Imperial Stouts

I prefer a good ris over a standard IS, that said I think Moscow (midnight sun), Ivan the terrible (big sky) and old rasputin are my favorite in that order.....
By the way all 3 of those have been in my fridge for over a year at one point or another and have tasted great every time

 

None of those beers would really improve with aging. And I would drink them within about two years of purchasing. IMHO you need to go to the next level if you want big stouts that are cellarable.

 

Actually, I think Stone RIS is a good beer to cellar. It really gains in complexity and becomes a much more even beer after 5+ years. I have also had decent experiences cellaring Storm King and BBCS, though I didn't think they improved to quite the degree I find in the Stone.

I haven't tried cellaring any of the beers OP put on the first list, though I have had them fresh. I tend to agree I wouldn't put them high on my list of ultimate beers to cellar.

 

I drank an '08 Stone IRS back in Sept(?) and thought it was awesome.

I have several FIS in the cellar and enjoy them fresh and aged. I aged a couple Brooklyn Black Chocolates and those things really went downhill. Much better fresh, IMO. No experience aging any of the others.

 

can anyone speak to how Ten Fidy ages since its in a can?

 

My experience aging Stone RIS surprisingly was disappointing and despite some heat for me it was was much better fresh. I've had some miraculous experiences aging stouts like old Courage Russian Imperial Stout and Dark Lord though.

 

Sounds good man! Just picked up four today that were canned on halloween last year. Got a little head start so I may as well age one. I'm about to try it for the first time in general tonight so im pretty excited.

 

I've had Stone IRS at 5 years it definitely mellows and you get more complexity than fresh. I wouldn't say it's necessarily better than fresh, but it is different and as great as always.

Founders IS is better with a year on it.

I would imagine that Storm King is much different once those hops fade.

BBCS does fine but I don't notice much difference.

 

I'll look forward to your report. I have a can of that same batch I'm sitting on still.

 

That's just a baby. These last a helluva long time from my experience.

 

I didn't care for aged ten fidy. I do like old raspy with some age on it, its too bitter when fresh. A local shop has some 08 avery mephistophles available right now, im really curious what a 17% non BA stout tastes like with that many years on it.

 

The Avery website says that beer is cellarable for 10+ years, same with all the beast series. I may buy one of each each (in honor of my daughter's name) and open randomly. 2014 Mephistopheles in 2024, maybe; 2015 Samael in 2017. Who knows. It's beer. It's supposed to be fun.

 

I've had six year old Mephistopheles, it's still quite hot. It could have gone another six easily.

 

managed to get 5 bottles of KBS this year and drank one last night. I have enough where I can cellar some so I wanted to see what you guys thought about it aged vs. fresh and how long it should be aged

 

Plenty of discussion on aging KBS, but the usual reponses are it will mellow and loose the coffee notes. Run a search for more details.

 

searches don't really say much about the time frame/flavor congruency. Most are just elementary things like "you can age this because its high enough ABV" or "its good/not good aged". I need details!