How to store BA beer

I can't comment specifically on how Darkness ages.

But for aging any beer style that can improve - storing in a dark, cool, environment that holds a steady temperature of about 50-55 degrees F is best. So if you have a true underground basement or cellar, that is what works best.

There is a good summary here:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/101/store/

 

I heartily disagree with the belief that you should keep it for at least a year before you try it. How would you know what it originally tasted like? There's no point to aging a beer if you have no reference to compare it to.

And for that matter, as someone who's spent an enormous amount of money and time aging beers in the past, I can say that for the most part it's all hype. Some beers will improve, many will simply change, and quite a few will be worse off. If you don't have the money, and the proper cellar, drink it now. Simply putting a single bottle in a closet for three years does nothing. You need to take one out every year and try it, noting how it's changed. THAT is the benefit, and what's fun and educational, not the final product.

Finally, since we're talking barrel aged, I'm not sure that they're a very good choice to begin with. Unless the wood was a bit much and it's harsh there's no need to age it. Aging an already properly aged barrel beer will leave you with less wood, and you've lost its character.

 

I totally agree. I started cellaring a shit ton of beers about 2.5 years ago. I have learned over the last 6 months or so that I don't like most beers after they have aged. I have pretty much wasted time and money "collecting" beer because I really don't have much desire to crack most of them open. Big, heavy stouts and a few sours are really the only thing I've had decent results with.

In the future, I will be drinking all beer I buy much more quickly.

 

I agree with drinking it now. The more I age beers the less I enjoy the beer.

 

I agree with the "drink it now" crowd. I have Black Note '14 and '16 and thought the '14 was phenomenal fresh and with a year on it. At New Year's last year/this year, I opened another '14 and thought the wood flavor was too up front, and the beer didn't seem as balanced as I recalled it being in the past. Maybe it was just me, maybe the beer changed for the worse, it's hard to really say when you drink one of a beer every year or two.

Like @NeroFiddled said, get a lot of one beer, drink it fresh, take notes, and then wait to open more every 3-6 months. I'm doing this with Bell's 30th and have noticed the beer start to "open up" from being very roasty to having more sweet flavors developing.

 

This thread definitely wants to make me drink something out of my makeshift cellar I've been saving for some mythical special occasion.

Like you guys, I realized it was absurd to age something I had never even had before. I say drink it how the brewer intended and if you got some extras, it can be fun do drink one every now and then to see how it develops It is extremely rare that I find myself thinking it is noticeably better after aging.

I mainly just use my little cellar now to save bottles for trading.

 

I've never had the "when am I ever going to drink this?" problem. Whenever I buy a bottle for aging, I add it to my cellar spreadsheet, along with the month and year I plan on cracking it open. If I get to the end of a month with bottles scheduled for that month remaining, I invite friends over to help me stay on schedule. I've only had to resort to that once.

I only have four bottles I'm saving for a special occasion with no scheduled drinking date, and they're all hugely boozy (16% and up) Bruery 750s that genuinely need a few years to mellow. I don't have much trouble finding enough special occasions to keep that list under a handful.

 

I'd say it depends on why your buddies are saying that. If they've actually had it fresh vs. aged 1-2 years and there's a consensus that it's better aged, then perhaps take their advice, but I'd wager that they're just buying into the mentality many people seem to have these days that every imperial stout gets better with age (absolutely untrue). Unless the experience of many people suggest otherwise, drink it fresh. If the barrel flavors overwhelm the beer then age it, but for me that's not usually the case with stouts. I have had several BA barleywines and quads that I'd prefer to age, however, but it's no coincidence that non-BA barleywines and quads are also usually good for aging.

 

I am new to this as well in that I have only begun to age beer. Although my knowledge of beer aging is limited, I have been aging Cuban Cigars for the past 20 years or so. I have noticed that aging cigars makes them taste different; a difference that I may or may not enjoy but to say "better" is for me just too subjective. That being said; some may enjoy beer when its fresh and others may find that same beer far more enjoyable with some age on it.

 

Ah ha! I see this thread is still going on and so I thought I'd add a little bit more info. as I feel I may have been a little too harsh upfront.

Lamar, and I assume others, have made a good point - you can't really say "better" as it all depends on your own tastes, but the beer will definitely become different. The extent to which that happens depends on the beer itself.

What I might suggest for someone who's starting out is to start small and remain focused. A good example might be to buy 6 large bottles of each of the Chimay beers. That's 18 bottles at @ $12 ea. which should be @ $216. I'm suggesting these because they're well known, easy to find, and everyone should already be familiar with them. From there, they're all unique in their own ways, but still somewhat similar in that they're all rooted in the same brewery with mostly the same brewing processes, malts, and yeast, as well as packaging (oxygen pick-up, same corks, etc.).

Depending on how much you drink then, you can either do it yourself or have a few friends over, and open one to start with and take notes. Wait a year and try it again, taking more notes. If the beers have all sat in the same space, at the end of 6 years you'll have a very good idea of the kinds of changes that will take place, and what you can imagine might happen with other beers. Or, even expand it. You could add 6 bottles each of the smaller capped bottles, and/or you could add another beer or two to the mix but you shouldn't go crazy. I'd suggest a barleywine or Imperial stout to begin with as they should at least hold up.

 

Drink it now, I enjoy cellaring, but I wouldn't want to waste a BA darkness on it not aging well. Most of my cellar is shelf imperial stouts and barley wines with very few sours. Some age well others don't. I will recover old Rasputin for the cellar. I didn't really like it fresh, but after I aged it 2 years I thought it was very good.