New Glarus 2015 R&D

You must've been right in front of me! Guy brought another 4-5 cases in right after you left, said that's all of it now.

 

so closer to 8 cases out there now?

 

Yup. About 8 cases as of 10:45. Depot was cleaned out of just about everything.

 

Not sure if this was discussed, but did anyone ask how Vintage 2014 would develop in the bottle and for how long. I know Cantillon Gueuze says that it will continue to develop for 10-30 years. I assume this is similar but was wondering if anyone asked Dan.

 

I wondered the same thing. Also, any concern that no cork could make the caps pop if it's continuing to develop? Even incorked/caged geuezes the corks sometimes start pushing out with the pressure.

 

Since there's live bacteria in it, it's probably best to keep it at cellar temp. In colder temps the yeast are going to slow down and the beer will develop a lot slower.

Either is fine, but if you want to keep the flavor closer to as it is now, the fridge will lock it in place better.
If you want the acidity to kick up more with time, the cellar will be your best option.


On a different note, I opened a bottle of the 2009-2010 R&D Geueze and it had excellent oak and vanilla flavors along with the soft acidity. The years of aging did some pretty neat things to it. The new Geueze was also very tasty and will only get better with age.

 

Dan told us NOT to age it. "it won't get any better."

 

Oh did he?

 

Well if it's pasteurized, then that would be a fair point. But I don't believe any of the other R&D bottles are, so it will certainly evolve with age. Whether it evolves into something better is subjective, I guess.

 

Gonna go ahead and trust the guy who brewed it on this one.

 

To be fair, the beer is already "aged" since it's a 1,2,3 yr blend. I've never heard of a geueze that doesn't age well, which is why I'm skeptical of the telephone-game message that Dan supposedly said. Meh, only one way to find out. Throw one in the cellar for a couple years and let's see what happens.

 

Agreed; I'm a little skeptical of the "Dan told" quote. Unless I see something in print from Dan himself, I just consider it rubbish. But on a side note, Dan told me that unicorns roam the hills of New Glarus; it's why the beer is so good.

 

If Dan and Deb weren't such visible and forthcoming people at these releases, I'd be more skeptical as well, but it's not a super unlikely quote.

 

It's not unlikely he said that, but I trust most people here about as far as I can throw them. If it was on NG's Facebook page or in some kind of press release, then it's true. Anything else is just some guy heard Dan said this and I'll take it with a grain of salt.

 

You guys give me a headache, sometimes.

I'm not saying it won't evolve... I'm saying that Dan told us directly that its not worth aging. I have no reason to make that up. It neither benefits me nor harms me if you drink or age it. I've managed to hold a conversation with both Dan and Deb every single time I've gone to New Glarus. They're the most approachable people you'd ever want to meet. I'm sure others here can vouch for that statement.

 

This does not sound like something that Dan would say about any R&D beers. So far, all R&D beers have contained live bugs and have continued carbonating with the help of in bottle fermentation. Why would that just randomly change without Dan specifying that?

At Wild Peach and Very Sour Blackberry release, Dan said that both of these beers should get more sour and dry over time. And Wild Peach and VSB have both done that so far. Fruited sour ales normally arent meant for aging, but VSB and Will Peach have both done very very well over time. For example over time the R&D sours have become: dry, sour, crisp, gained a little more funk, and the fruit even seems to stick around for a pretty long time; maybe even better than belgian fruited lambics do (I know this is a bold claim, but I call them as I see them). I have a recent taste of VSB 2 months ago and it still has lots of blackberry flavor and its no where near heading down hill. Wild Peach still has truck loads of peach flavor also has many years of aging left as well.

This beer style has no good reason to be pasteurized by Dan... and Dan definitely knows what he is doing with sour beers. I have never heard of a pasteurized Gueuze, by any brewery in the world to be honest. Please tell me if there is such a Gueuze as I would like to know, so I am not ignorant to the situation. Between gueuze and unblended lambic these are the two best beer styles that are best suited for long term aging. So why exactly did Dan say that this beer wont get better?

 

The Internet, everyone

 

Well, maybe Dan is just placating us. Who knows. I'm not arguing about whether it "tastes better" with age. That's subjective. Simply relaying info heard from the horse's mouth.

 

Right?! I broke my one New Year's resolution. "I will not argue with strangers on the internet this year."

 

Is it sold out yet?