Carbonation vs. Aging

I'm drinking an '08 BCBS right now and it has almost no carbonation left. So, yes, this is true. I believe it is caused by the bottles not being entirely sealed. Over several years, the carbon dioxide slowly leaks out of the bottle and oxygen is let in, causing carbonation to die and oxidation to occur. '08 Bourbon County is a twist off which I believe adds to this effect, hence the almost complete lack of carbonation.

 

It can be true, but its not a rule. Bottle conditioned beer may be a better candidate having critters in there that are meant to carbonate the bottle in the first place.

I wouldn't worry though. Many of the beers that age well are better with low carbonation imo. Bigfoot, bcbs, etc. The only aged beer I like to have lively carbonation is a Belgian strong ale or a lambic.

 

No.

And thank you for spelling lose correctly.

 

Beer won't go flat if it's sealed properly. That being said, beers do go flat and that is part of the gamble of aging beer.

 

All beer will eventually go flat. I don't know if there are other reasons for this, but in the long haul the reason is that no bottle or can seal is completely oxygen impermeable. Even if there are no leaks in the seal, gasses like oxygen or carbonic gas will still eventually be absorbed into the solid and potentially come out of the other side, which has the same effect as an actual "leak" in the seal. Cans generally have a lower oxygen transmission rate than capped beers, with corked beers coming in last. However, if the cork is genuine cork and not synthetic, there is also variation in the permeability of cork (which is a major cause of bottle variation in corked wine).

That being said, it is entirely plausible for beers to increase carbonation in specific (and usually short) time periods. Bottle-conditioned Belgian beers, particularly "quads" or something similar, can and do get more carbonated over a time span of a few years, particularly corked bottles (I'm not sure why). And any beer with wild yeast (brettanomyces) or bacteria (lactobacillus, pedio, acetobacter, et al) will be very unpredictable, with some bottles gaining carbonation even five years after the bottle date.

But if we're talking on a time scale of 30 years or so, ultimately everything goes flat.

 

I got to try an '08 BCBS last month and the carbonation, though a bit muted, was still there and really enjoyed it. I suppose it's either due to bottle variance or cellar conditions that caused a different result between our two bottles.