Aging Prairie Bomb and Coffee/Vanilla Noir

I personally never age my Bombs and I won't be aging Coffee or Vanilla Noir either. I don't think the coffee or any other aspect of the flavors in Bomb or Coffee Noir are overwhelming enough for the beer to want to be aged, plus I also really like coffee stouts. I think that Prairie really tries to have their beers completely balanced at bottling, like Founders, so I would personally recommend drinking them fresh.

I am, however, aging a regular Noir because I still get a lot of tannins from the wood and I'd like to see if some time would put that oak to rest.

Also, Coffee Noir is fantastic and I'll be giving Vanilla a shot tonight!

 

I would definitely agree with not aging BOMB! it is such a balanced beer already, that you might risk making it unbalanced by cellaring.

 

I aged a few of the very first batch and the chili moved to the forefront the coffee faded and what was left wasn't that pleasurable of an experience. It's way better fresh...but who knows with the new recipe it seems like the chili isn't as pronounced so maybe it will age better. I have about 13 currently blue wax and orange and I don't plan on keeping them for longer than 6 months.

 

I had my last pink wax Bomb! last month, so it was already a few months old and still tasted great and very close to, if not the same as when I first had it fresh. So I think that 4 to 5 months on it won't change it much at all. As far as Coffee Noir goes, it's brand new so nobody really knows what time does to it. I found nothing too intense about the beer though so I can only imagine that the flavors are just going to fall off.

I agree that they're pretty special beers, but Bomb! is a year round release now, so you should be able to pick up new batches every few months or so, as Chase has mentioned. All the better reason to drink them fresh!

 

I feel you man, I've been the same way with certain beers before, especially Bomb! I'm currently sad about seeing my last Hop Ranch go, but I'm also looking forward to a lot of other IPA's that are coming.

I personally haven't had The Beer That Saved Christmas, but I hope that your aging on it goes well!

And congrats about the article, if only they could reward you with free Bomb!

 

After reading comments about infected waxed Prairie Bombs and Noirs I have been drinking them out of my cellar. So far I have drunk the Bomb with pink wax, Vanilla Noir with pink wax, and Noir with red wax (I am colorblind so if I have the wax colors wrong, imagine being colorblind and pick a color you would consider close to what I have listed). All were about 1-2 years old. All of the caps had rust on the top and outside but no rust inside the seal. Poured into snifter, tasted no infections in the bottles I opened. All had plenty of carbonation. Still have a waxed Coffee Noir to drink.

Bomb - Chocolate has faded, chili spice dominates and drowns out other subtler flavors. I prefer fresh Bomb.

Noir - Booziness has mellowed. Had fresh Noir a month ago and both are good. I think I prefer this one aged because of the booziness in the fresh.

Vanilla Noir - Vanilla has faded but integrated well. I haven't had fresh Vanilla Noir in a while but remember liking it. I don't know that I have a preference between the two. Another different but both good.

 

I had a fresh Bomb yesterday and agree with the sentiment in this thread that its a nicely balanced beer when fresh.

However, i will be aging my other bottle for a year. Just wants to see what happens between the coffee and pepper. Im expecting that pepper to get even more pronounced.

 

I have a few different Bomb Variants that a friend shared this year at FWIBF. All of them were almost drain pours. He cellars properly, so it wasn't that.

Bomb doesn't seem to age well at all. Fresh, it's one of my favorites. Aged, yuck.

 

I frickin' loved that beer and have been kicking myself ever since for not buying more at the time. I assumed it was going to be a yearly holiday release. Christmas Bomb was fine, but I preferred TBTSC.

 

Be cautious with that Vanilla Noir. Many of them (not sure the actual ratio) have been found to be infected. I had two, opened one a couple months ago and sure enough, she was infected, sour, not good. I have one more sitting which I may as well open because if it's infected it's no good anyway. Just a word of caution.

 

Just opened a Prairie Bomb! aged about a year, +\- a month or so. A little disappointed, coffee and slightly bitter chili dominates, much better fresh. Was hoping it would be more complex, but no. I feel like in other beers the coffee fades, this was unusual in that everything else faded. Such a good beer fresh, will have to add to the sentiment in this thread. I guess I should've checked here first....but experimenting is fun!

 

Bomb is best fresh, also had one with over a year on it and it wasn't half the beer it used to be. Curious on this batch of Vanilla Noir if it will age a little better. However I won't be the one cellering it. Got 2 left, they will be gone before the new year.