Really Old Brown Dog

Haven’t tried it yet, up there on my want list, but usually big dark beers age pretty well for the first few years.

 

That beer is an old ale @11.1% abv, so it should be good for several years, ideally if it is cellared around 50-55 degrees. It seems strange to use a best-by 6/18 date on it.

 

OP, are you sure it's not a bottled on date, rather than a best by date? This would make more sense with the ' Brewed for 2018' statement, too.

 

I don't know how to link a review, but mine is off a 2+ year old bottle and it's still on the front page. The date printed in yellow or white ink on the bottle is a bottle date not a best before on their high ABV beers, unless they've changed. We stopped getting their beer in southern Indiana a year ago.

 

I just had one the other day that was bottled in December 2014 and it tasted great. Assuming yours was actually bottled in 2018 and not best by 2018, it should be good for a long time to come. And even if it really is best by 2018, it should still be good unless it’s been stored poorly.

 

Nope. Drink one now, enjoy the rest over a long time.

 

I'd just store them till the winter, them run through them as I desired.

After 15 years of cellaring I've discovered I don't really enjoy aging most beers.

 

I big brown ale...I wouldn't worry much. I would be stunned if you came back to say that they weren't in the range of your otherwise expectations

 

Last Fall I posted a cellar review of a 2010 bottle that was about 7 years old, and still drinking very good. For details see here:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/october-2017-cellar-reviews.539937/#post-5698778

 

Old Brown Dog will probably still be drinkable in 3018.

 

I got a bunch of 2012 in 2014. Finally drank my last one a couple months ago. In my opinion fresh-3 years is peak, but it was still very enjoyable at 6 years old. I'd make sure you know when it was brewed. I've heard Smutty releases aged beer from time to time.