2/29/08 Your Leap Year Brew?

I am going home early to brew a Leap Year Brew. Granted I don't know if I can wait till it turns 1 year old before I drink it. I was thinking of doing "Brewpastor's" Water Into Barleywine. Anyone else planning anything special?

Nope, just brewed a couple beers in the last week and don't have the patience to wait a whole year to taste a beer.

However in the mead section several people are planning on making a mead to drink at the next leap year. If you think the patience for one year is bad try waiting for 4.

Craig

I'm going to brew a spiced Old Ale and save it for Christmas.

CBBaron said:

If you think the patience for one year is bad try waiting for 4.

Craig

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That was the plan. Put it away and forget about it for 4 years :cross:

See the mead thread for HBTs leap year mead.

Wastegate said:

That was the plan. Put it away and forget about it for 4 years :cross:

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I don't think I'll be able to keep any of this year's special Christmas brew around that long, but 2 years isn't unreasonable.

Not Mead, Beer.
So I'm the only one? Will it not age correctly? Whats the deal? These are going into bottles, so I don't have to worry about space in the fridge.

Wastegate said:

Not Mead, Beer.
So I'm the only one? Will it not age correctly? Whats the deal? These are going into bottles, so I don't have to worry about space in the fridge.

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As long as your sanitation is good, there is no problem keeping bottled beer around for 4 years or more. The Barley Wine you are planning seems like a good one to do that with.

I'm going to make the starter today, which technically will mean the beer was started on 2/29. Its going to be a sour beer of some sort that will age for 4 years hopefully. I was thinking a Gueze, every year brew another batch, blend on the third year, then age one more year in bottle to drink next leap year. But I've already got pLambic brewed to make a Gueze with already. So I'm trying to think what I want my next sour/funky beer to be, probably higher gravity if its going to be four years, but really doesn't have to be. We'll see.

Wastegate said:

Not Mead, Beer.
So I'm the only one? Will it not age correctly? Whats the deal? These are going into bottles, so I don't have to worry about space in the fridge.

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I thought you were only aging the Barleywine for one year.
My only concern with holding on to the entire batch for 4 years is that there is a fair chance it will start degrading in quality before you even taste it. I would expect a barleywine to get better for atleast a year. 4years it should still be good but I would expect it to be on the down hill side by then.

I won't be letting any of my beers get that old except for maybe a few individual bottles for experimentation purposes.
Hmmm ... Maybe I will save a bottle or two of my Midas Touch clone until the next leap year. I just brewed this a couple weeks ago so its pretty close to the leap day and at 1.092 OG it should age reasonably well.

Craig

CBBaron said:

Nope, just brewed a couple beers in the last week and don't have the patience to wait a whole year to taste a beer.

However in the mead section several people are planning on making a mead to drink at the next leap year. If you think the patience for one year is bad try waiting for 4.

Craig

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HA!! That's nothing...I still have a couple bottles of mead from 1994...:rockin: :rockin:

homebrewer_99 said:

HA!! That's nothing...I still have a couple bottles of mead from 1994...:rockin: :rockin:

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The question is are they still improving or are they past their prime?
Ofcourse you can't tell without sampling

Maybe its because I'm still fairly new to brewing but 4 years seems like a long time to keep a beer around.

Craig

CBBaron said:

4 years seems like a long time to keep a beer around.
Craig

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I hate to keep bringing this up, But I have a Jalapeño Chili beer that took about 8 years to become drinkable, and is good enough now..at 9 years I'll be making at least 3 batches this summer when the local chili's start coming in.

From what I've read, some RIS's, Barleywines, and Belgian Strong ales only really begin to reach their full potential at 2 years, and can be even better at 5.

I am planning to brew a RIS in about a month. My plan is to "release" a 2 bottles to myself every six to eight months for the first 2 years just to taste it as it ages.

Then this summer I am hoping to do the same thing with a Dark Belgian Strong Ale.

I am planning on a double IPA which I wil call my Quarter Annual Double IPA.

Wastegate said:

I am going home early to brew a Leap Year Brew. Granted I don't know if I can wait till it turns 1 year old before I drink it. I was thinking of doing "Brewpastor's" Water Into Barleywine. Anyone else planning anything special?

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great choice, that is an amazing beer.. 3 more months and mine will be a year old. :rockin: To bad I only have about 16 left.

I did an English-style barley wine which, once bottled, I'll be giving to my father to hide somewhere in his basement so I keep my hands off of it. This is my first barley wine and the first beer I plan on aging more than a year. I'm calling it "Leap of Faith"

BigKahuna said:

I hate to keep bringing this up, But I have a Jalapeño Chili beer that took about 8 years to become drinkable, and is good enough now..at 9 years I'll be making at least 3 batches this summer when the local chili's start coming in.

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Wow, that is some serious time commitment to a brew. I guess I need to learn more patience. And find more storage space.

Craig