Courage Russian Imperial Stout

I'm sure it's going to hold on quite nicely and just drop into the darkness. I imagine a lot of it is just going to come down to cellar temps. Ive also got a couple off the shelf at Knightly and put them away too. They always look really good sitting there, waiting for me to drink them.

 

I drank a 2012 last month and it was fantastic. I have 7 more and will probably drink one a year for the next 7 years.

 

So do the more recent years not age like what I have read about here (20, 30, or more years)? When did "new" versions start?

 

The last batch with brett was in 1993. It started being rebrewed without it in 2011 IIRC.

 

I understand the Brett would cause a unique aging evolution, so without the Brett, is Courage still considered to be one of the top aging candidates - i.e., one that actually improves with age as opposed to just holding up well even with age?
Also, a bootle I just picked up is a 2013 vintage, and has a drink by date of 02/09/26 and says that is 13 years out. So was that bottled Feb 9 of 2013 or Sept 2 of 2013 - does anyone know how they do their dating convention?

 

Since the recipe change is relatively recent, it's hard to say with certainty whether the beer will improve in 13 yrs (very few do from what I've read but I've never had a beer that old anyway). But that doesn't mean you shouldn't stash a bottle away for the sake of adventure!

 

I think it's still a very great candidate for aging. I'm not too sure if it can hold to super extended aging (10 or 15+ years) but I don't see why the current Courage RIS would not hold up for quite a number of years. Tried 2012 a couple of weeks ago. Superb stout and I did not see any signs of it falling off at all.

They're labeled in the dd/mm/yy format.

 

I agree. Even with the changes to it's production, it's still a great brew and very well made.
I've had bottles of homebrewed RIS, Burton/Barleywine/Old Ale that were designed with long aging in mind and did in fact taste fantastic after as long as 10 years stored at cellar temps; with that in mind, it seems to me that the current version of Courage's RIS should certainly hold up equally well (if not better).
But, only time will tell...though in considering today's brewers and consumers, neither really seem to be a very patient lot.

 

Thanks for the helpful input. I had also read that the alkaline water in London helps RISs from there age well, and that wouldn't have changed, so it's spunds like a good one to age. My wife actually found this for me and said there was one more at the store. I think I'll try to snag that other one, and either drink one now and hold one for five years, or hold one for five years from bottling date (would be Sept of '18) and then see what that's like and maybe go longer on the other.