Cellar? or drink ASAP? Why or why not?

[swenocha]

After going to the East Nashville Beer Fest pre event bottle share, and seeing some of the outrageous bottles people were bringing, and then also reading an article on Beer Advocate regarding "to cellar, or not to cellar," it got me to thinking a bit about why I keep bottles and wondering what (if anything) you all keep around.

Here's my story. I started out with only one bottle back... a 2008 Dark Lord. Around 2010, curiosity got the best of me, and I took it to a party and opened it. I immediately regretted it. Not to be beer-snobbish, but the audience wasn't correct, and I in essence wasted the bottle on people who I should have known wouldn't like it. Shortly after that, I started getting involved in the Nashville beer scene and saw people bringing great bottles to events. Prior to that, I bought great everyday beers in my travels... Alpha King and the like... and I was initially bringing those to these events. No one looks down upon people bringing what they like (at least in our community), but tasting those other beers really makes you appreciate them, and got me to start collecting a bit.

So, when I travel I usually buy a bottle to keep along with some favorites to drink earlier. Thus, I've had some nice bottles to take to events now (Three Floyds Behemoth and seasonals, Upland sours, St. Somewhere, Cigar City, etc.). I currently have the following small selection remaining in my "cellar"... some are great beers, the last couple are not as exciting, but just kept for curiosity:

- '12 Yazoo Fortuitous barrel aged sour smoked porter, two '13 Deux Rogues flanders red, and a few '13 Sue smoked porters
- '14 Cool Springs Brewery Brussel's Muscle Belgian dark strong ale
- '13 Upland Sour Reserve batch #3
- '13 Goose Island Halia, Julia, Sofia, BCBS coffee stout
- '13 Founders Breakfast Stout and Crumudgeon old ale
- '13 Sierra Nevada Ovila Abbey quad
- '13 Lindeman Kriek and Framboise
- '13 BBC Bourbon Barrel stout
- '12 Innis and Gunn Winter beer
- I also have a smattering of homebrew bottles that I think will age well set back


Why do I keep these? I have learned several things about that, and also about myself, in starting this small collection...

- Some, I think, will age well. Upon reading reviews by others, seeing/drinking some of these beers at tastings, and following the brewer's advice, I'm letting them sit for an as-yet-undefined time to do some aging
- Most of these are bombers, and most are high gravity. I'm not inclined to drink these by myself (and the wife doesn't drink beer). Thus, I tend to like to have these for sharing at tastings and festivals like this weekend, but also for holidays and small shares with like-minded beer people.
- Something I knew about myself from prior collections... I am somewhat addicted to collecting, and I am a completist (is that a word? well, it's what I'm going with). One example... in HS/college, I collected comics, and I couldn't stop myself from collecting Batman issues. The store had hundreds of issues, and I started at issue 400 (or whatever)... how could I not want the other 399 issues prior? Same for poker accessories, Disney merch and movies, etc. I had to cut myself off on all of those after a while. I'm seeing the same tendencies starting again here. Had I started when the Stone 12 year series started back in '01, I'd likely have them all right now.
- I also knew that I'm pretty possessive. While I love sharing homebrew with whoever will drink it, I hate to let that last bottle go of every homebrew batch. I also hate drinking that last bottle of Alpha King from my trips up north, and thus I let them sit around far beyond their best by date. I'm finding that I struggle a small bit with parting with the bottles I take to fests and the like. It's made much easier by the unbelievable generosity shown by the people in the beer group... If they are sharing wonderful bottles, of course I want to as well. But still... I want to keep them all... I don't want to let them go.
- I'm having a hard time building up the bottle supply at the age I want. Because I want to take good bottles to share, and because I have so few bottles with so little age, I am usually taking fairly new bottles to events and thus not building my collection. I also don't want to break the bank on bottles... I spend enough on homebrew stuff, beer tastings, and other assorted beer events, that I can't justify going hog wild on bottle purchases. Thus, I usually only buy one (or very occasionally two or three if I see some that I really want) on trips, and we really don't travel much these days. I haven't gotten into trading much (I don't feel like I have a lot to trade for what I want), and I haven't gotten into buying from Belgium in a Box or the like, though I'm pretty close to considering going in with a few people on a box from them.
- I also see myself buying a better storage solution... I am currently using a dark corner of a pantry that stays pretty consistent temp-wise, but I really either need a temp-controlled wine fridge or to build a controlled pantry of some sort.

So, what say you? Anyone collecting anything interesting? Have a good storage solution? Any good stories to share? Thoughts on why (or why not) to cellar beers?

[Brewbirds]

We don't buy many craft beers since we started brewing, just an occasional example if we want to try and brew a new style.

Do you speak of a difference between cellaring and long term conditioning? I understand that high gravity beers, barley wines, imperial stouts etc. have to or benefit extensive conditioning time.

I know that wines work the same way for some reds,ports etc. but cellaring for wines if I recall is very temperature sensitive and of course must be on the sides so the corks don't dry out.

As for cellaring beers I understand that the current thought regarding hops are that you will lose AA and essential oils to oxidation and decay and will only perceive bitterness via the oxidation of Beta Acids.

About the best we do so far is hold back one or two bottles for comparing to a future batch beyond any that require extended conditioning.

[swenocha]

Yes, temps are very important. I need to develop a more controlled solution for cellaring/aging. I have all of them in a location that is around 60 degrees pretty consistently. That temp is great for strong beers (like barleywines, tripels, dark ales), which like a 55-60F temp, and which is what I mostly have. Where I get into more of a problem is that the less strong beers (lambics in particular for me) work better at cellar temperatures (around 50-55F). As I get into keeping more lambics, I need to address this. A nice 55 degree situation seems best for all concerned.

