Mirror Mirror Question

I had it on tap after I bought a bottle. It was good but I am drinking my bottle next year or this winter.

And if breweries held on to their beers for a year or two before they sold them (some like sours they do since they are aged on barrels or fruit) the price would go up. Hence wine $40/bottle for the good stuff from 3-4 years ago. So you wan't mirror mirror to be cellared by the brewery and then cost $25 instead of $15? Would ensure it was good, but I would rather pay less now.

 

Most barleywines are a bit too harsh for me fresh, but Mirror Mirror is one that's worth having fresh I think. If I only had one bottle I'd probably just sit on it for 6 months or so to knock off the rough edges but not really age it. There's no point on sitting on a beer for years when you don't know what it tastes like.

 

For the Deschutes bottles I almost always go by the Best After. I've had them fresh and after the Best After and while both are good, I prefer the Best After. On one hand it's kind of annoying to buy and wait a year for the best flavor profile, but on the other I imagine these would cost that much more if Deschutes was storing them for a year and then releasing them - and they cost enough as it is.

At least Deschutes' bottles are good immediately, unlike some others who don't have a Best After and should.

 

How about buying another couple Mirror Mirrors and drink one fresh and then cellar the other two. Do you still have access to more Mirror Mirror? I think I saw some on the shelf the other day. These beers, IMHO, really taste better after the drink after date. It's definitely hard to wait but as you build a bigger cellar it is A LOT easier just to shove them in the back and forget about them. If you can't find anymore I may be able to still find some on the shelf and I could trade you a couple more. This really seems to be the best answer but I understand not everybody has the cash to buy a few extras and forget about them for a couple years. It gets a lot easier after your cellar is bigger as there is always something else you want to try. I usually buy mostly beers that will cellar well. Those that don't like IPAs, I keep them in my regular fridge so they are in my face and will get drank fresh.

In any case If you want more Mirror Mirrors I may be able to find more on the shelf. If I can't find them on he shelf I probably still have a couple I could trade you. I think I have 8 or more but that's cause these are so much better with few years on them.

 

Vineyards release "young" wine that should be held onto before consuming all the time.

 

99% of wine (or more) is actually damaged by aging, it is meant to be consumed when sold. There is a reason most wines in your local store are from prior vintages (even cheap wines are from several vintages past). Wines are aged before they are sold in almost every case.

 

Now.

The answer is almost always to drink it now.

I will say, however, that I just had the 09 Mirror Mirror (like in the last couple weeks), and I actually enjoyed it more than when it was young, and it wasn't particularly close.

 

You're exaggerating, at least a little. Plenty of wines are released, aged, at the first point they are ready for drinking, but not necessarily at what the winemaker would expect to be their peak.

That said, between wines that ARE best enjoyed young, plunk, most white wines, plenty of wines that won't actually age well, etc., the rule holds true for wine, as well: almost all of the time, drink it when it's released.

That said, the same is true of beer. Most of the beer Deschutes sells is best fresh. All of it is ready to be drank at the time of its release. Some of it (they argue) will be better with a little time in the cellar. They're not doing anything different.

Some breweries would do better to age their beers a bit longer before selling... or just make a better beer in the first place. But thresholds for alcohol "heat" and bitterness will mean that one person's hot garbage juice is another's bracing, warming sipper.

I've rarely, if ever, encountered a beer that wasn't ready to drink upon release.

 

I live in Oregon so I bought 2 bottles and had it fresh on tap 3 times. It's very good fresh, but aging will do wonders to this beer

 

It says "best after date", not "crap before date." The beer is good now and will probably be better later.

You do realize this forum is about cellaring beer, right? ;-)

 

I have no problem with cellaring. I cellar quite a bit of beer myself. I have a problem with a brewery telling you to cellar it.

 

Again, they're suggesting not demanding. "Best After" in their opinions. I get your point. If a beer is undrinkable or bad and it needs to be cellared then that would be lame. But you could also think of this as a positive in at least two ways:

1. They think it is best after that date. You may try it now and disagree. Or, even if you don't think it's better fresh, you may at least think it's different & enjoyable. If they only released after the best after date, you wouldn't have that option.

2. They can charge less. If they cellared it for a year, you'd pay a couple bucks more a bottle. One local bottle shop does this with most Deschutes, Hair of the Dog, Firestone Walker, etc. It's great for the people that missed them, but I'm glad I paid less for my bottles.

I don't see this being a lot different than people coming on here and asking "how long should I cellar XYZ?" Someone is going to say "it's best after ..." and a concensus may even emerge.

Just my $0.02.

 

All fair points, for mirror mirror though, I feel like I'm already paying a premium since it is not a cheap bottle. I might agree completely with you on a different beer, but this one is more expensive than even Firestone anniversary beers, which are amazing all the time. If it was cheaper than Firestone (or comparable), I wouldn't have as big of a problem.

 

Ah, here it is comparable or cheaper than Firestone.

 

Its $25 for mirror mirror, I can usually get FW for under or about $20

 

Holy crap - both are $16ish out here. I got mirror mirror at total wine for $13.

 

Wow, that would definitely change things. Would have no issue paying $13. $25 on the other hand....

 

Yeah, wow. We don't get FW in Iowa, but Mirror Mirror was only $14.99.

 

i never age what i haven't tried, but if you just want personal experience: i dislike fresh mirror mirror, love it after like 3 years. (shrug)

 

If you age it, all the hops will die out. I would drink it fresh.