer is not a pastime reserved for the elite.

What is Going on in the Beer Bottle

Anyone who has made a stew will know that it always tastes better the next day. The big flavours in a stew need time to blend together and develop – beer is the same way. This is the simplest explanation; the flavours in beer blend together creating distinct new and often more complex flavours.

Many of the unique flavours in ale, fruit, floral and spice, come from esters in the beer. Esters are a byproduct of ale yeast fermentation – lager yeast does not create esters. These esters give ale a unique flavour and aroma and are intended to be there, they are not off flavours. As beer ages, esters break down and their flavours begin to disappear. Yeast helps to break down esters, explaining my preference for bottle conditioned ales. Flavour compounds from the hops also fade relatively quickly. Many other reactions take place in a bottle of beer while is ages, changing its flavour profile. As a result aged beer is often smoother, almost creamy, in comparison to young beer. Common flavours in cellared beer are coffee, toffee, chocolate, spice, and vinous (Sherry like) to name a few. In general, it is the malt flavours that become more pronounced in aged beer. The only real way to find out what aged beer tastes like is to visit your favorite beer store, refrain from drinking all of your newly purchased beer, and keep a few bottles in the cellar. It is that simple.

We are planning on putting together a page dedicated to our cellars – discussing and reviewing how well different beers age. This should be up shortly. For additional information on cellaring beer I recommend visiting brewbasement.com, a great site all about cellaring beer.

Erik