Aging Beer

[sweetback]

I've heard all the talk about aging beer, but cant find any real definite info, so what beers age well, how do you if a beer will age well. Whats the shelf life for most beers?

thx

[GregClow]

The reason you can't find any definitive info about aging beers is probably because doing so is a complete crap shoot. Some co-called "vintage" beers don't age well at all. Some "regular" beers will last for yonks. Some beers can have a batch that will age well, followed by one that you'd better drink as soon as you get it 'cause it'll be stale as hell in a few months.

A general rule of thumb is that stronger and/or darker beers will last longer than weaker and/or lighter ones. But just because a beer will last long doesn't mean that it will necessarily improve with age.

Sorry I can't be more informative, but you really have to experiment and see what works for you and what doesn't.

[hops are your friend]

What temperature and setup do other people try to use for cellaring their beer?

Most of the beer that I've kept around for long periods of time (e.g. various years of barleywines) are just tucked into the back/bottom of my beer fridge. My fridge is pretty large (think 6 foot tall fridge with no freezer compartment) so this normally allows me to fit in lots of other beer. I keep the fridge at about 45F. That's probably too cold for real cellaring.

After my last trip to Syracuse I was 'overstocked' (a nice problem to have) so I started to keep some beer in a corner of my unfinished basement. The temperature there is probably around 60F. That's probably a bit too warm for real cellaring.

Anyways, I'd like to hear what other people are doing.

[Steve Beaumont]

At the risk of appearing self-promotional, I wrote a feature a couple of years back on World of Beer that covers in pretty simple terms the basics of cellaring beer. You can find it here

[Roland + Russell]

This will probably appear as self-promoting...but we just wanted to reiterate that Thomas Hardy's Ale can be cellared for up to 25 years. According to Michael Jackson, in the year of it's brewing it is syrupy in texture, yeasty in flavour and malty in taste. After one year, it may develop in aroma, roundness and balance. After 5 years, it takes on sherry like or Madeira notes. THA should be kept in a cool, dark place undistrubed and temperature should not be higher than 13 C.

Eggenberg Samichlaus is also suitable for cellaring.

According to some cellaring experts, corked beers should be stored on their sides and those with crown caps are stored upright.
Cheers.

[GregClow]

At the risk of appearing self-promotional, I wrote a feature a couple of years back on World of Beer that covers in pretty simple terms the basics of cellaring beer. You can find it here

Thanks for the pointer, Steve. Much better and more informative than what I wrote above.

[pootz]

This will probably appear as self-promoting...but we just wanted to reiterate that Thomas Hardy's Ale can be cellared for up to 25 years

Yes it's a wonderful strong ale for cellaring and I would like to buy a few but unfortunately it is not available on my local LCBO shelves, and I seldom have opportunity to frequent the select DT TO cafes that serve it and special ordering a case is fiscally prohibitive...what is a moderate beer gourmand to do?