Craft Brew May Mellow

[John Sand]

Today I opened two bottles of craft brew from last spring/summer: A Saranac Blueberry Blonde and a Sam Adams Alpine Spring. I didn't really care for either last year, so I just stuck them in the basement. I had planned to give them away at some point. While sorting beer this morning, I brought them up and chilled them. Tonight I drank them, and found them much improved. The blueberry and whatever made the SA "Alpine" were not as strong, making both better in my opinion. I'm going to put aside the rest of two sixes of Session IPAs I don't like to see if they mellow too. I know it's common to let strong beers age, but lighter ones may benefit also.
This test was done by a skilled amateur under uncontrolled conditions. I do recommend that you try this at home.

[FedoraDave]

On the old Mr. Beer site, there was a regular who said he warm-conditioned his beer for four months. I used to wonder how he managed to do it, since I usually drank mine well before that. But then I managed to fill my pipeline to the point where some of my bottles actually conditioned at room temperature for four months or longer, and I did notice an improvement in most of them. Sadly, this may be a rarity. I seem to have trouble this year keeping my pipeline full, in spite of brewing regularly.

[John Sand]

I am behind too Dave. Cold winter, sick twice, traveled once. I went ten weeks without brewing! Even now, I bottled tonight, but I don't know when my next brewday will be. I'm supplementing with craft beer, and saving bottles. Another Pale Ale will be next, I think. I'm low on those, and can always drink them. I actually just discovered some from last fall. Only a couple, but I think I'll try to save one to compare to the current batch and the next batch.

[Kealia]

On the old Mr. Beer site, there was a regular who said he warm-conditioned his beer for four months. I used to wonder how he managed to do it, since I usually drank mine well before that. But then I managed to fill my pipeline to the point where some of my bottles actually conditioned at room temperature for four months or longer, and I did notice an improvement in most of them. Sadly, this may be a rarity. I seem to have trouble this year keeping my pipeline full, in spite of brewing regularly.

That would be Brian (Bpgreen). He's active on the HBT forums and is/was a big advocate for long warm conditioning followed by a minimum of 2 weeks in the fridge.

I still find that it helps some beers, but doesn't change others. I think the better my brewing temps, pitch rates, etc. are , the less time I need for the beer to be ready. Granted, there is a difference between READY and BETTER but I do find that some don't change at all.

YMMV.

[RickBeer]

John, "discovering beer" sounds like fun, but with my spreadsheet is not possible

That Pipeline is key, and of course it depends on your consumption rate. We're not even a 6 pack a week between us as compared to the few that do a case a week.

[John Sand]

Rick, I'm a "case a week guy". My target is really to brew ten gallons a month, but I fall short and fill in with craft brew. I also don't have a garage, or a den, or a "man cave". The basement is only about 6'4", but I'm 6'5". And that basement is full of decades of stuff. So, while I can store my brews and supplies down there, it's anything but regimented. When I bottle a batch, it generally goes into cardboard cases. But as those cases get close to empty, they must be combined to allow the new batches to be bottled. Those are then stacked, allowing some brews to be "lost" among less successful brews, or unsatisfactory craft brew. So, I often "discover" beers I thought to be long gone.