Old beer tasting

Your experience sounds about right. I tried a 40 year old twist off bottle Schmidt's Tiger Head Ale that was similar. My opinion was undrinkable. My amber and dark extract-based homebrews (crown capped and bottle conditioned with yeast) of near 40 years old fared better. Carbonation was fine, taste definitely in the acceptable range, maybe better. I think beer, bottled with yeast, and securely crown capped is the best bet for survival. Beer in cans seems to be vulnerable, possibly because of the long term deterioration of the internal metal coatings. Small scale canning common these days probably produces generally worse results.

 

Your beer picked up some sort of minor bacterial or wild yeast infection which indicates a sanitation issue with the bottling equipment or the bottle itself. Frequently these infected beers produce an over-carbonation effect with a gusher when opening the bottle. Yours didn't do that so that's why I call it a minor infection. This underscores why a beer from a craft brewery that shouldn't be aged (let's say less than 8% abv) should be drank fresh.

Your subject line says it tasted old, and that could be an indicator of oxidation which can easily be expected from a beer this old.

 

I’m just gonna put this here. I am currently drinking a 2004 Sierra Nevada celebration ale for some reason.

Sierra Nevada celebration ale 2004. Wut. Was recently “gifted” this bottle by a friend along with some other cellar relics. Poured this one now because I’m okay with a drain pour. It’s not horrendous but it’s not good. It’s basically flat in it’s 18th year (keep the jokes to yourself). Some rich malty brown sugar and cardboard notes. Moderate bitterness on the finish. Beer isn’t really great for aging and I’m saying that as someone who has rated or reviewed close to 5000 beers. This is an extreme example and was never intended to be aged for 18 years. Exceptions seem to be the best of the Lambics and Gueuze (recently has a 14 year old Cantillon that was terrific). For me even the best of the big dark beers (barleywines and imperial stouts) seldom improve much after a few years of proper cellaring.

 

There is alrwady a thread for sharing old beer tasting notes. Not at all limited to successes
https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/cellar-reviews-2022.664094/

 

Man, how are you gonna say "keep the jokes to yourself" then drink out of a glass branded "Dildo Brewing Co"?

 

Some develop early, some are still flat in their 18th year (probably never gonna happen at that point). By the way Dildo is a lovely town in Newfoundland. The next day I had lunch in the town of “come by chance.”