Hey all, i picked up a bottle of Founders Blushing Monk and i thought it was awesome, and i usually don't like fruit beers, the mrs loved it as well. I'd love to buy some more to save for the summer. I'm wondering if like hops, fruit flavors fade with age? anybody have experience aging fruit beers for a few months? Looking foreword to your feedback. cheers. steve
Nope, you should be fine to hold on for a few month. I bought a bottle of New Glarus Belgian Red and completely forgot about it sitting in my cabinet..I found it 3 years later and it tasted as good as if I had just bought it.
I have tried it with several Belgian Lambics and in general the fruit aromas and flavors diminish with time. At the same time some of the slower acting yeasts (Brettanomyces) also kick in and other things mellow out a bit so the character changes. The beer is still drinkable and amy actually be improved but if you are looking for the big fruit flavors to balance the tartness it will be diminished.
I have found that aged fruit beers do slowly diminish in their fruity intensity. That's not to say that they diminish in quality though. It might well improve with age. It depends on what you like. Like most styles, the malt tends to get accented with age. The continued yeast action over time will also change slowly. If you are just going to save the bottles for this summer, you might not even perceive a difference in taste. If you wanted to save it for summer 2018, however, then you'd probably see some bigger changes.
Lambics definitely improve with age. Young lambic can be pretty undrinkable. Boon Kriek, for example doesn't even ship until it has been cellared for two years.
