Bourbon Barrel Stout Aging

well, your first two are two of the very best made, so its kinda all down hill from here haha

anyway, the standard advice is to drink a beer fresh if youve never had it before. I certainly agree with that on the kbs. For parabola i like a year on it.

 

Drink them fresh.. Both aren't really fresh fresh, but ain't really old at this point.

Drink both now, and seek them out when they re-release them. Try and get 2 bottles of each.. A fresh one, and then age one for a year.

 

Only certain of them age well. ThashMaster has a good point though: try them fresh before aging any of them.

 

I think KBS is best fresh, as a matter of fact I can't think of any brew I've had that was that much better with age on it.

Drink them to see if you like them both are replacable. Even BCBS is great hot and fresh.




i

 

There is a forum for aging. You will find masses of advice/counter-advice for any beer you find.

Both KBS and Parabola are great right away, because both are already aged. But I'm also aging both to find out if they change.

 

In my opinion, KBS is better fresh and Parabola about 6 month old.

 

You could always try to get ahold of a '13 Parabola and pop the '12 along side it. 2 year vertical right out of the gates for you. Make sure to get a friend to share with, 2 bottles of Parabola to the head is a heavy lift.

 

Parabola and Older viscosity are hands down WAY better aged vs fresh. Bourbon county and KBS are better fresh IMO

EDIT: Also Dark Lord is way better aged.

 

Both are awesome beers to be sure, and if they're your first Bourbon barrel stouts you really can't go wrong. They're a couple of the best out there. I've not aged a KBS (only acquired a couple), but I stock up on Parabola everyiyear so I've got a good 3-year vertical going now. FW recommends storing Parabola "at or below 40F," so I basically keep them in the beer fridge until I'm ready to open one. I'd say enjoy them both now and if you like them, try to get more next time they come out. Cheers!

 

Thanks for posting this one Aaron! i had this same question about these exact 2 beers! I am in the process of trading some KBS 13 for some Parabola 13. While I have "extras" of the KBS allowing me to drink a few now and lie a few down, I will only have 1 Parabola. What's a drunk supposed to do !?!?!?!?!?!?

 

I have 3 bottles of Hill Farmstead's latest Genealogy of Morals that I was going to age 2 until December/January. Not sure whether I should or I should drink them fresh either.

 

Drinking the beer to find out if you even like it would be a start.

 

Stone RIS is sublime with 2 years aging on it. Had one recently alongside a freshy, and the taste difference was very obvious and noticeable. I therefore bought several more, and they are in my cellar till 2015!

 

This is exactly the way to do it if you have a chance to land a fresh version and vintage version of anything you own. Drink them both side-by-side, figure out which you like better, and you have your answer for how to handle them moving forward based on your own personal taste preference.

 

Regular Dark Lord isn't Barrel Aged

KBS is IMO way better fresh, and BCBS is great with 6 months to a year on it. Shits a little hot when it first gets released!

 

Thanks!

Is it safe to assume that different styles of beers age in a similar way? For example, take Parabola. If one were to drink a 2011 next to a 2013 and prefer the 2011, we could say that person prefers aged BA RIS to their fresh counterparts. Do you think that would hold true for other beers styles like barleywines or old ales or even other brands of RIS? Just curious. I know the real answer is go get some beer and find out!

 

KBS fresh is better but I had a 2012 just last week and it is still plenty good.

 

Aging them is not a good idea. Keeping them around for a year, sure. They will change but retain most of their original character, although the coffee in KBS and hops in Parabola will be quite muted. But several years? No.