Beer Cave

[Brian_G_r_a_f_s_t_r_o_m]

@W. Leonard

Do you ever notice a “sulphur” note to JW lees?

I haven’t.

[James_Dennis]

Wow. Nice beer cellar Nicholas. I’d be hard pressed to think of one that I have seen that comes close to being as sweet as yours.

I do an annual beer trip to Amsterdam with some old college budies- this year Nov. 8-11th. I bring my own containers to haul beer back (mostly gueuze and Dutch rarities like de Molen) so I usually have room to bring some bombers over if you are interested in giving that cellar a little American feel.

James

[W_Leonard]

@Brian G r a f s t r o m

@W. Leonard

Do you ever notice a “sulphur” note to JW lees?

I haven’t.

Have you tried the 2009 Calvados cask? One bottle was great and the other had a serious sulpur streak and a toooooooon of sediment.

[Matthew_Brown]

@nicholasharbour

I am aging some Gouden Carolous too. I like their vintage bottles with the horse painted on the bottle “Cuvee Van De Keizer”.

The Blue Label ages very well. The Red Label does fine, but gets a bit lean too quick for my tastes.

Thanks for the invite. May have to settle for a virtual toast, but I have some favors to cash in at some point…

[Brian_G_r_a_f_s_t_r_o_m]

@W. Leonard

@Brian G r a f s t r o m

@W. Leonard

Do you ever notice a “sulphur” note to JW lees?

I haven’t.

Have you tried the 2009 Calvados cask? One bottle was great and the other had a serious sulpur streak and a toooooooon of sediment.

No, and I probably never would — I don’t like Calvados.

[BobH]

@nicholasharbour

@b hudak

I age beer in my wine cellar… I am experimenting with aging some Blue Mountain, Petrus, Gouden Carolous, etc.

Hudak how do you store your beers? Upright? Do you keep the in crates? I am aging some Gouden Carolous too. I like their vintage bottles with the horse painted on the bottle “Cuvee Van De Keizer”.

go.

I store them upright. That is the correct way, and I have been aging beer for close to 10 years, so I know they turn out A-OK. I just generally keep them in cardboard boxes, although crates is a very good idea, and I will hunt down some as those will stack much better.
I should add that I consider ANY beer that is bottle conditioned to be a goo candidate for aging. So, anything that has yeast in the bottle, fermented in the bottle, etc., is a good candidate. Especially if it is cork finished.

Also, I might add that I will be in Brussels in July 2014 for the big international beer event. Expect a knock on your door.

[BobH]

@Brian G r a f s t r o m

@W. Leonard

Do you ever notice a “sulphur” note to JW lees?

I haven’t.

I have not either. JW Lees is very age able. At about the age of 10, it drinks kind of like an aged Chambers muscat.

[Brian_G_r_a_f_s_t_r_o_m]

@b hudak

@nicholasharbour

@b hudak

I age beer in my wine cellar… I am experimenting with aging some Blue Mountain, Petrus, Gouden Carolous, etc.

Hudak how do you store your beers? Upright? Do you keep the in crates? I am aging some Gouden Carolous too. I like their vintage bottles with the horse painted on the bottle “Cuvee Van De Keizer”.

go.

I store them upright. That is the correct way, and I have been aging beer for close to 10 years, so I know they turn out A-OK. I just generally keep them in cardboard boxes, although crates is a very good idea, and I will hunt down some as those will stack much better.
I should add that I consider ANY beer that is bottle conditioned to be a goo candidate for aging. So, anything that has yeast in the bottle, fermented in the bottle, etc., is a good candidate. Especially if it is cork finished.
…

I’ve read (heard?) that cork-finished bottles of beer should be stored on their sides; crown-caps should be stored standing up. Don’t know if that’s correct, but that’s how I store my beers.

[TimF]

This cave is pretty sweet. At 99% humidity do you have any mold issues?

[nicholasharbour]

@Brian G r a f s t r o m

I’ve read (heard?) that cork-finished bottles of beer should be stored on their sides; crown-caps should be stored standing up. Don’t know if that’s correct, but that’s how I store my beers.

Its my opinion that you store beers upright to allow the lees to settle neatly into the base of the bottle. This way you can have a clean first pour with no lees and if you so desire you can shake up the lees and have a second glass with lees.

Other than that I do not know of any reason to store bottles in any specific sense.

[nicholasharbour]

@TimF

This cave is pretty sweet. At 99% humidity do you have any mold issues?

Hi Tim, no mold, but any cardboard that is left down there sucks it up and falls apart.

[BobH]

@Brian G r a f s t r o m

[I’ve read (heard?) that cork-finished bottles of beer should be stored on their sides; crown-caps should be stored standing up. Don’t know if that’s correct, but that’s how I store my beers.

Different people say different things, but most of the Champagne experts store theirs upright. I see no difference between a cork finished beer with or without the crown cap personally. All of mine get stored upright as a result. I’m no expert, but at least I can say I have not run into problems so far.

[Ray_Walker]

I think it’s time to raid your beer cave. Too many photos and talking, we need to kill some of these.

Thanks again for turning me onto the Belge beers. My wine has been left to mature for a bit longer thanks to the cave defenders

[Brian_G_r_a_f_s_t_r_o_m]

Bob, when I referenced crown capped beers I was talking about those that are crown capped without cork.

[BobH]

Oh, gotcha. Certainly, anything that has a cap and no cork must be stored upright. I do always store my cork beers upright as well.