To Age Beer,Or Not To Age Beer,That Is the...oh who gives a shit

Some call it aging, some call it cellaring, and some call it a waste of time.  The bottom line is, you have to know about your beer before you age it.  Light, temperature, moisture, and container can all affect your beer in good or bad ways as it ages.  I used to take some of my beer and hide it from myself in the back of my kitchen cabinets.  Months, or even years later, I would come across it and it was like finding a $20 in a pair of pants you haven’t worn in awhile.  But aside from creating a long term easter egg hunt for myself, it yealded little to no resulsts.  Should I be worried that I am able to hide things from myself?

In the recent Beer Advocate issue #80, they warn against cellaring beers.  It’s akin to a “crap shoot”, according to the Alstrom brothers, and me being far from an expert, I’m done with it. They do give a few tips if you decide to cellar your beers anyway.

1.      Don’t buy beers off of warm shelves

2.      Only cellar high-ABV or bottle-conditioned

3.      Store your beers around 45 degrees

4.      Cellar multiple bottle of the same brew.  (try it at different times)

5.      Hops fade, so don’t expect much success from cellaring hop-centric beers.

www.Beeradvocate.com/beer/101/store

One tip that goes without saying, store your beer upright!

Unless I hear about a specific beer, and how exactly to store it, I’m drinking my beer fresh from now on.  A beer enthusiast friend of mine had the opportunity to try 6 Stone beers that had been aged in a cellar for a year, and the same 6 that had been sitting in a fridge for a year.  He said that everyone that tried them agreed that all but one of the refrigerated beers tasted better.  This can be due to a lot of things, but supports my decision to drink fresh, or at least keep my beer cold.

So if you are sitting on a stockpile of good beer, set aside the next few days to drink them down before they go bad, but first, give me a call so that I can help!