To the point of the wines being on their sides, beers should be stored upright, even when they are corked.

[swenocha]

This is maybe 75% of what I have on the shelf at this point...



So... no one else ages/cellars beers? Wow... and here I thought this might be a fun beer conversation to start... I guess I'm just talking to myself again. Hello, self...

[yankfan9]

I am absolutely way too impatient with beer to cellar it, if it tastes good I feel the need to drink it ASAP! I've tried, really, with my imperial chocolate stout, but the longest it lasted was 6 months..

[swenocha]

I'm itching to open one of those Yazoo funky beers... I need to find a group of beer friends to drink it with... I can easily sit on the stouts and such, as I had other bottles that I drank young(ish). I usually try to drink one young before keeping them back. No point in aging them if you don't know what they tasted like originally. Of course, it helps to have tons of tasty homebrew lying about to allow me to keep my mitts off of these...

[Inkleg]

So... no one else ages/cellars beers? Wow... and here I thought this might be a fun beer conversation to start... I guess I'm just talking to myself again. Hello, self...

Sorry Swen, I've been busy. Currently have Stone VE 10-10-10, 11-11-11 and 12-12-12, Founders Breakfast, Backwoods Bastard and KBS along with some others. I'll have to go look at some because I can't remember the names. I've been following Stone VE since 05, I'd buy two at a time. Enjoy one then and cellar the other. They were good years later, but I wish I had purchached more at the time.

[Rebel_B]

No cellaring for me. I am not a collector by nature. I have also found that beers that are good fresh rarely benefit from a long cellar. Beers that I don't like fresh, I still don't like after a year in a bottle.

[philm00x]

I'm nowhere near the level of expertise that the others that have replied in this thread are at, but in general I feel that you should cellar them. The lambics in particular seem to get real good as they age- less sharp bite from sourness and smoother finish. Not that the sourness goes away, but it's just a little less acidic, seemingly, so it doesn't "sting" when it hits your tongue.

On a side note, I have been keeping Inkleg's bottle of Ovila clone in storage until I can get a bottle of the original from Sierra Nevada and do a comparison. To this point, the only commercial quad I have sampled is Ommegang's Three Philosophers, and that one is blended with kriek so I can't get a real appreciation for what a quadruple ought to taste like. Cellaring strong Belgian ales is always a good thing, which I've noticed improved flavor and less alcohol taste with age in both my own tripel and dubbel.

As for the stouts, I guess they can go either way. Smoked ones I imagine you'd want to have younger so that you can be assured the smoke aroma doesn't fade out w/ time like hop aroma.

[Inkleg]

On a side note, I have been keeping Inkleg's bottle of Ovila clone in storage until I can get a bottle of the original from Sierra Nevada and do a comparison.

That's cool Phil. I've been trying one a month (I think I've sent more to Borg members than I've consumed). It's 6 months old now and I enjoyed the one I had last week. It is getting better with age.

[swenocha]

As for the stouts, I guess they can go either way. Smoked ones I imagine you'd want to have younger so that you can be assured the smoke aroma doesn't fade out w/ time like hop aroma.

I had a case of the Yazoo Sue smoked porter, so it was aging originally simply because, though I love the beer, I can't drink it very often... A high grav bomber with a strong flavor like that is an occasional for me. Also, the Fortuitous is essentially a soured, barrel-aged Sue, so I wanted to keep one around for comparison as well. Similarly, I had multiple bottles of the other three stouts, so one went into storage.

[swenocha]

On a side note, I have been keeping Inkleg's bottle of Ovila clone in storage until I can get a bottle of the original from Sierra Nevada and do a comparison.

That's cool Phil. I've been trying one a month (I think I've sent more to Borg members than I've consumed). It's 6 months old now and I enjoyed the one I had last week. It is getting better with age.

Awesome. Didn't know you did an Ovila clone. Did you post a recipe on here somewhere? I was somewhat sporadic in reading here for a while, so I likely missed it.

[Inkleg]

On a side note, I have been keeping Inkleg's bottle of Ovila clone in storage until I can get a bottle of the original from Sierra Nevada and do a comparison.

That's cool Phil. I've been trying one a month (I think I've sent more to Borg members than I've consumed). It's 6 months old now and I enjoyed the one I had last week. It is getting better with age.

Awesome. Didn't know you did an Ovila clone. Did you post a recipe on here somewhere? I was somewhat sporadic in reading here for a while, so I likely missed it.

I can't remember myself if I posted it. Just heading out the door to meet the wife for an over night stay. I'll check when I get back in town and post it or a link. It's the regular Ovila, not the Plum. I think I got it from a BYO issue. I'll be shooting you a PM soon too, for your address. I would love to send you some beers and fridge magnets.

[swenocha]

Added a couple beautiful limited edition Blackstone Black Belle Imperial stouts to the mix today. This stout was infused with cacao nibs and aged for more than a year in Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery's Belle Meade Bourbon barrels. It is truly one of the best beers I've tasted (had some samples at the East Nashville Beer Fest last week), so was very happy to have landed a couple bottles...

[Brewbirds]

Swen ! Do you need an intervention?

Oh and I just discovered that I accidentally cellared a beer today. Went to grab BB2 and myself one of our wheat beers and one poured dark brown.

Turns out it was a year + old MB Defibrillator Dopplebock that had the same cap and bottle that got "lost" in the beer closet and put in the cooler with a hand full of the wheats.

I have to say that aging that one improved it a great deal where as I think I'm just going give up on the last MB recipe in the closet and put the bottles back in circulation.

I think I have an extremely low tolerance level with POR.