Stout Aging

should be fine

 

If you kept it out of the light and at the right temp for that long, it should taste very good. Only one way to find out. Give it a try and see if it was successful

 

Keep it cool and dry 'til the day you die.

but fer realz I don't have any experience with such.

 

Should be awesome. I had an '08 a few months ago that was drinking very well. Stone themselves cellar bottles and kegs to release at their various taprooms from time to time... I've seen them post '06 and earlier available for events.

 

5 years seems to be the "recommendation" for how long to age beers up (for breweries that put such dates on their bottles), I think it should be pretty tasty.

 

Will be just fine... likely went from 50-55ish degrees to 38-40ish degrees. Would take a hell of a lot more to harm a big stout like that.

 

the local bottle shop has a bunch of Ballast Point Sea Monster on sale for $4.99.
I think the bottle says best by 02/14, but I'm not certain.
I wonder how well this will hold up having been on the shelf for so long?
picked one up just to see.... kinda looking forward to it

 

5 years for an imperial Russian stout is fine. It should have evolved beyond the original beer by that stage. This is assuming that it has been made with aging in mind.

To put it in perspective, I have a bunch of Molen RIS that say on the label that they are good for 25 years...

 

Brewer Mitch Steele actually has said he believes Stone IRS peaks at 7 years. It's all personal preference. I think this year's is great fresh, and also enjoy it aged 2-3 years. Have never let it go 5+ years, but Stone is relatively new to our market so I haven't had the opportunity yet.

 

So how was it compared to fresh?

 

Five years is fine for most big beers. But I've had ones far older than that were simply astounding like a 15 years old bottle of Samichlaus I had a few years ago. It was mind bogglingly good.)
A lot depends of the nature of the brew, it's strength, the conditions under which it was stored and even the conditions under which it was originally packaged.

 

I've had 2007 BCBS and it was badly oxidized, I had some 2008 that was still good, and 2009 which was fantastic. Not much to go on but I'd say 2-3 year is optimal. I happen to like it fresh and hot, so aging stuff isn't a big deal for me, but I do have some 2012 in the cabinet.

 

Just last Spring Stone was through here with 2006 - 20010 RIS at tastings... I bought a bottle of 2006, 2007, and 2009. They had on tap 2008. The 2008 on tap was very good. The rep that was there opened a 2007 for me and a couple people... It was drinking INCREDIBLE. Was such a difference in the two years.

All that being said I would expect that 2009 to drink wonderfully, and if you can still find another 20014 (I see them floating around where I'm at often), get another and lay it down for a few more years.