So I have a Cantillon LP Kriek, and I hear a lot of people say lambics and sours in general are great for aging. I'm just curious, what does the aging process do for a sour in terms of changing the characteristics? I get what big stouts and barleywines achieve through aging, and I have a little experience with that. I'm probably just going to open it to celebrate an occasion I hope is coming up soon, but for future reference I'd like to know what to expect.
Ah ok, thanks. Thought that might be the case, but wasn't sure. I'm going to drink it in the next few months regardless. I'm hoping to nail down a job. Have 2 interviews tomorrow, so if I do it'll be getting opened. When I went to college back in 08, finance wasn't a hard field to get a job in, wish it was like that now.
Personally, after I've tasted aged Lou Pepe kriek, I would definitely let it age. But generally, drink fruit lambics fresh or only aged a year or two.
This, exactly. Fruit lambics will lose the fruit flavor and balance and become more intensely-sour over time, though not in a fantastic way, IMO. They tend to lack the depth of aged gueuze and become a bit one-dimensional. Some gueuze, on the other hand, has the potential to age fantastically for 10+ years.
Agreed, aged fruit sours become acetic and "overly" sour as people mention. not a puckering sour, a burning sour. Look at anything lost abbey.
Again, I agree. I had a Lou Pepe Kriek 2004 recently (like I just posted in another thread) and it was outstanding.
This is partially off-topic, but I was wondering if any of you have had experience cellaring corked beer on their sides. I see basically ALL cellars are old fridges/keezers, or shelving systems in temp controlled areas. On the other hand, I also hear a lot of people on the other side of the fence, who have wine fridges that store things on their side, saying that it doesn't matter. My only concern is that if the cork is in contact with beer, that it will deteriorate over time and be more susceptible to shrink/swell. Any thoughts would be appreciated!
Maybe what you guys are saying is true for many fruit lambics, but I had a Lou Pepe Framboise 2006 a month or so ago and it was absolutely amazing, and the fruit flavor was still front and center.
It's the other way around. If the beer is upright, then the cork can dry out and crack. Keeping it moist will leave the cork in better condition.
Why do "experts" prefer aging them upright? Just so the sediment settles to the bottom? Are corks really that impermeable?
Within the lambic community, the experts -- who would be 3F and Cantillon -- insist on aging them sideways.
True, but it's still an issue with beer. A cork falling apart and into the beer -- whether during aging or when it's opened -- is not a good thing.
Some previous thoughts from myself and others regarding aging sours: http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/aging-sours.154/
Great thread! Very informative. So I guess I should take away that Gueuzes should be on their sides, and that corked beers age better on their sides than upright? I guess my upcoming wine fridge purchase will be justified. Thanks guys!
In general breakage is not what people are concerned with regarding corks drying. A dry cork is still solid, (a rotting cork will become brittle, but that's a different issue.) The problem is that a Dry cork is somewhat smaller which can allow oxygen to enter the bottle (when dealing with wine). This isn't as big of an issue with bottles like Cantillon where the cork is capped, or like russian river where a champagne style cork is used which even if there is some shrinkage is likely larger than mouth. Still a bit of risk, but not much as wine. Especially since beer is carbonated, which helps since the carbonic gas typically keeps the humidity in the bottle higher which prevents the cork from drying. The other thing to keep in mind is the actual amount of time spent aging. Aging a wine 20-30+ years is fairly commonplace. Most people don't age beers nearly that long. So the cork drying is a less common issue. Either way, if you are really worried about your corks drying, the best option would be to keep the bottles at an angle, like 30degrees or so, so that the bubble stays at the top, the yeast stays at the bottom, but there is liquid in contact with the cork. Also, there have actually been studies which found that aging champagne on their side caused them to age faster than standing vertically. http://www.caterersearch.com/Articles/19/09/1996/21487/The-lay-down-on-storage.htm
Right, I agree with this. I don't think it's a huge issue, but having the cork stay intact is still great, as fishing a cork out of a bottle isn't fun, nor is having to find a way to filter out pieces of cork, particular as pouring through cheese cloth or another sort of filter will mess with the carbonation. Also, I generally prefer to age 3F rather than Cantillon, so the cap argument isn't as relevant to me Aside from that, thanks for the additional material!
