Styles more suited to the slow drinker?

I do not drink my homebrew very fast, often happy with a beer a night.

I wonder if some styles are better suited to my low consumption level. By this I mean, a very strong IPA, or a fresh Hefe may lose quite a bit of taste by the time the end of the batch is up.

Suggestions?

I know I should make new friends.. Yesterday, talking to neighbor. Me "I homebrew, you know..." He, grimacing:"Is it bitter..?"

For a "one beer night", I like beers like an oaked Arrogant Bastard clone or a big heavy porter like Great Lake's Edmund Fitzgerald. An IIPA is another great choice. I kegged an IIPA in October, and it's still great. It's lost a bit of the hops aroma, but I love it.

Another good one would be a lager. I know that sounds weird, but I'll give you an example. I have a Vienna lager on tap now. It's good but I rarely have one. If anything, keeping it in the kegerator seems to make it even better! It's like I'm still lagering it. It's getting smoother and smoother. There is very little hop aroma or flavor, so that can't fade and the beer is even better than when I put it on tap. It's not a "big" beer, but you could do a great big lager like a dopplebock and it would improve over time in the kegerator.

I say Barley Wine. I love sippin on that stuff. Also, you could try your hand at freeze distilling it...you will lose volume but because you drink so slowly it might just suit you. You might even find a way to make it delicious. I tried freeze distillation once and it tasted like rubbing alcohol and dirt. Good luck. I think aging large, dark beers seems like your style.
-Jefe-

Belgian strong ales are great. You can try the commercial examples to see if they work. They're a whole world of sipping beers. I'm enjoying a belgian blonde that is delicious, but so strongly flavored and gassy (carbonated to 3.7 volumes) that it can't be quaffed. If you like light beers, you could go with belgian blondes, golden strongs, and tripels. There are also the darker ones like dubbels and dark srongs, which age beautifully. Give them a shot!

I'll take the other side: go small, go malty. Ordinary Bitters, Milds, Browns all do well over time and having a second one isn't a big deal. A five gallon batch of barleywine takes me years to drink.

I just make Jamil's smoked robust porter. This beer is like an onion... it has layers.

I made a mild yesterday, my first all grain batch, in order to have something that can store if I need to, but is low enough gravity to be a sessionable beer. Of course, my gravity was WAY high. So, not sure how much of a session beer it will be, but it's good and dark. Seems the darker beers hold up to aging.

Make yourself a complex beer like a KBS or like the second post mentions a Oaked Arrogant Bastard. Lots of flavor, which you can enjoy.

Make smaller batches of what you enjoy. You don't always need to brew 5 or 10 gallons if you only drink 3 gallons before you think it has lost quality.

Anything with roasted grains will keep fresh for longer (Porter, Stout, Scottish Ales, Old Ale, etc.) Something to consider.

Eric

It does sound like smaller batches might be your ticket...3 gallon carboy/some 4L wine jugs...

+1 to smaller batches, but also brown ales are nice long-term beers. You can even make it a hoppy one but with a complex malt profile so that as the hoppines decreases the malt will increase.

Very helpful answers here.
I happen to be fond of some of the suggestions, this is great.

I did a Scottish Wee Heavy last year that only got better and better as time passed. If you like malt-forward beers, this could be a good option.

I'd go with a Barley Wine or a rich oak barrel vanilla bourbon Porter. Barley Wine is definitely a sipper for me. I love the stuff but oh man it is strong.