Aging Disappointments

Firestone 15 has taken a nosedive, the other years are still holding up though

 

Anything with an additional flavor to it is going to be lost with aging. BA, cherry, coffee, etc. all fades.

What did strike me as odd in your list was Expedition. I age these beers regularly and they're incredible with 2+ years on them, better than fresh ones which are also fantastic. God I love that beer.

 

Coffee definitely changes over time, and IMO generally quickly for the worse (developing green pepper aromas and flavors).

 

I still haven't opened my cellared Expedition (will soon though), but my impression from others is that it doesn't have the plot line they teach you in 3rd grade. You know the one: a story gradually builds in intensity until the climax, the peak of the curve, before tapering off. Looks like a mountain. Expedition is supposedly less like an Appalachian curve and more a Himalayan curve, or a really long epic: multiple peaks and valleys as the story twists and turns and every character and side plot gets its own satisfying arc. Expedition is supposed to be like that.

Coffee, added fruit and spice flavors are almost universally said to fade with age. Oak flavors have less of a consensus. Spirit (bourbon, rum, etc) have a reputation for fading which frankly they don't deserve iny opinion, and judging by how many people age Bourbon County Stout I'm obviously not alone. It will vary tremendously from beer to beer though.

Personally, my most disappointing cellaring experiments have involved beers not changing enough. Particularly hard to get, one time release and/or expensive beers. It's one of the reasons I don't bother with the six month rule anymore, I wait one year before trying something.

 

I never got a lot of barrel from fresh BCBS so I can't imagine aging it for a year changing much.

 

I've found your experience to be far more the case than not. I've stated before and repeat, I've ruined far more beer than I've improved by sticking bottles in my cellar. While we've all had lots of fun collecting, aging, cellaring and experimenting, I've concluded that the simple fact is just about all beer of all styles is better "sooner rather than later." Yes, there are most certainly exceptions, sometimes due to storage conditions making one bottle of 2009 "something" fantastic where another bottle of the same thing is not appealing.

Stouts lose coffee and roasted grain tones; old ales lose their bright tones; (hell, in my opinion all beers lose the bright flavor tones that I like); Fruit lambics lose their fruit flavors, tones and character, smoked beers lose their smoke, rye beers lose their spice and I could go on and on.

I have a large cellar that I continue to reduce and I've enjoyed the experimenting. Clearly "cellaring" or "aging" beer is very different than wine. There are a few beers that can go on forever and still have appeal - usually the big alcohol and big sugar beers. Black Tuesday comes immediately to mind. The 2009 remains delicious and will likely be so for the next 20 years! Everyone would like then come up with Thomas Hardy and Samiclaus and there are of course lots of others.

The brewers, naturally, are not stupid! They're coming up with dates on bottles, limited "one time only" bottlings, and special releases knowing that we'll all clamour for them. Keep that fantastic Dark Lord variation in your cellar and covet it and don't drink it until your kid turns 21, or you get married, or pigs fly - whatever the reason you just have to keep it. Then, when you open it, pretend to like it or do what I do - I admit that I'm nuts for aging things a long time! Again, . . .yes. . . there are exceptions.

I enjoy very much many of the bottles I open, especially the lambics and gueuzes and wild ales. I've found that almost all stouts suffer. I find that barleywines tend to improve. However, my conclusion is likely for me one of taste since I generally don't drink barleywines and age seems to make them taste more like old ales to me. However, clearly more bottles from my cellar are disappointments than wonderful surprises.

I'll continue to cellar and I suspect most of you will too. I've done a pretty good job the past year or two in keeping this in the proper perspective, however. Beer is not wine when it comes to collecting or aging but I'm still having too much fun (as perhaps you are) playing around with this "aging thing" to stop. The breweries are counting on it!

 

Bell's Expo goes for years man.Thats one of my favs. right there.It's super hoppy and built for the long run.If you like em hoppy don't age them.I looove this one fresh,but still have a crush when its aged.

I have some 2009,and 10 Expos we can try sometime soon if ya like.

Same story pretty much w/ GD Yeti.....Hoppy,Hoppy.

Cheers Mike

 

If you go beyond 2 maybe three years cellaring with any of BrewDog's Abstrakt series you're going to disappointed. Trust me I know. Not much better for Chimay Blue too.

 

Green Flash Le Freak. Not aged on purpose. Somehow one bottle ended up in a slot in a case of other bottles and we found it several years later. Chilled it and opened it. Never again.