Best Old Ale

This is super confusing, lol.

 

I dont care what anybody says Rogue 21 Years 21 beers! Had my last one on new years day better than ever! You do the math...

 

Fullers Vintage Ale is definitely one of my favorite beers. Also I remember North Coast Old Stock being extremely enjoyable.

 

The best?!?! I'm not sure but I do love Ola Dubh Special Reserve 18!

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/323/47581

 

Another style invented in the UK that hardly any of the local craft brewers touch (see also barleywine and impy stout).

Traquair Jacobite
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/24/652

Thornbridge Bracia (regular and PX aged version)
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/13029/49186

 

In my limited exposure to old ales and the fact that I live less than 10 miles from Kuhnhenn, I have to say that BB4D blows away the other old ales that I have tried. I have been spoiled and now all other old ales taste like bathtub water in comparison.

 

I have had Bells Third Coast Old Ale 3 times in the past year and the beer is so beautiful. Have a 2 year vertical of Old Crumudgeon planned for this weekend ('12 & '13). Also picked up HoTD Adam and Fred last week, but those two guys will likely be sitting around for a couple of years before I get into them.

 

< Oh yeah, I forgot the mouse here is technically an old ale (or at least the older stronger version was).

Harviestoun Old Engine Oil.

 

I guess I should also throw votes in there for (cannot BELIEVE I forgot these, especially the first one) Fuller's Vintage Ale, Samuel Smith's Yorkshire Stingo, and the collaborative Stingo brew between Boulevard and Pretty Things...all fantastic old ales...

 

I'll say Founders Curmudgeon. Love that beer.

 

In the last two months I bought Firestone's Anniversary, Sucaba, Double DBA, and Old Rasputin XV... from the looks of these posts I should have bought Fruet! I say this because I have a limited beer budget.

 

Beers for aging were always hopped more, for purely practical purposes. They needed the extra hops to protect them during storage. The basic beers would have been identical, but the one for ageing would have had more hops. It's just the way they brewed.

Here's an example from London brewery Barclay Perkins. These are their Mild and Stock Ales from 1869:

X 1060 1.94 lbs hops per barrel
XX 1080 4 lbs hops per barrel
XXX 1093 5 lbs hops per barrel

KK 1079 7.24 lbs hops per barrel
KKK 1093 8 lbs hops per barrel
KKKK 1106 10 lbs hops per barrel

The recipe of XX (Mild) and KK (Stock) are identical. Just the hopping is different. The same for XXX and KKK.

 

I hope that I always agree with Ron Pattinson. When we start arguing, it'll be time to call the men in the white coats.

 

Very underrated style.
My 2 favorites: Founders Old Curmudgeon + Great Divide Hibernation Ale

 

Yep, a very understated style.

Still, no one's mentioned Gales Prize Old Ale which, when on form, is as good as any. Sometimes better.

 

Adam

 

If a brewer had separate beers, XXXX and KKKK, would it have been common to refer to both of them as the same beer in advertisements of the time? And if oxidized or soured/brett character were desired in the old beer would they have bothered with additional hopping to protect the stored beer?

Thank you for the historical info, btw. What you're saying definitely makes sense, but that advertisement leaves me with questions.

 

I'm working through a six-pack of Old Peculier, and I have to ask:

Am I stupid for thinking this old ale is like a slightly sweeter-finishing, more carbonated Irish dry stout?

Shoot me if I'm an idiot, but I feel like I'm drinking a gateway beer to Guinness Extra Stout ... lots of taste, plenty of dark malt goodness but with a really nice sweeter back end and a mouthfeel more like what I think of as beer. Even if I am an idiot, I'm liking Old Peculier more and more to the point that I want to try some of these old ale suggestions.

 

I agree with Great Divide Hibernation, delicious.

 

Adam from the wood.