Aging BCBS variants

i had a 2015, 2016 and 2017 last christmas and the 2016 was prefered by pretty much all. All were solid, it was just a tad bit more mellow.

 

Straight up stout. I didn't start getting the variants until last year. I just found some coffee from like 2014 that I didn't know I had, it is probably void of any coffee, but will find out this month

 

If you aren't aging for flavor changes keep them as cold as you can.

 

This is bullshit. Oxidation will continue to happen regardless of the presence of live yeast. If anything there would be more DO since there are no yeast to scavenge said oxygen.

 

I just had a bottle of 2015 BCBS that I had given a friend originally and she aged it in her basement and brought it over on my birthday. She took the first sip and said, "I don't think I like this beer.". I tried it and it was terrible, very sour tasting. It ended up being a drain pour. I seem to recall that they had some problems with infected batches back then. Anyways, it was a real disappointment.

 

The flavorings will absolutely fade. Pasteurization will inhibit some beer aging reactions it won't halt all.

 

my humble opinion. the question is probably too generalized to answer concisely. my experience just with regular BCBS, each individual bottling date (with-in a particular release year) has differed. i've had my fair share of variants, mostly since 2013. again humble opinion, i don't feel like there would be a solid opinion that all the variants, (year in & year out), age this way or that. 1 might benefit a bit from age while the other doesn't. i do feel that the flavors change subtly. being honest though, the subtle changes have been just that to me, subtle. maybe subtly better (more to my liking) maybe subtly less to my liking. truth be told, the risk of something less favorable occurring seems quite a bit higher than the hope something magical occurs over time from sitting on them. jmho

 

This year's coffee barleywine bottle says "one year". The wheatwine says "five years"

 

Since they don't condition in the bottle, I doubt you'll get any improvement if that's what your looking for. With coffee and other variants I do think the flavors mellow a bit, whether that's good or bad depends on the person. I still subscribe to keep my beers cold and dark and I drink them when I really want one, but beers do oxidize as well too no matter what you do to them. I used to think pre pasteurization that 3-4 years was really a sweet spot, with these newer 500 ml bottles i can't really get enough to worry about that. It's a bottle here one there, so I just drink them when I want one.

 

That bottle was infected, 2015 was the year of infection.

 

Aging BA beers with add-junks such as coffee, fruit, bourbon, vanilla, chocolate, etc will result in some of the add-junks falling off in flavor within a year, which will effectively unmask other flavors - sometimes favorably though that's subjective. Coffee seems to fall off quickest and most noticeably, revealing the other flavors. Barring infection or coffee yielding green pepper taste, your variants will still make for good drinking for a year or two, and may improve depending on your tastes.

 

I still have 2012 Coffee and an original Bramble Rye in the cellar. What am I waiting for? Hell if I know.

 

I believe I’d drink them , oxidized bc tastes like cardboard it would be a shame to lose them.

 

I'm curious how old you've had an "oxidized BC" where it tasted like cardboard. People still drink them back to 2009 with very few issues, but based on your posts I'm guessing that the bottle you had is not older than 2012. In which case It is more likely that you had a bad bottle or an off-palate day rather than the beer actually being that oxidized.

 

Got quite a few variants this year. Five of us shared one each: regular, vanilla, and orange. All tasted great and I'm only aging any because I'm not gonna drink them all back to back. The Wheatwine I opened yesterday needs some time IMO, as it's a bit "hot" from the barrel.

 

If you have multiple bottles of each variant, drink one of each over the next couple weeks to get an idea of how strong the flavorings are. If one flavor is overpowering or a hot beer, drink them last to let that flavor/heat fade a little. Nice thing is these stouts have an outstanding base, so somewhat faded additives shouldn't hurt much.

 

I would age them if you want, see how it matures etc. Usually the bottle indicates what can age or for how long etc. I have some regular sitting for 2 years but that is not a variant. My choice is to consume them fresh unless I have numerous of the same then I drink when I get the urge, if some flavor falls off not a big deal, still tasty.
Cheers