No, there really is no such consensus. There are certain older (maybe “legacy”?) beer styles and even “Micro” or “Craft” beer styles which are favored by longtime enthusiasts to aging and / or cellaring. Basically, these styles age better than others. Examples: Strong Stouts (Foreign Export or Russian Imperial) and Barleywines age much better than Pale Lager or Pilsner. In more recent years there has been a penchant for some Craft brewers to pre-age certain brands (especially Strong Stouts and barrel aged variants of the same), and in my experience these don’t often hold up as well to extended aging or cellaring as the more basic styles have done in the past. Your mileage may vary.
I’m not at all the authority on this, but I think, as with everything else beer related, it depends on your preferences. I’m confident I could find people who say some imperial stouts are better when they’ve been aged, while I could find just as many people who’ll say those same stouts are better fresh. What’s not debatable is that hop presence fades over time. This of course isn’t to say that hoppy beers are always better fresh. As mentioned above, it depends on what you like. But if it’s a big ol hop punch you want, then don’t age the beer.
I pulled out a swing top bottle of homebrew beer from the back of my cellar last weekend. It was simply labelled English Bitter dated 1989. Absolutely delicious. Couldn't believe it.
You will rarely find “consensus” in BA threads. One person’s opinion: ABV value Generally speaking higher ABV improves your chances of aging (cellaring) a beer. Higher alcohol levels tend to permit some beer styles to ‘smooth out’ over time. Do certain beers get ‘better’ with cellaring? Well, ‘better’ is a subjective term. Cellaring has the effect of both further conditioning the beer (e.g., the ‘smooth out’ I mentioned above) and oxidative processes will create new flavors with a classic example being flavors like sherry in some Barleywines. A strategy which can be employed is to purchase a pack (e.g., six-pack) and periodically drink a bottle over time (e.g., every six months) and see what works best for you. Beer with lower pH values (i.e., Sours) Because of the lower pH values in sour beers these types of beers can cellar quite well. Beer styles which are worthy of cellaring While the vast majority of beer styles are best consumed very fresh (e.g., IPA, AAL, Pilsners, etc.) there are some beer types/styles which are candidates for cellaring: Higher ABV Belgian Ales Generally speaking, higher ABV Belgian Ale styles such as Dubbel, Quad, Saison, etc. are good candidates for cellaring. Another style some folks will cellar are Tripels but these sorts of beers are best consumed fresh IMO. Other beer styles: · Barleywine · Imperial Stouts (e.g., Russian Imperial Stouts) · Lambics · Etc. There is a dedicated forum on the topic of cellaring/aging beers: https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/forums/cellaring-aging-beer.41/ Cheers!
A generally-accepted rough rule-of-thumb is that 8% abv is the cut-off point that malty beers will do well. But as mentioned above, YMMV and it depends on what you like.
'We' (you, me, everyone else) really don't know what we don't know. A lot of the stuff above regarding style and ABV makes sense + the obvi (keep cool, keep dark), but it's still too often a crap shoot. I've had beers that were amazing at 3 years in but were shit at the 3 and a half year mark. Who really knows when it's going to drop off the cliff. Have had some great ones with some age on 'em but I feel like I've had more that have not held up, or were full on drain pours (i.e. cook with them). Stop buying beers to not drink now. With little exception, beer is best drank fresh with friends.
High test beers cellar well... save hoppy (D)IPAs Coffee is known to fade/turn into vegetal green pepper flavor in stouts etc. if its an adjunct
I have moved this thread to the Cellaring/Aging Beer forum. I suggest looking at other threads here as there have been plenty that are related to this question.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/cellar-reviews-2023.670640/ Join in and read along the cellar review thread. The only answers are subjective. We can all share experiences and compare notes and everyone can find whether any beers work for them with age, and if so what ages they work best.
Thanks for all the responses. I suspected there was a place in the forums. I should have looked instead of trying to find it with a search for "aging". My current problem is I have overbought by a sizeable amount. Most of the beers are singles vs multiples so it is one and done. Trying to prioritize what to drink first and what I can afford to leave for later with a lower likelihood of reducing enjoyment. Some are easy such as Pilsners and most IPAs south of 9% level. The fact some are pre-aged also makes it even more complicated. The responses here pretty much echo what I had for general thoughts. Time to start sorting what goes in the fridge, the beer fridge, and on a dark cellar shelf.
Having a beer that is bottle conditioned is important for its ability to age. I find that any sort of "flavorings" will fade over time be it barrel aging, fruit or hops. However, I've had plenty of surprises over the years including a nonlambic kriek at 24 years that still had plenty of fruit. Often I find barrel aged beers too aggressive flavor wise when young. I feel they are often more enjoyable with a little time under their belt to balance out the flavors. Certain beers are more enjoyable with time in the bottle. This is certainly the case with Lambics. About 6 to 8 years is good. Cantillon Rose de Gambrinus is much more enjoyable at about 6 years than when young.
