BB aged Imperial Stout w a "best by"?

If there was a committee on that, half the committee would end up breaking off, & we'd end up with dueling FAQs.

This ongoing debate reminds me of Boehner vs. Pelosi when, as usual, the truth is somewhere in the middle.

 

like people said, most BA stouts get worse with age. they were already aged by the brewery, and the barrel influence often fades with time. if the brewery is any good, they tasted and made sure it was time to take the beer out of the barrels. bottles won't improve beer more than barrels (besides for possibly carbonating it).

e.g. i think abacus and parabola get worse. bourbon county might get better.

 

I agree, I never quite know which beers to age. I have an idea for the most part but some guidelines on the bottle would be awesome.

 

Bottles of Abyss have got you trained well

 

I think it is key to pay attention to indicators like the OP found. A lot of brewers will age the beer for the consumer. A lot of times there will be a note saying: "better with age" or something to that effect. That tells you to set one or two aside. I know some beers are really rare and expensive, and you can't just buy two or three, but when we have the opportunity, I really enjoy drinking one fresh and letting the other one age, or doing vertical tastings on a beer each year. Very cool test.

 

True, it doesn't always explicitly tell you how long to age the beer. As a rule of thumb, more alcohol and hops certainly help (Unless you want a fresh hop experience like many ipa's and dipa's) and roasted or dark grains help a beer's stability over time as well. (Mostly from oxidizing.) I wouldn't trust a belgian triple to last half as long as any imperial stout.

 

i'm going to agree with you based on actual experience.

 

Cool, that rule of thumb is kind of how I understood it. Thanks for the info! Cheers.