So a typical low ABV beer dies out in about three months or so. But what about the coffee flavor in beers with higher octane?
From my experience, coffee is a quick fading taste to any imperial stout. Typically the more coffee, the less time you have to enjoy.
I had a 2014 bourbon county coffee this week, and thought it had faded a fair bit. If I had to guess, I would say in the 6 months since bottling it has lost 30% of the coffee flavor - and most of that is the up front 'wow' coffee notes. That said, I had an 18 month old founders breakfast this week too, and I thought it was better than fresh. I think it depends very much on the brewer and how they added the coffee flavor. Cold brew coffee added after fermentation and aging seems to fade the fastest in my opinion.
There is no hard and fast rule. And while coffee may fade, it usually doesn't disappear. The amount of coffee used, type of coffee, and brewing method (i.e. whether added during or following brewing, whether added as beans, grounds, brewed coffee, or cold-brewed coffee) all matter. So, while its hard to generalize, you'll probably get your best results within six months of brewing, but up to 1 year. That said I've had amazing coffee beers with years on them.
Seems the boldest of it fades quickly. Recently opened a bottle of FBS that I bought fresh and left in my fridge for six months, and the coffee's boldness was completely gone.
I've been wondering this myself lately. Especially if it was aged in a bourbon barrel. Typically I sit on beers aged in bourbon barrels,but if coffee is in it that's out the window. My real test is a bottle of Avery Tweak I'm sitting on. Had one in December and am sitting on the other. Still debating for how long.
BTW OP, nice avatar. 4 Hands 3 Kings would be great to compare against Avery Tweak. 4 Hands needs to make more!
Love big (ABV) coffee stouts. From the one's I've tried, Big Bad Baptist tastes amazing even after a few years. Very nice coffee undertones that blend well with the other ingredients.
Been looking at some FBS on a shelf for a couple of weeks now, with a Nov 2014 bottle date. Not making the mistake of grabbing that in May again, honestly half as tasty as fresh, imo.
This. Peche Mortel still has a ton of terrific Coffee flavors even after a year or two. Fantastic beer.
Usually coffee can die out pretty quick, especially in something like FBS. I will say that I had a 2.5 year old coffee stout from a local brewery down the road from my work that was still VERY coffee forward and tasty. It tasted a little old, but the coffee did not fade at all somehow...
We just had a BBA Coffee Stout that was kegged in October, and it still tasted fresh and fantastic. Peche Mortel also holds up incredibly well, as does Avery Tweak.
Judging by the responses here and my personal experiences there doesn't seem to be a consistent answer. Some beers seem to fall off really quickly and others hang in for quite a long time. Personal preference as to the intensity of coffee flavor in general should also be considered. Nowadays if I am drinking a coffee beer I am usually looking for a really massive wallop of coffee but even that is style dependent. I had a local coffee brown ale recently that wasn't particularly fresh but still tasted very nice because everything hung together harmoniously and the mellower coffee played nice with the toasty, nutty malt aspect of the base beer. By the same token I had an old Joe Mama's Milk Stout (Keegan Ales) last night, and it just wasn't very good. Instead of an assertive blast of coffee right off the bat it had a tinny bland flavor that put me in mind of a pot of drip coffee that sat out in the office break room all weekend.
I prefer BCBCS with one year on it. The coffee faded to the perfect amount, and it still had more coffee at a year old than most fresh coffee stouts I've had
If the coffee flavors are from the roasted malts, they can last awhile but some of their staying power will depend on what some of the other malts are doing. Developing sherry flavors can mask the coffee somewhat. Added coffee flavors appear to fade and become muted like hops but they take a little longer.
