BB aged Imperial Stout w a "best by"?

CCB is one that will tell you..."We aged it for you, drink fresh!"

 

new'ish guy question here: how can a brewer know a "best by" date on something like this if the actual "best by" date is, say, 3 years down the road?

unless they brewed it several years ago and sampled it along the way.. wouldn't a "best by" dating system be speculation?

qualifiers: at least for new breweries OR new recipes OR beers that may have a long shelf life

 

you mean...that we aren't...suppose to age everything ... forever?!!1 and,

you mean..that a brewer wants his/her beer drunk in a timely matter....where the taste is how he/she had intended it?!!!1

 

The brewer doesn't know for certain but rather is able to make an educated guess based on knowledge of the style, brewing technique, ingredients, and the track record for other comparable beers. So prior experience comes into play, both for the beers of others and the beers made by the brewery that is giving us the best by. Rocherfort 10 has a best by date 5 years after the bottling date, but people in the cellaring forum and else where report aging it for 10 years or more and still enjoying it.

 

Send your bottle to me, I will gladly drink it after the "best by" date...for science.

 

thank you

 

Welcome.

One thing I left out is that some breweries do in fact keep bottled or kegged versions of their beer in storage for several years so that they can taste and re-evaluate the best by date they are using (If they stay in business long enough.. :-) ).

 

I had a long winters nap dopple and it had the same cork. I think all their bottles probably have the same thing, regardless of style.

 

Sometimes i also think more breweries are doing this to protect themselves from having to refund infected beer down the road, too. There are just too many variables with barrel aging for them to be able to guarantee every beer well after what they consider the beer ready to drink.

 

A best by date is an opinion. In any case what use is a best by date without a born on date? If i was going to age a beer i would like to know how old it is to start with.

 

That is quite the oxymoron.... if they aged it, it is never fresh for the end consumer.

 

Barrel aged stouts are generally not a great style to age. There are some exceptions, but this style has already been "pre-aged" for you with its time in the barrel. They will hold up for a while, but most of them aren't getting much better.

 

You have just been mayored. How do you feel. Its awe-inspiring the 1st time isnt it.

Cheers!

 

I think I'm going to put a "Best After" date of 2113 on my homebrew bottles. That way, if anybody opens it and realizes it's shit, I can tell them they opened it "too soon".

 

OK, so 'fresh' is the wrong word. I think it says 'drink immediately'

 

Show that beer who's boss and go longer than 3 years.

 

We need a FAQ for cellar misconceptions if there isn't one already

 

Agreed. Unless the beer is overwhelmingly hot/boozy- at which point a few months usually knocks it out- drink 'em when you buy 'em.

 

1 - Should I cellar this beer?

No, probably not.

2 - But...

No, probably not.

3 - It's a gueuze...

Well, ok.


A bit of an extreme exaggeration obviously, but I think people are more in love with the concept of cellaring (collecting) than they are with the end results. You can see it in all those youtube videos people post of their beer cellars - at least half the stuff in there will taste better fresh, people just want to show off their whales. The best beers to cellar are usually the most simple run of the mill stuff you can easily purchase by the case (Bigfoot, Brooklyn BCS, Van de Keizer Blauw, etc).

 

first off, consider something - they made the beer, you didn't. maybe they know something you don't?

second, bourbon influence, like coffee, hops etc. fades with time. if the influence in said beer is weak, (perhaps they flash aged it a very short period in bourbon barrels) or the barrels used are worn whereas they don't have a lot of influence left to give - it makes sense they put a quick turnaround on it. opposite angle would be perhaps they aged it extensively in barrels & feel like much more age will expose a decline. like i was saying, perhaps the brewer knows something you don't?

third, the literature is merely a suggestion. it's nice that they offered one. you're free to ignore it. i have done so with many beers not necessarily doing so belligerently but through inability or lack of desire to complete the tasks timely.