Bourbon Barrel Stout Aging

That is crazy. I thought BCBS was basically undrinkable fresh. Had one at 5 months and another at 8 and now the 8 months have past they beer is definitely entering the drinking realm.

To each their own!

 

I had some BCBS on tap in June at a bar and it was so boozy it was almost undrinkable.

 

Love fresh Bcbs. I've had 2007 which was past prime even to my untrained palate, 2008 which was ok and 2009 which was still great and kicking. I wouldn't think much benefit past two years if cellared properly, could be wrong but beer is still a perishable product.

 

This is probably the worst rule of thumb imaginable for beers that are 10%+ and too expensive to buy multiple bottles of it.

 

I don't think there is any hard and fast way to answer this. You may find that some of the hotter ones are better aged (most do). But not all barreled beers are hot fresh, and the same beer might vary year to year. So yes, the only way to be sure is to test it and hope your wallet forgives you.

 

HaHaHa, Nice! My wallet is all for it, the wife on the other hand....

 

Drank a '12 and '13 KBS semi-back to back (a day apart..........), and definitely prefer it with a year on it (technically an additional year I suppose). I know I am probably very in the minority on that one.

 

If you're just starting out on aging, I'd definitely research every beer you want to age (on these forums) before aging. There's lots of good information in here about that. Personally, we like KBS with a year on it better than fresh, but that's as far as I've aged it. We have decided to stop aging any Firestone Walker. I know some people like it, but every time we've tried, we feel it went downhill so we stopped risking it since they are so good fresh.

 

WHAAA?! Do explain.

 

I don't understand why people immediately say age stuff. Beer doesn't get always get "better" with age, it "changes". Whether that means mellowing or losing its heat, etc. But to know how it changes you need to know how it starts.

 

I didn't say that. I listed a relatively narrow band of beers. Those which are really strong and impractically expensive to buy 2 or more bottles of. If you want to play it safe, letting your one bottle sit for six months to calm down a bit is fine.

For stuff you can easily get a lot of you should always try fresh first.

 

I have had KBS aged for 3.5 years. The coffee mellows out and it is excellent. If you love the strong coffee tones, don't age it.

I also have bcbs from '09 aged 3 years and this stuff gets better every year. I have one left and cant wait to see what it taste like after 4 years this december.

I recommend aging either of them for over a year.

 

You can never go wrong drinking beers fresh. Parabola holds up fine but never improves. KBS does worse, to my taste, because the coffee flavor becomes noticeably more stale over time.

 

Define "fine." Because it's fine to let them sit for 10 years. You can do what you want with beers.

But rarely, if ever, are you going to find a beer that isn't fit to drink once it's been bottled. Particularly the BA versions of big beers. The biggest exception to this might be American Barleywines which, when bottled, tend to be particularly intense; bitter and alcoholic. But they also tend to not be terribly expensive or exclusive.

 

Fine means little to no change.

I think nearly 1\3rd of barleywines\old ales are undrinkable fresh and quite plainly rushed out the door to save on costs. A good chunk of the remaining 2/3rds improve within 2 years too. Barrel-aged ones can be an exception but to be perfectly frank I think a lot of the normal ones I age myself end up tasting better than most barrel-aged ones do at any point. And I've not aged many barrel-aged stouts but the ones I have always tasted better with one or two years on them. Not always hugely better, but noticeably better.

I want to taste a lot of oak in my barrel-aged beers; the actual whiskey I can take or leave. Usually the oak is overwhelmed by heat and/or whiskey and doesn't get a chance to shine (especially in stouts, which start to taste like oaken vanilla fudge after a year or so).