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fishruss · 11-26-2009, 07:14 AM

I am starting to get a large collection of Belgian Trappist beers (Chimay, Westmalle, Orval). They are sooo expensive and I always hear that they get even better with age, that I am afraid to drink them! Anyone else have this phobia?

philrose · 11-26-2009, 08:04 AM

Not at all.

The beer is excellent "young"

Keep in mind that you're not drinking green homebrew here- this beer is shipped across the Atlantic to you.

The orval is a bit different (to me at least), the slight Brett character gets a bit stronger with time and the hop flavor drops out unlike other widely available Belgian beers.

Just my 2 cents

fishruss · 11-26-2009, 08:19 AM

That make's sense. Probably should drink a few of them, How old is the oldest you guy's have been hoarding? What is it?

philrose · 11-26-2009, 08:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fishruss

That make's sense. Probably should drink a few of them, How old is the oldest you guy's have been hoarding? What is it?

I'm not a hoarder myself. Usually the max I cab hang onto a beer is a matter of weeks not months or years

**Jaybird** · 11-26-2009, 08:57 AM

I have a few Victory V12's that are almost 3 years old. Yummmy!!!!

DelftBlue · 11-26-2009, 11:15 AM

I bought this bottle of Westmalle tripel in Amsterdam which the shop owner thought was in the region of 30 years old. Long past it's best I'm afraid - I had to bin it since it was undrinkable.

**StunnedMonkey** · 11-26-2009, 01:29 PM

Just drink 'em. That's what they're for. While they may well keep for a long time I doubt that they'll actually improve significantly. As someone mentioned, they're already several months old by the time you gt them.

Years ago we bought a few bottles (unlabeled blue cap (dubbel) and yellow cap (trippel)) right from the monestary at Westvleteren. We had some immediately, and hauled maybe six bottles back to Indiana. A couple of those bottles were stashed for maybe 3 years. While a side by side wasn't performed (how could it be) I think the 3 year old bottles probably weren't as good, or at least not as good as I recalled.

Unless some of the beer you're stashing is unique and irreplaceable then there's no particular reason for you not to enjoy them whenever you wish.

Houblon · 12-07-2009, 09:40 PM

Buy 2 of each - 1 to drink & 1 to save- problem solved

Most will age just fine for many yrs to come if stored correctly. The orval really started to get better after 8 months.

My oldest beer is a 1997 Westvleteren 12.

Everyone of these beers was just perfect and yes I drank 1 of each

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u167/Beer_Tour/beer246.jpg

homebrewer_99 · 12-08-2009, 12:59 AM

I read once that Chimay is "in the bottle" for 18 months before it is sold...how one would get a "young" Trappist Ale is beyond me, but then again, if she's already 18...she's ready...

**IrregularPulse** · 12-08-2009, 01:07 AM

Last Orval I drank was a couple weeks ago. It was exactly 1 year and 1 week since the bottling. I'd only been sitting on it a couple months. It was past it's prime. Very disappointing. Drink the beer, you can buy more.