one more flavour cellaring question...

JeffPorter · Post by **JeffPorter** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 7:37 pm

This one might be a little more tougher and maybe you chemists/physicists can chime in...

I know hop flavours fade, but just as we're talking about the gueuze, some flavours increase with age.

What about barrel or oak aged beers? If I have barrel aged beer, will the oak, bourbon, and vanilla flavours fade, and if so, as quickly as something like hops?

Thanks for the input guys...I'm really wondering about the few barrel/oak aged bottles I have (GLB, Camerons Doppelbock) - I want to save them for the fall, but will they lose much of their lustre?

Belgian · Post by **Belgian** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 10:15 pm

I found St. Amboise RIS to get more integrated for a year or two, definite improvement. I will not keep my 2009 much longer though, it's matured already!

Oak Yeti still tasted like sawdust, year after year - just a bit mellower - not much of an improvement even in five years.

Gimmicky shit like Innis & Gunn probably has less aging potential. The beer isn't very solid, and the paler style probably doesn't help.

So it depends, aight?

markaberrant · Post by **markaberrant** » Tue Jul 17, 2012 9:47 am

Belgian wrote:Oak Yeti still tasted like sawdust, year after year - just a bit mellower - not much of an improvement even in five years.

Yeah, I was disapointed when I visited the brewery and was told they just put some oak chips in a bag and toss them in the bright tank for a few weeks.

markaberrant · Post by **markaberrant** » Tue Jul 17, 2012 9:48 am

I don't find the oak, bourbon and vanilla flavours fade, they just become more integrated and smooth. Most barel aged beers are way too hot and unbalanced when first released.

Belgian · Post by **Belgian** » Wed Jul 18, 2012 7:17 pm

markaberrant wrote:Yeah, I was disapointed when I visited the brewery and was told they just put some oak chips in a bag and toss them in the bright tank for a few weeks.

There's a real shocker.

There's an art and skill to coopering and using barrels, this is completely ignored when wood (esp new wood) is just chopped up and thrown in. The over-extracted oak tannins can be absolutely nasty, especially with American Oak which is less than subtle to begin with. I like my oak more subtle in the French tradition of making it part of the overall flavor, not a distinct flavor.

But some people like their oak real oaky, or it wouldn't sell. I think Goose Island Bourbon County uses strong oak in a very acceptable way, because it fits the powerful taste of the beer and the bourbon in perfect balance.

JeffPorter · Post by **JeffPorter** » Wed Jul 18, 2012 10:36 pm

Belgian wrote:
There's an art and skill to coopering and using barrels, this is completely ignored when wood (esp new wood) is just chopped up and thrown in.

This reminds me of this story As It Happens covered a couple of years ago...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink ... aking.html

It's amazing that coopering is dying trade, but we love our barrel aged beers so much and they're still growing in popularity - so it begs the question - who's gonna make these barrels?

Also, and maybe I'm being overly sentimental here, but it strikes me as almost sinful to saw up barrels that some craftsman (or woman presumably) has spent a good deal of time and resources making.

icemachine · Post by **icemachine** » Wed Jul 18, 2012 10:48 pm

Barrel staves have a limited lifespan, cutting them up allows them to be reused one more time

JeffPorter · Post by **JeffPorter** » Wed Jul 18, 2012 10:50 pm

icemachine wrote:Barrel staves have a limited lifespan, cutting them up allows them to be reused one more time

That makes sense...Good to know...