Nice. I think it’s awesome you’ve been aging beers for this long!
James- I’m sure others have read this thread, but I thank you for the efforts! You are not alone!
I’ve tried to age a few things here in SoCal, but they (2-4 years in the cellar) end up figgy or overly fruity and I wasn’t expecting that (can’t recall the labels…Lagunitas, perhaps…).
I should have tried one when purchased to see if the profile was what I was after…I suspect (correct me if wrong in this presumption) that the ones I tried had started life kinda fruity. Not worth it, as far as my palate is concerned.
Keep on reporting! ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
Stu,
My experiences have been hit or miss. I think its important to say that most of the time the beers evolve into something different, not necessarily better. The vast majority of beers being made are dialed in to be their best upon release, particularly with the hoppy beers. The sours and some higher gravity stouts are the exception but this is a relatively new thing albeit growing. There were few domestic beers made 10 years ago that the brewers wanted you to lay down. I have to admit, I do it far less regularly than I used to. For the most part, when i do I like aging sours, Belgian lambics, stouts (although I’m not a huge fan) and then barleywines. The occasional one-off will end up in the cellar too. While there are a ton of exceptions, the general rule I go by is the bigger the malt presence, the higher the alcohol and the less dominated by hops the beer is the better for aging.
James
I’m not one for cellaring New World beers, too many times I am just disappointed in them - it’s one thing for them to “hold on” another to develop into something really special.
BUT - I have been cellaring the Vintage Harvest Ales from J. W. LEES BREWERY out of Manchester England since the late 1980s. They really come alive at ten years of age, and at 20, taste like they are weeks old. I have a few pre-2000 vintage bottlings left, but mainly have 3-4 bottles each of most of the last 15 years. Haven’t popped one this year yet, on a “no-beer” diet right now, but will post a tasting note when I do pop another one.
Thomas,
I did the same with Thomas Hardy for a long time including finding a bunch of vintages in a discount bin. Then I realized I really didn’t like them when they are aged hence I have quite a bit of Thomas Hardy in the cellar aging peacefully. I have a few Lees Harvest purchased on whims and haven’t opened any yet, hopefully it will be more to my liking.
Have you tried aging any American barleywines for a few years? I have really been surprised how much I like some of them with a few years of bottle age.
James
I have to admit that I am not a barley wine fan at all. What intrigued me so much about the Lees Harvest Ales is; they seem to flesh out into a very balanced, almost butterscotchy brew with a wonderful toastyness to them when they start hitting ten years of age. And, they don’t have that wicked weight that the bigger Barley wines have -
Earlier tonight I had some barleywines at my favorite local that were leftover from a festival last weekend. The best was a 2014 Victory Old Horizontal. Of course when I got home I had to find some Victory barleywines to do some comparison. I found the one in the pictures below. I have to admit I don’t know its age. I think it is a 2010 but it feels older than that. Lots of chunks in the bottom of the bottle - a few clumps made it into my glass due to a careless pour. A British-style barleywine that is thick - you can feel the viscosity. The malts really come through with the hops having faded long ago. Not noticeably oxided, with no clear flaws - unless you consider the solids to be flaws. Nice head retention. Perhaps a little bit of candy sugar comes through although not enough to be distracting. All in all, another solid Old Horizontal - probably my favorite barleywine.
Have a couple 2008 and 2009 BCBS on deck for me waiting! Cheers!!!
I accidentally knocked over a 2011 Stone Anniversary Black IPA causing some leakage. It was in the queue so not that big of a deal. Interesting beer in that, not surprisingly it has little IPA characteristics left at all. Whats left is a lighter stout-type beer weighing in at about 10% with some hops in the finish. Really nice mouth coating from the malts which lingers for quite awhile. While the label said drink up, I’m glad I held on to this one.
I had my last bottle of Ranger Creek Small Batch Series No. 3 last night. It was from batch 10/9/12 and purchased two years ago in Texas. Really excellent stuff.
Broke into my stash of 04’ Alaskan Smoked porter, losing bubbles but really delicious.
10’ JOLLY ROGER is showing better than ever out of 22.
Also Stone 05’ was killin it the other night.
I love aging beers and have many more to go…
Jason,
When you’re down sometime, we should open a 10 year vertical of Alaskan Smoked Porter. I’ve found, depending on recipe, 5-7 years ideal.
Paul,
What is it about 5 - 7 yo Alasksan Smoked Porter that you enjoy so much? How is it different at that age than when it’s 1 yo, for example?
I found that at 5-7 years the smoke had done some integrating but hadn’t vanished and the age had introduced some interesting caramel/sherry/toffee notes to counter the hops. There’s just a nice intersection of decreasing smoke, decreasing hops, increasing oxidation that converge around there. I’ve done the vertical tasting 3 times now and for some reason that was the sweet spot for me. Some vintages have slightly different recipes though so there’s no exact science, YMMV, etc.
Very cool, and interesting, Paul. Thank you for the reply. 
Yeah, honestly I just forget about them downstairs, need to finish my stash. I don’t really care for the smokes porter young, but with age as Paul says, they’re pretty delicious.
I agree that the smoke is a bit overwhelming when released. I’ve got a couple 2001’s in the cellar. Opened one for a friend from Alaska a few months ago and was pleasantly surprised that it was still quite tasty.
All of these comments on the Alaskan Smoked Porter are very interesting to me. I’ve only had it a couple times – I usually pass it over in favor of an Aecht Schlenkerla. Against that backdrop, perhaps it will surprise nobody to hear that I’ve found the couple (young) Alaskans I’ve had to be not as smoky as I’d like.
It may indeed have more smoke or it could just be the style. The Aecht (I’m assuming Maerzen) has less hops, less alcohol and less tannins from roasted barley, so the smoke is going to be more perceptible.
Good points, Paul. Plus — and I’m not sure if this even matters — the Aecht’s are lagers, as opposed to Alaskan being an ale.
I prefer the Aecht Urbock, but will happily drink the Marzen when the Urbock is not around.