Looking for cellar feedback

Sours aren't going to improve with age, 70 degrees is on the warm side of storing beer.

 

Aging on depends on what you want them to do.

Sours are meant to be drank now. If you're new to sours and want them to mellow out, by all means sit on them.

They don't improve over time, so if you're into sours, drink now. If you're talking a wild with 100% Brett, and you're looking for more funk, sit on it.

Warm temperatures speed up the end result, but it all depends what you're looking for.

 

I think that the term "sour" is bit broad to make a statement like this. True, most American brewed beers that are sour will be best within 6 months, and many brett inoculated European beers are best within a year. If the classic old world style Belgian Lambics are included in the "sours" list, some of these can change in very positive ways over the long term (some getting arguably better even after 10-15+ years), but most are very good the day they are released as well.

 

The only beer in your cellar that I have personally tried at multiple points is Bigfoot, and I think I like it at 4-5 years best, but I have not gone older than 6 years. I also have one last 2009 and I may leave it till it is ten years old just for fun. Patrick Dawson's book "Vintage Beer" details a 10 year vertical of Bigfoot and him (with his panel of tasters) say that it peaks at 5 years and goes slowly downhill from there (but never gets bad, just sort of bland and faint).

 

I have not personally had that one aged, but others have had mixed reviews. See here (especially the last post) http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/anyone-age-new-belgium-la-folie.183983/#post-2477188

Scroll down through this blog post from New Belgium to the La Folie section. Huge amount of information, and she says pretty firmly "don't age this". http://embracethefunk.com/2012/06/26/lauren-salazar-of-new-belgium-qa/

 

i wouldn't recommend aging FBS beyond a year, especially at 70 degrees

 

my bad didn't read closely enough. still wouldn't recommend it but if FBS isn't hard for you to get then do it for fun

 

I refuse to age coffee stouts. Don't sit on Speedway or FBS for more than a year.

Also, if there's a beer you "LOVE fresh," there really isn't much room for improvement. Its possible to age the aspect you love out of the beer.

 

Excellent choice. Fresh speedway stout is one of favorites.

 

La Folie is flash pasteurized. Will taste the same no matter how long you keep it.

I couldn't disagree more on the point about drinking sours immediately. They far from mellow out - if made with fruit then yes, the fruit will mellow out, but a lot of sours just get more sour/better if you ask me...I guess it depends on what you consider a 'sour' though...

 

Only the 22oz bottles (2010 and newer?). The 750's were bottle conditioned.

 

Pasteurized beer like La Follie *does* age, but almost never in a good way. I still cellar capped LF bottles, verticals are fun.

 

If it's a corked and caged version it is not pasteurized. I had one of the original corked and caged bottles about a year and a half ago. I got it back at the brewery when you could only buy La Folie on-site. La Folie has changed quite a bit since it was introduced - it wasn't nearly as sour, and was much more Rodenbach-like...no doubt due to Peter Bouckaert's move to NB.