With the emergence of the beer scene in our Mother City we have seen some great beers with the likes of brewers from Devils Peak and Triggerfish pushing the limits of our palates to give us something new and exciting - bringing exotic beer styles to our shores in the form of barrel-aged, high ABV Imperial Stouts and Brett-infused Saison. I am sure this is more related to a personal challenge the brewers are putting out to themselves, but I can tell you that I am very happy with the results. What we end up with are some great limited edition runs like the Vannie Hout, the Black Marlin, the Kraken and the Crazy Diamond. Beers designed to stab you in your subdued sensory organs. Beers brewed for maximum enjoyment. Beers that exist to show you that it is not about white vests and drinking from bottles anymore.
Cellaring, I guess, is a term borrowed from our friends in the grape-world meant to suggest the idea of storing your beer somewhere to gather dust and more character. I found consensus among many beer bloggers suggesting, like wine cellars, the environment for storing beer should be cool and dark. They recommend the ideal temperature somewhere between 10 and 15°C. Slight fluctuations are generally benign, but try avoid areas ranging from extreme heat to extreme cold too often. The main difference seems to be that storing beers upright is preferred as opposed to on its side like wines. Storing beers upright allows the sediment to drop to the bottom meaning a clearer pour, but surely most of you already know this.
- High ABV – anything above 8%-10% should be good.
- Malty as opposed to Hoppy – Sweeter, more malty beers lend themselves to ageing far better than the hoppier variety. Sadly, with age, hops break down and lose their fruity/hoppy quality. I even came across one blogger that mentioned hops break down into the same substance that skunk stink is made of...sounds bit of a stretch, but fresh hops are definitely better.
- Barrel-aged – bevvies that have been barrel-aged can always do with some extra rest as this helps to accentuate the oaky or whatever barrel they have been aged in.
- Bottle Conditioned – beers that are bottle conditioned contain a fair amount of left over yeast and this helps to further develop the beer as it ages in your closet or wherever you decide to store it.
- Beers recommended for storage - sometimes the brewery will actually brand the beer as one that can be stored or aged. These are typically beers that have been brewed with this in mind.
Cellaring beers is such a huge field (and new compared to wine), there are so many intricate factors that can change the beer profile in so many ways it is literally an endless experiment. I came across numerous blogs and posts where guys talk about the fact that you have some beer styles from some breweries suited to ageing and others of a same or similar style from other breweries not so much due to more hops being used by the brewer or subtle changes to ingredients and recipes.
- Triggerfish Crazy Diamond
- Triggerfish Black Marlin Russian Imperial Stout
- Touro Trippel Blonde
- Duvel Triple Hop 2014
- Gallows Hill Barrel Aged Porter
When I see something that falls within the criteria I always try to buy at least two, or ideally three of that "vintage". This way I can taste one right away, keep one for a year or so and then have a third a couple of years down the line...or that is the plan should I say rather.
Of course there are always exceptions to these "rules" so feel free to break out and experiment. As Ryan Mazur from the Dog Fish Head quality line says: "You might not prefer what age does to certain beers, but you don't have to worry about beer going bad". Beer cellaring might be new to me, but not so much to you...it is all about patience, careful note-taking and, of course, experimentation in the end.