Year old rauchbiers

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by rocdoc1, Apr 11, 2012.

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  1. rocdoc1

    rocdoc1 Savant (1,215) Jan 13, 2006 New Mexico

    I thought my pecan rauchbier was finished months ago but I found the keg with about a gallon left in the back of the kegerator. I was gonna pour it out but after a small taste it's still excellent. So I tasted the keg with a half gallon of apple rauchbier that I thought was stale back in December and it's still great, but still not as smooth as the pecan version. So I'm a happy old guy right now-I have a cookout this weekend and enough smoked beers for everybody to enjoy. BTW I brewed these beers a year ago for Oktoberfest 2011.
     
    #1 rocdoc1, Apr 11, 2012
  2. kjyost

    kjyost Initiate (0) May 4, 2008 Canada (MB)

    Your kegerator is too large if you're losing beers :slight_smile: What do you use?
     
    #2 kjyost, Apr 11, 2012
  3. inchrisin

    inchrisin Pooh-Bah (2,013) Sep 25, 2008 Indiana
    Pooh-Bah

    What is it that makes you think that your keg is kicked when it's not, or that your beer goes stale in a keg?
     
    #3 inchrisin, Apr 11, 2012
  4. hopfenunmaltz

    hopfenunmaltz Pooh-Bah (2,635) Jun 8, 2005 Michigan
    Pooh-Bah

    All beer stales regardless of the container, some take longer than others. Rauchbiers will start to go off with time, taking on a nasty "liquid smoke" character vs a clean smoke character when fresh.
     
    #4 hopfenunmaltz, Apr 11, 2012
  5. mikehartigan

    mikehartigan Maven (1,421) Apr 9, 2007 Illinois

    I still have a handful of wood aged and a few smoked beers that I brought home from a competition I judged last Spring (all losers). While no longer at their peak, most are still pretty damn good! (others are still losers)
     
    #5 mikehartigan, Apr 11, 2012
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  6. rocdoc1

    rocdoc1 Savant (1,215) Jan 13, 2006 New Mexico

    I have a chest freezer with 6 taps and a fridge I use for carbonating/lagering that holds 6 kegs, and most have cobra taps attached. The pecan was in the lagering fridge with no tap attached and I thought it was a keg of cider. for some reason I thought the apple rauchbier was finished tastewise months ago but work has been so busy lately I haven't had much time to brew and I had nothing to replace the keg with so I just let it sit. Yesterday I tasted it and it's still good. Also I took the label off the tap so I thought the keg must be empty. I really just need to spend less time working and a lot more time drinking.
     
    #6 rocdoc1, Apr 11, 2012
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  7. herrburgess

    herrburgess Grand Pooh-Bah (3,077) Nov 4, 2009 South Carolina
    Pooh-Bah

    The Rauchbier that won Best of Show at the American Homebrewers Association (AHA) National Homebrew Competition last year was in the keg for 16 months before it won. Congrats on your find. I'm sure they will be tasting great.
     
    #7 herrburgess, Apr 12, 2012
  8. rocdoc1

    rocdoc1 Savant (1,215) Jan 13, 2006 New Mexico

    There's too much conventional wisdom on this site that's not borne out by real life experience.
    My experience with rauchbiers is that for the first month or 2 in the keg the smoke is muted, then it builds after a few months. It may be that other flavors fade, but my rauchbiers are lightly hopped-just bittering hops- so I don't know what causes it. But in the last 6 months the smoke aspect has been very stable.
     
    #8 rocdoc1, Apr 12, 2012
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  9. herrburgess

    herrburgess Grand Pooh-Bah (3,077) Nov 4, 2009 South Carolina
    Pooh-Bah

    On the advice of the guy who won Best of Show, I have let the last gallon or so of a Rauchbier I brewed back in January stay in the keg (yes, there's some residual yeast in there keeping it "alive"). Every time I sample it it gets better and better (going on 19 weeks now). Going to enter it in a local competition, my first, in May. Winner gets brewed by my favorite US craft brewer, Olde Mecklenburg.
     
    #9 herrburgess, Apr 12, 2012
  10. rocdoc1

    rocdoc1 Savant (1,215) Jan 13, 2006 New Mexico

    Good luck with the comp, it would be great to have a huge batch of your own rauchbier on the market. But will they be willing to let it sit long enough to fully develop?
     
    #10 rocdoc1, Apr 12, 2012
  11. herrburgess

    herrburgess Grand Pooh-Bah (3,077) Nov 4, 2009 South Carolina
    Pooh-Bah

    Would definitely be a dream come true to win. And, no, I think grain-to-glass maximum is 9 weeks. The improvement in the beer over these 19 weeks has been gradual and noticable, but (in the large scheme of things) fairly negligible. The beer when I had it at 9 weeks was, IMO, very good (it was based on that Best of Show winning recipe, with some tweaks for my personal tastes). I'm just surprised that even months after kegging the smoke continues to emerge.
     
    #11 herrburgess, Apr 12, 2012
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