Bells Stouts - aging metallic after 6 months?

Expedition ages fantastically, much longer than most. I recently had a 12 year vertical and all were more than drinkable. Very cool dry kept climate.

 

Everyone is different for sure. While you are getting the 'metallic' taste.. get a 'prickly bite' from some stouts and porters, after the supposed freshness period.

I sometimes wonder.. is it really the beer, or my mind playing games on me.

 

I have a mini fridge full of five different Bells stouts, all over 6 months at this point. Never tasted a hint of metallic.

For me, the sweet spot for Expedition is 2-3 years.

 

Is the metallic flavor from oxidation?

 

I was wondering the same thing. Are you storing the bottles on their side by any chance?

 

Or I once dropped a bottle and heard air escape. Once I got a bottle that had a cap that was just a tilt , not on exactly right, and plenty of times with old beer it just has happened. I had a terribly old can of a belgian beer in a can and it was flat and horrid but it did not have any air escape and did not taste metallic.

 

Hmmm. So they're not on their side. While you're not at textbook-temperatures (I'm guessing your man-cave isn't at 55 degrees), I don't think that would explain the flavor you're experiencing.

Then my suggestion would be to eliminate some variables. Off the top of my head...
-Are you finding the metallic flavor in aged stouts not from Bell's?
-Did all of the affected bottles come from the same store? Or from the same bottling batches?
-How is the carbonation on the affected bottles? Does it seem like there may have been inappropriate air exchange?
-Did you move recently? Or have the bottles been moved often?
-Have you had a beer buddy try some of the bottles with you? There are flavors that each of us are extremely sensitive to, perhaps a second opinion would help in categorizing what you're tasting in the aged beers.

Just some thoughts. Opening a cellared beer to find unwanted flavors is the epitome of disappointment in the beer-drinking world, I think.

 

How much light are those bottles getting? Yeah brown bottles are superior to green but nothing's perfect. It doesn't sound like skunk but it's a variable

 

If I was working through the possibilities:
Your set-up, while not perhaps ideal, isn't terrible by any stretch. I might swap the bottles where you have them with underneath the desk (if whatever is in that cabinet is moveable) - closer to the ground would probably be a little cooler. But I don't think that's a likely culprit for what you're tasting.

You're experiencing some weird flavors in aged beers, but these are beers that are generally know to accept aging well. Aging always changes beers, but not always for the better. Or not for the better to everyone's palate. I think I would take a couple of the beers you're having issues with to a tasting, or invite some beer friends over. Or maybe more ideal - find someone who also has aged Bell's stouts and compare them to yours.

The possibilities would be:
1)Everyone tastes the metallic flavor in yours, and not in theirs. Then the problem is either where/when you bought them, or your storage (maybe add a mini-fridge with a temperature controller).
2)Everyone tastes the flavor in both yours and theirs. Then you'd need to compare batch numbers on the bottles, and maybe pass something along to Bell's. And/or compare your cellaring strategies or purchase places and see if there are any commonalities.
3)No one tastes metallic flavors in anything. If so, maybe you just had some "wrong" bottles and I wouldn't think about it any more.
4)You taste the metallic flavor in yours and theirs. They don't taste it in either. Then I would suggest that you stop aging the beers, as you might be sensitive to a flavor - maybe oxidation - that others aren't picking up.

I'm thinking #1 or #4 are the more likely possibilities. But flavors are a weird thing - I know that I'm sensitive to the sulfurous character (to me) of pilsner malts. They remind me of "cheap beer" flavors. I have struggled with pilsners and tripels sometimes for that reason. A buddy of mine picks up on any smoked malts in an instant and it tastes to him like rotten band-aids.

Just some thoughts. Hope you get it figured out, and let us know if you do. Cheers!!