Aging Double Bastard

IMO, it depends what you like about the beer. The longer it's aged, the more the hops will fade, obviously. For example, I LOVE Burton Baton fresh. However, after a few months it turns into an absolute malt-bomb when the hops fade. Still a tasty beer, but doesn't taste much like what I think of when I think "Burton Baton".

Double Bastard isn't super-hoppy to begin with, so the hops fading might not make much of an impact to the overall palate.

 

I find that the beer is best within a few months of bottling, or after two years-ish. At the one year mark it seems that the hop flavors have died out while the bitterness remains quite prevalent IMO.

 

Yes, I find this to be the case as well. At about one year, it's really just a bitter mess without all the great pine and other hop flavors that make it stellar when fresh. At about two years, the bitterness dies down a little and it starts to taste like a lighter style barley wine with the malt shining through a bit more.

 

We discussed this recently. It becomes much more malt forward the longer it sits.

 

Had two three year old ones recently, thought they were great

 

We drank a 2002-2004 vertical of double bastard earlier this year. They were all great.