Dogfish "Ancient Ales" and freshness

Discussion in 'Cellaring / Aging Beer' started by wingedcoyote, Oct 22, 2013.

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  1. wingedcoyote

    wingedcoyote Initiate (0) Oct 22, 2013 North Carolina

    Hi BA! (first thread)

    So I noticed recently that one of our local Totalwine stores has an amazing selection of Dogfish Head bombers including pretty much the whole Ancient Ales line. A lot of my buddies are into history and weird beers, so I thought I might grab the lot of them and have a little tasting party.

    One thing that concerns me. The fact that they have so many of these out-of-the-ordinary beers on the shelf, and the general dustiness of the environs, makes me wonder just how long these beers have been sitting around. And I really have no idea whether these are the "just improves with age" kind of beers, or the kind that you want to get right off the production line.

    For the record I'm talking about Midas Touch, Chateau Jiahu, Theobroma, Ta Henket, and Birra Etrusca Bronze. What do y'all think?
     
    #1 wingedcoyote, Oct 22, 2013
  2. DrStiffington

    DrStiffington Grand Pooh-Bah (3,740) Oct 27, 2010 New Jersey
    Society Pooh-Bah

    I thought DFH had bottled on dates stamped on their bottles, no? Anyway, most of those beers you listed are high abv and are not really hoppy anyway, so I wouldn't be too concerned. Plus, if you want a truly authentic experience, ancient ales should have some AGE on them, amiright?
     
    #2 DrStiffington, Oct 22, 2013
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  3. BurgeoningBrewhead

    BurgeoningBrewhead Initiate (0) Jul 18, 2012 Pennsylvania

    None of those should be affected too much by age, you're probably fine.
     
    #3 BurgeoningBrewhead, Oct 22, 2013
  4. beerjerk666

    beerjerk666 Grand Pooh-Bah (5,155) Aug 22, 2010 Florida
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Shouldn't be an issue at all. Recheck for dating on the bottles.
     
    #4 beerjerk666, Oct 22, 2013
  5. wingedcoyote

    wingedcoyote Initiate (0) Oct 22, 2013 North Carolina

    Cool, I'll check for dates but I'm glad to hear it shouldn't be a huge issue. Had the feeling that might be the case but I think since I've been in an IPA phase lately I've gotten into the habit of fretting about freshness. :slight_smile:

    While we're on the subject, anyone have thought about the order to serve these guys? I was thinking maybe start with Jiahu and go chronologically.
     
    #5 wingedcoyote, Oct 22, 2013
  6. TDavEdMac

    TDavEdMac Initiate (0) May 6, 2013 Colorado

    Chronologically is the way to go for these I would think. Midas is what got me deeper into the craft world as I thought it was awesome that they recreated something from a drinking vessel that long ago. I've been sitting on a Ta Henket for a while. They think that beer is how the Egyptians were paid for building the pyramids. Might as well see if you can find Sah'tea and the new Kvasir too and travel through time
     
    #6 TDavEdMac, Oct 23, 2013
    tommyguz likes this.
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