Beer Cellars

[Blasphomet]

I don't know what it is, but over the past couple three years, Sami just doesn't interest me. I've stopped cellaring any beer, because I so rarely found it worth it. It gets expensive and had little to no benefit for me except for a few situations (Nickel Brook Cuvee and FM's Paranormal Imperial Pumpkin Ale are a couple I find rad after a year or two). My taste for quads and dubbels has dwindled lately... it's like all I ever want to drink are delicious IPAs, saisons, goses, porters and stouts of all kind... not sure what it is. Even had a Chimay Blue recently and just wanted something else. Maybe it's the fact that St Bernardus, Rochefort, and Chimay Blue are so readily available now... I dunno. Help me? Lol.

[atomeyes]

I don't know what it is, but over the past couple three years, Sami just doesn't interest me. I've stopped cellaring any beer, because I so rarely found it worth it. It gets expensive and had little to no benefit for me except for a few situations (Nickel Brook Cuvee and FM's Paranormal Imperial Pumpkin Ale are a couple I find rad after a year or two). My taste for quads and dubbels has dwindled lately... it's like all I ever want to drink are delicious IPAs, saisons, goses, porters and stouts of all kind... not sure what it is. Even had a Chimay Blue recently and just wanted something else. Maybe it's the fact that St Bernardus, Rochefort, and Chimay Blue are so readily available now... I dunno. Help me? Lol.

those are 2 odd choices of beer to cellar.

st berny abt 12 picks up steam after 1 year. anything longer and i find nothing happens.
orval is infinitely better 2 years after bottling.
Chimay blue - i don't buy fresh. i cellar those and wait wait wait. goal's to have them 5-10 years old. had a 10 year old one once and it was amazing.
Rochefort - don't cellar. drink within a year (arguably. i know)
stouts soften with time. Old Rasputin will be cellared a bit, most likely.

but yeah. i get the feeling you're going about the cellaring thing all wrong.

[spinrsx]

I love chimay blue with some age on it.. starts to taste a little like a barleywine. I have 3 or 4 cases tucked away

[El Pinguino]

I'm trying to age fewer beers....just have too many
Haha.

[A]

Just had my last Orval last night that had been aging for several years. It was Amaze-Balls

[Belgian]

orval is infinitely better 2 years after bottling.
Chimay blue - i don't buy fresh. i cellar those and wait wait wait. goal's to have them 5-10 years old. had a 10 year old one once and it was amazing.

Huh. The Orval is much a matter of opinion - I certainly like it bright and fresh, but also aged a bit (or a lot) to achieve refined qualities that are really interesting & memorable.
Orval's is (I have read) brewed a little different each time on purpose so between that and aging you might rarely have two identical Orval! Very worthwhile to get some 12-packs.

I should drink up my remaining Chimay Bleue from 2006. Still very good! The Thomas Hardy is the same year, haven't re-tried that one in ages.

[spinrsx]

we will have another canned imperial stout to try cellaring soon

anyone know if you can age/cellar canned beer? (ten fidy for example)

i have some forgotten-about TenFidy. i'd guess that it would definitely age differently than a bottle would (due to the shape and headspace). but mine are possibly 2 years old and drink great. just don't expect complexity with age

[Masterplan]

I don't know what it is, but over the past couple three years, Sami just doesn't interest me. I've stopped cellaring any beer, because I so rarely found it worth it. It gets expensive and had little to no benefit for me except for a few situations (Nickel Brook Cuvee and FM's Paranormal Imperial Pumpkin Ale are a couple I find rad after a year or two). My taste for quads and dubbels has dwindled lately... it's like all I ever want to drink are delicious IPAs, saisons, goses, porters and stouts of all kind... not sure what it is. Even had a Chimay Blue recently and just wanted something else. Maybe it's the fact that St Bernardus, Rochefort, and Chimay Blue are so readily available now... I dunno. Help me? Lol.

It used to be that good beers only came to the LCBO every blue moon, so cellaring for me was to ensure year round availability. So I agree I cellar less now that something decent is now generally available, and only cellar stuff that are one offs or occasionals.

