beer that can age.

I am wonder at what ABV does a beer have to be in order for it to age well. I am planning on doing a strong ale that is anywhere from 8 to 10 percent abv. It will not be a barley wine! tell me if I should go higher.

Not too experienced with big beers, but 8-10 is definitely big enough to age. Just be careful about oxidation especially when bottling.

ABV isn't the only indicator by any means. I have an English Old ale that's ~5.5% that's been aging (and getting better) for months. Also, many Belgian-style beers benefit from long aging times. Typically, the more complex the recipe and/or the addition of adjunct sugars means a benefit is to be gained by aging. Many high ABV beers (e.g. Arrogant Bastard) aren't aged at all and don't benefit from it. Best of luck!

At a beer dinner with Sam Calagione (who should know), he said his lab folks indentified 8% - 10% as a good range for beers that can age a few years (1-3) and then 10%+ as best if you're going to age any longer than that. Had some 2006 120 Minute IPA that night...unreal.

That's plenty high. Keep in mind that hoppy beers lose their nose after 9-12 months, so the best aging beers are ones that are on the malty side.

When you say age, how long are you talking about. So far I prefer most of my beers with some months on em.

I've got a RIS, strong scotch, and a barleywine 3 years old. They are all FAR better now than they were when they were young. But I think I'm going to drink them up before I run into problems with losing carbonation.

I held onto a beer for 24 years and it had lost ALL carbonation. So I'd say 24 years is a little long (unless you really like soy sauce).

passedpawn said:

I've got a RIS, strong scotch, and a barleywine 3 years old. They are all FAR better now than they were when they were young. But I think I'm going to drink them up before I run into problems with losing carbonation.

I held onto a beer for 24 years and it had lost ALL carbonation. So I'd say 24 years is a little long (unless you really like soy sauce).

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24 years, good lord! I primary for at least 10 years to "let the yeast do their thing", but 24 years is serious.

Maybe try oxygen fixing caps for extended aging, I've heard they help for long term (3+ years).

TwoGunz said:

24 years, good lord! I primary for at least 10 years to "let the yeast do their thing", but 24 years is serious.

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You "primary" for 10 years???????

TwoGunz said:

24 years, good lord! I primary for at least 10 years to "let the yeast do their thing", but 24 years is serious.

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It was not homebrew. I just stuck it on a shelf. Jamaican Dragon Stout.

"primary"....."cellaring"...."aging"????

mcaple1 said:

"primary"....."cellaring"...."aging"????

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Please use all your words. Not idea what you are saying/asking there.

holy cow.....read my earlier threads. Twogunz said that he does primary for at least 10 years. "Primary".....no f'ing way.

mcaple1 said:

holy cow.....read my earlier threads. Twogunz said that he does primary for at least 10 years. "Primary".....no f'ing way.

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Yeah, I used to go with a secondary as soon as the krausen dropped but everyone on here convinced me a long primary was the way to go.

TwoGunz said:

Yeah, I used to go with a secondary as soon as the krausen dropped but everyone on here convinced me a long primary was the way to go.

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this is a joke right

So we had some trouble getting the gravity up and it seems that we were only able to get about 7.8% which is not very good. Any suggestions on what to do to bump up the gravity? I am debating putting 2 to 4 pounds of brown sugar in the beer during secondary. The beer is waaaaaaay too hoppy for the lack of maltiness so it will be very unbalanced if nothing is added.

TwoGunz said:

24 years, good lord! I primary for at least 10 years to "let the yeast do their thing", but 24 years is serious.

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c'mon.. i'm a newb and even I knew he was kidding..

ilikeguns said:

c'mon.. i'm a newb and even I knew he was kidding..

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I wasn't kidding about the 24 years. (is that what you were referring to?)

Had a chance to taste a 12 year old homebrew today. Been in my grandpa's fridge since he bottled them way back then in flip top bottles. Tasted like bitter carbonated soy sauce.