Old ruffian, can you age it?

Yes

 

A store near me had several cases of Old Ruffian that they had been aging since 2008. I bought 5 of the bottles while they lasted and they were delicious. I have one saved for future consumption.

 

Old Ruffian ages tremendously. I may have enjoyed it most at ~3 years old, but I've got some 2008s that are still tasting phenomenal.

 

When do you buy/drink the ones that you enjoyed?

It was too hoppy for my tastes fresh, so I laid one down. I don't really have the right conditions to store it for more than a year or two, though. I had a pretty similar experience with Oak Yeti (I felt the hops + oak was too much), so I have 3 of those in the cellar.

 

Absolutely, I found a 2 year old bottle at the local Total Wine, it was delicious.

 

As it ages it becomes more and more like an English-like Barleywine or Old Ale. The hops turn into a tea character. Personally, I prefer last year's version most years. I seek out the stores with old stock

 

Ive got one that was bottled on December of last year and am going to drink it in June...I think 18 months is a perfect aging time

 

You can age this almost indefinately. It's pretty bulletproof too. I haven't personally cellared the beer but I bought a few 4-5 year bottles off a discount shelf at a local store a while back and they were great. I doubt they were "cellared" but rather old beers sitting on a shelf. Tons of hops for a beer that old. Since this is a heavily hopped high malt content beer I feel it is a perfect canidate for cellaring.

 

Depends on what you want out of it. There is no set time, if you've tried it fresh you can get an idea of where you want it to go. Just asking blindly how long to age it without any other information is like asking how long to cook a steak. How long do YOU want to cook it is the question.

 

You "can" age anything. Whether you "should" is up to your palate/desires/space . . .

I personally have an old ruffian and BA old ruffian aging next to each other in my cellar.

 

I bought them recently, like within the past few months. I don't think they need 4 years by any means but the hop taste definitely fades with time so its personal preference