Laying down / aging

Ok, so this is for all of you out there who have made beers, wines, meads, etc, that you created for the purpose of laying down for a LONG period of time, by which I mean MANY years. How did you go about doing this?

How long was it in secondary?
How long was it "bulk" aging?
How did you package it for long term aging?

Are you putting it in bottles with corks, or are you using a regular bottle and a crimp cap? Will a crimp cap last that long?

I am thinking of doing some meads for LONG term aging, as in, saving for a newborn's 21st birthday, things like that, and I want to make sure that I go about it the correct way, so that I don't open up a 21 year old vinegar.

Never aged a mead that long, can only comment on beer. For how long it was in secondary, it depended on the style. For instance, a lambic I made I kept in secondary for almost 2 years, then bottled (12 oz browns, with crown) and aged for about 2 years (vertical, not horizontal, like wine). This batch turned out great. I haven't had any problems with crimp caps leaking, etc. unless the bottle is compromised. I usually keep one bottle of each big batch (around 9+%) that I make for long term storage. I have a barley wine that is 4.5 years old in the bottle now, along with a Chimay Grand Reserve that is about 3 years old. I plan on aging them for at least 4-5 years more. If you are going to use corks, I suggest laying the bottles on their sides to keep the corks moist; otherwise you will eventually get nasties coming in through the dry cork. As I'm sure you know, this is a common practice in wine aging. I also made a wine some years ago (about 4) that is still aging in bottles with cork; getting better as the years go by!