Brewsmack

Recipes 

Second that

eyebrau

Recipes 

In my experience, the bigger the beer, the better it is with age. IPAs are better fresh because tue hops fade. Anything that is supposed to be focused on flavoring and/or aroma hops needs to be drank relatively fresh. Some other styles are also meant to be drank fresh, like bitters. Barleywines, imperial stouts, old ales, quadrupels/abts are all best aged.

I made an RIS with my dad on Father's Day in 2011, I still have just a couple bottles left. It has only gotten better with age. I plan to have one with him this Father's Day at 2 years age, and if any are still left after, I might try to keep one for next year as well.

One thing I found hilarious when looking up mead recipes online some time ago was coming across a recipe for polish mead where the last step said, and I quote, "age for 5 to 100 years."

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Long conditioning: cyser, berry melon melomel
On tap(a draft): ordinary bitter
Secondary:American oatmeal stout, English barleywine, Odd Bruin
Primary: Nothing (yet)
Up next: homebrewer collaboration RIS

lumpher

Recipes 

about a year ago a friend shared some barleywine with me. they were made in 1994, 1995, 1997, 1999, and 2004. they were smooth as silk, and very tasty

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Taps:
1: Belma Blonde
2: Toasted Pale Ale
3: Belma Pale Ale

Kegged:
Fermenting: Belgian Saison, Berry wine

In the fermentation chamber:

Fermenting: Toasted IPA

tabing75

Recipes 

i have some goat scrotum ale that i brewed about 15 years ago(unrefrigerated). i tasted it in October of 2011 and it was surprisingly good. a little oxidation but i was very excited so my buddy convinced me to chill another....bummer, it was vinegar-ish. that one was due to poor sanitary conditions.

on the other hand, many of my lower gravity beers are not as fresh tasting after 9 months.

DrunkleJon

Recipes 

Bigger beers and more complex beers seem to almost require aging to be all they can be. Barleywines, RIS's, Dubbels/Trippels/Quads, complex/imperial stouts all benefit from aging. Anything that when bottled tastes green or off usually taste better when given time. Aging is also called conditioning, and you can read up on the benefits of conditioning.

True, the oldest homebrew I have had was ~2 years old, but it was still good. It will not go bad since it is pasturized in the boil and only 'infected' with the yeast you desire when you ferment. When packaged the yeast that remains will carbonate (if you naturally carbonate) and otherwise can clean up some off flavors from fermentation. Then with age the flavors meld and blend like they do in a casserole which is why they are better as leftovers. and some other flavors mellow out over time which allows the rest of the flavors to develop.

All in all, I highly reccomend you maintain a stock of a few of your back beers so that you can taste the progression of your brewing skills and remenisce back to past brews. I am just sad that I only have a couple bottles left from my early batches.

BTW. aging in the fridge will clear the beer quicker, but slow down the hop fade and conditioning.

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On Deck: Black Lager (im stalling on this one for some reason), Octoberfest/Marzen
Fermenting:Apfelwein
Kegged: Breakfast Stout, Cream Ale, Apfelwein, Pale Ale
Bottled: American Amber/Red Ale