[CoolB]

I wish I had the will power to actually cellar a beer for more then a few months

[atomeyes]

I don't know what it is, but over the past couple three years, Sami just doesn't interest me. I've stopped cellaring any beer, because I so rarely found it worth it. It gets expensive and had little to no benefit for me except for a few situations (Nickel Brook Cuvee and FM's Paranormal Imperial Pumpkin Ale are a couple I find rad after a year or two). My taste for quads and dubbels has dwindled lately... it's like all I ever want to drink are delicious IPAs, saisons, goses, porters and stouts of all kind... not sure what it is. Even had a Chimay Blue recently and just wanted something else. Maybe it's the fact that St Bernardus, Rochefort, and Chimay Blue are so readily available now... I dunno. Help me? Lol.

It used to be that good beers only came to the LCBO every blue moon, so cellaring for me was to ensure year round availability. So I agree I cellar less now that something decent is now generally available, and only cellar stuff that are one offs or occasionals.

but...that's not how cellaring works.
same as cellaring wine. you shouldn't drink a bottle of wine that fares better with age.
you don't buy a 2013 barolo and drink it in 2016. you drink it in 2023.
cellaring something because it's rare or one-off isn't the best way to maximize your cellar dollars or the beer's flavour. cellaring a beer that improves with age (Orval being a good example, 17 and Terrible also being good examples) gets you a better tasting beer.

[Craig]

The better tasting beer with cellaring thing is very subjective. Some people like their quads hot and spicy, there's nothing wrong with that. Some people, myself included, don't much care for the vinous or sherry-like flavours that eventually develop in a lot of beers.

I find that I prefer my Quads with less than 2 years on them. I've had many, including a few 17s, that I found less interesting with some age. Rochefort and Westvleteren seem to be the Quads that I like older, but I like them young too. I don't think there's any right or wrong answer here, just different preferences.

[atomeyes]

The better tasting beer with cellaring thing is very subjective. Some people like their quads hot and spicy, there's nothing wrong with that. Some people, myself included, don't much care for the vinous or sherry-like flavours that eventually develop in a lot of beers.

I find that I prefer my Quads with less than 2 years on them. I've had many, including a few 17s, that I found less interesting with some age. Rochefort and Westvleteren seem to be the Quads that I like older, but I like them young too. I don't think there's any right or wrong answer here, just different preferences.

you're correct..mostly. hah.
i'd argue that Westy 12 is, day and night, a different beer with age. that young Westy 12 is meh. 4 -5 year old west 12 is spectacular and hypeworthy.

[beerstodiscover]

I've done a bunch of verticals (4 years and younger) with the trappist quads and triples and some barley wines and I find I pretty always prefer fresh, which is obviously subjective. If a big beer is too hot, yes it needs to sit. But I've pretty given up on hoping for much improvement via cellaring. I still have some bottles tucked away to open after 5+ years, just for experimentation and maybe I'll learn I haven't been sitting on bottles long enough.

but...that's not how cellaring works.

Nowadays most of the beers I hoard and cellar are simply because they will hold up. Especially with the stunted distribution/availability in Ontario. I will certainly get a case of Peche and Saison Dupont the next time they come to province , knowing that I can drink them over the course of a year or two or three and it won't diminish any. I wish I had loaded up on Trois Pistoles as it seems to have vanished mostly from these parts at the moment.

[atomeyes]

I've done a bunch of verticals (4 years and younger) with the trappist quads and triples and some barley wines and I find I pretty always prefer fresh, which is obviously subjective. If a big beer is too hot, yes it needs to sit. But I've pretty given up on hoping for much improvement via cellaring. I still have some bottles tucked away to open after 5+ years, just for experimentation and maybe I'll learn I haven't been sitting on bottles long enough.

but...that's not how cellaring works.

Nowadays most of the beers I horde and cellar are simply because they will hold up. Especially with the stunted distribution/availability in Ontario. I will certainly get a case of Peche and Saison Dupont the next time they come to province , knowing that I can drink them over the course of a year or two or three and it won't diminish any. I wish I had loaded up on Trois Pistoles as it seems to have vanished mostly from these parts at the moment.

curious as to the beer you've cellared and the temp of your cellar.
i wouldn't cellar a tripel. almost never (although Dulle Teve does change nicely after a year).

Kaiser Blau, which we used to get every xmas, becomes phenominal with time. yes, that sherry/grape crush/cherry coke note creeps in. St Berny 12, after 1 year, just gets more depth. beyond 1 year, i notice nothing new. Roch 10 is a tricky one. some ppl like it cellared. the batch i bought 6 months ago was way too fresh. way too poppy. it needed time in the cellar.

a great example is also Rodenbach Vintage. 2 completely different beer after 6-12 months in a cellar.

[Craig]

Isn't Rodenbach vintage pasteurized?