Dump or Keep: Cellaring for Science?

Discussion in 'Cellaring / Aging Beer' started by ManforallSaisons, Jun 13, 2020.

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  1. ManforallSaisons

    ManforallSaisons Pooh-Bah (1,554) Mar 20, 2008 Belgium
    Pooh-Bah

    This lockdown stuff has been pretty handy for drinking down the cellar, for me at least. (I know a lot of you BAs have said similar.) It has also forced me to confront a truth that I knew was lurking down there: Some of my stuff is just too old to enjoy. I've had to examine my conscience, asking, at what point am I drinking this as a sort of penance for overstocking or letting 'em go too far? I've tried to liberate myself from just drinking the superannuated stuff, and bought plenty of fresh stuff, so long as most of the time I do open something with the existing inventory, even if it's a quick drain pour.

    For example, tonight I've poured one of my last (but not very last) remaining from a case of St. Bernardus 12, about 10 years old, with a best-by date in 2014. Like with the couple others I've done during the last few months, it pours beautifully with a bountiful head and port-like smells. The first quarter to third of the bottle is all caramel and sherry, lively, and actually quite nice. But well before halfway it starts to taste like I'm trying to drink the remainder of something left in a glass from a party the night before. (Speaking hypothetically, rest assured.) So, the rest will be sacrifice to the drain gods. I've had similar with some Rochefort 10s of similar vintage (from my throw-a-case-in-the-cellar-and-forget-it phase) and, sadly some Pannepot (non-Reserva) Vintage 2016. (A few older Reservas have been brilliant but few have stood up as long as the Trappists.)

    SO. The question now is just to pour them all out, unshackle my conscience and free up cellar space (not that much of a problem, to be honest) — or should I hold onto a few, for science, and see what it's like at some absurd age in a decade or more?

    I ask you, BAs.
     
  2. unlikelyspiderperson

    unlikelyspiderperson Grand Pooh-Bah (3,966) Mar 12, 2013 California
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Definitely don't dump anything without trying it. And for old stuff you've tried and dumped quickly just set an intention to check back in every 6-12 months with the mindset that it might be drainpour after a sip. That should move.them through pretty quickly and you might be surprised and learn something
     
  3. lightman1

    lightman1 Zealot (607) Oct 19, 2013 Arkansas
    Trader

    I wouldn't dump anything without trying it.
     
  4. sulldaddy

    sulldaddy Grand Pooh-Bah (5,716) Apr 6, 2003 Connecticut
    Mod Team BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Always taste the beer first.

    Ive had 21 year old beer that was totally fine, different from fresh of course, but fine and tasty.

    Always taste the beer first.
     
  5. ManforallSaisons

    ManforallSaisons Pooh-Bah (1,554) Mar 20, 2008 Belgium
    Pooh-Bah

    For sure everything has been tasted if not drunk up to recent weeks. I guess there nothing for it but to keep on with it, then. I’m still left with the question of whether to forget something for decades from now as an experience.
     
    #5 ManforallSaisons, Jun 21, 2020
    Last edited: Jun 21, 2020
  6. sulldaddy

    sulldaddy Grand Pooh-Bah (5,716) Apr 6, 2003 Connecticut
    Mod Team BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    one other thing to consider is to pour very carefully and not disturb the sediment cake at bottom of the bottle.
    Ive found the the "top" of thr beer can be fine but pouring the bottom can be where things go awry, if they are going to do so.

    good luck!
     
  7. ManforallSaisons

    ManforallSaisons Pooh-Bah (1,554) Mar 20, 2008 Belgium
    Pooh-Bah

    Yes, yes, def’ly lots of stuff precipitating out of these oldies, but it’s standard practice here in bottle-conditioning land to pour carefully off the lees, even with the fresh stuff. I had some daily old, pre-brewers-expansion Westy 12s (this is years ago) would get almost blond-looking around the edges.

    To recap, I feel well-supported in everything I’ve done up to now…

    So, idle opinions on the original question?!
     
    sulldaddy likes this.
  8. IKR

    IKR Maven (1,490) May 25, 2010 California
    Trader

    Make a concerted effort to open up the older stuff, taste, drink if fine, drain pour if beyond salvation, and repeat:sunglasses:
     
  9. ManforallSaisons

    ManforallSaisons Pooh-Bah (1,554) Mar 20, 2008 Belgium
    Pooh-Bah

    I seem to have sent you all chasing the wrong rabbit — sorry. Don't worry, I'm not dumping anything without tasting it. (Keeping in mind that of all the beer at issue, I have recently tasted multiple bottles of each.)

    The ultimate question I meant to get at, remains: Is it worth setting aside a last example to forget for a few years, in the dream that in some distant future it will become interesting again, perhaps some unexpected way?

    ... Or to put it in a less binary way, if the big Trappists now getting up toward the decade mark, what happens in another decade, say?
     
    unlikelyspiderperson likes this.
  10. ManforallSaisons

    ManforallSaisons Pooh-Bah (1,554) Mar 20, 2008 Belgium
    Pooh-Bah

    (BTW never mind about lambics, that's a totally different barrel of fish, for which I feel like I'm already setting up future heirs.)
     
  11. emerge077

    emerge077 Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,962) Apr 16, 2005 Illinois
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    There's no time like the present, I say. In my experience, aged trappists generally "keep" and mellow out instead of transforming radically. Save a couple for science, but not the entire lot.
     
  12. unlikelyspiderperson

    unlikelyspiderperson Grand Pooh-Bah (3,966) Mar 12, 2013 California
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Yes for sure. I think that unless space is an issue there is no reason not to hang onto a beer that seems to have passed its prime. For science!
     
    ManforallSaisons likes this.
  13. AndrewK

    AndrewK Savant (1,123) Oct 20, 2006 California

    They will definitely lose body and carbonation, so if that’s an issue for you now, it will only become more extreme. But if that is something you can get past, you may be in for a treat in time. I’ve had Belgian dark ales as much at 40 to 50 years old that were still fantastic in their own way.
     
    emerge077 likes this.
  14. Yabu

    Yabu Savant (1,150) Feb 4, 2015 California
    Trader

    I've done quite a few sip and dump these last few months. Since I have so much beer, I won't punish myself when I can just open up another can or bottle and enjoy it. drainpour that trash!
     
  15. Ahonky

    Ahonky Initiate (0) Feb 13, 2018 New York

    hold for science I say. I have several Bourbon County stouts from 2010, and the older the get the more I'm inclined to see what happens if I hold on longer. I keep them fridged.
     
  16. Jwale73

    Jwale73 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,966) Aug 15, 2007 Rhode Island
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    unlikelyspiderperson likes this.
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