Cellar Essentials

for me it is 1-2 year old lambic. Always try to keep a few bottles on hand.

 

Anything not pasturized.

I would vote for some English barley wines for cellar essentials, maybe a Samiclaus or two. Bigfoot is also a good one, as is Abyss.

 

Bigfoot Ale, J.W. Lees Harvest Ale or Thomas Hardy's. Gueuze's are always good to cellar, too.

 

Can't go wrong with Founders RIS. I love that at one year and try to have a case of it for the following year.

 

I love throwing in a few bottles of Abyss every year.

 

classic gueuze if I could still get it, pannepot, palo santo, founders imperial stout, expedition stout, alaskan smoked porter, saison brett, saison rue, worldwide stout, our finest regards are all beers i have enjoyed with age and make a point to buy/trade for every so often so i have a steady supply in the cellar.

 

Gueuze/Lambic
cuvee rene, 3F, Hanssens, Tilquin
Barleywine
bigfoot, monster ale, stone OG, jw lees
Imp Stout
old rasputin, bells expedition, stone RIS, bourbon county
Other notable beers
RR sours (most hold up well for at least a couple years, some for many)
alesmith wee heavy
saison brett and saison rue are both nice with a year or 2

 

Cantillon gueuze
Hair of the Dog - Adam
Logsdon Seizoen Brett (or similar)
And a handful of RIS's - for example Black Butte XX__

 

Goose Island BCS. A place in Astoria still has cases of last years (2012) vintage. Going to split a case with my buddy to put in the cellar before this years release comes to NYC

 

I have to drive 8 hours south to get HotD but can manage to do that twice a year or so

 

Doggie claws and Adam age awesomely, not really sold in aging BA anything though, but that's how I roll.

 

Samichlaus Helles
JW Lees Harvest Ale
Goose Island Bourbon County Stout
Goose Island Sofie
North Coast Old Stock Ale

 

Old cellar dweller might fare well as well, since you are in BC you should be able to snag a few. I've had experience with Old Stock, and I found that it starts to fall apart after 4 years, YMMV.

 

Essentials, as in, no cellar is complete without it?

Bell's Expedition Stout
J.W. Lee's
Traditional Lambic

I think you could also throw De Dolle Stille Nachte in there as well.

 

I've already said most of what I'm going to say in other threads, but it fits and bears repeating. The beers that have aged best in my experience happen to usually be inexpensive and readily available. Old Stock is my absolute favorite and I want to start buying it by the case every year. I've had it at up to 7 years old, and it just keeps getting better. Other good ones are Stone IRS, Fred, Adam, Alaskan Barleywine, and JW Lee's Harvest. The only rare(ish) beers I've had that I like aging are Thomas Hardy's, BCBS, and Abyss. I was unemployed over the Summer and demolished my cellar; now that I have steady work again, I'm going to restock it, and I think I'm going to stick to getting a bunch of Old Stock, Fred, Stone IRS, and Abyss and try to just stick everything else in the fridge for immediate consumption.