Leave Ye Belgians Be

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HoppyDaze

HoppyDaze

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I have made only three Belgian beers and on all three there is a drastic improvement in the beer from one month of keg conditioning to two months of conditioning. I know this is usually true for most beers but the Belgians seem to show a much more profound increase in quality over time....

Agree, disagree?

Like I said...I have very minimal experience with these beers
 
You speak true!!

But yes, it is true of all beers.;)

I tried to berew a low cal cheapo beer for swmbo.

At 1 month it wasn't as good as miller light....

Last night at 2 months, it has incredible mouthfeel, and decent flavor. Night and day difference.
 
I think it is impossible to generalize something as diverse as Belgian beers. I think beers like wits and the hoppy-ish pales/singles do not improve with age in the same way that the bigger bolder belgians do. In general though Belgians are less reliant on hops which is what usually fades in American beers over the first couple months.
 
my only belgian was a wit, and it was not very good at all until 4+ weeks in bottle; by 6 it was delicious and got better over time.
 
I totally agree about belgians, always disappointing when first sampled but dang they age well, even my wits took at least a month to taste right. Here's hoping my strong ale is great in 6 months
 
absolutely, and exponentially so on an increaced time fram.

bottled my quad in june, tried one after a month, it was fair -- super hot alcohol flavor, pretty green, tasted very "jumbled" lots of flavors not smoothed out. didn't touch another one for 3 more months... then didn't touch another until mid october.... oohhh it's fantastic now! smooth, great body...

age did it well!

I wanna do a tripel/BSG soon, but was thinking of bulk aging, except i don't have a glass carboy and don't keg... what's the best way to do this? Will it work in a plastic fermenter?
 
BA_from_GA said:
I wanna do a tripel/BSG soon, but was thinking of bulk aging, except i don't have a glass carboy and don't keg... what's the best way to do this? Will it work in a plastic fermenter?
Click to expand...

Although PET is technically oxygen-permeable and therefore not ideal for aging, the rate is very slow and you should be good for aging for 6mos, maybe a year, but I wouldn't push it past a year.
 
cheezydemon3 said:
But yes, it is true of all beers.;)
Click to expand...

Not really.. it is true for strong beers, dark beers, etc.

But with Heffe Weissens they actually start to lose their taste over time. They are much better fresh.

Belgians though are great after a few months. I cracked open a dubbel I made almost a year ago and its great.

Since its about 7% abv it'll last forever
 
HoppyDaze said:
I have made only three Belgian beers and on all three there is a drastic improvement in the beer from one month of keg conditioning to two months of conditioning. I know this is usually true for most beers but the Belgians seem to show a much more profound increase in quality over time....

Agree, disagree?

Like I said...I have very minimal experience with these beers
Click to expand...

Room temp conditioning or cold conditioning?
 
As it is with all things, there's a limit to how long you can age and still have something worthwhile. (I know, I know, thanks Mr. Obvious.)

Reason I say that is that I made a Dubbel about four years ago that was so good that I started hoarding the bottles and drinking it only on special occasions. The first year, year and a half, that was great. I started running low and put away the last 8-12 bottles for six months, making them about 2 when I got back at them. Something not so great had gone on and the beer was nothing like it had been.

It was almost like going to high school reunion and seeing that the gorgeous perky girl you really like had gotten jowls and gained 80 pounds and was bitter besides.
 
ForRealBeer said:
As it is with all things, there's a limit to how long you can age and still have something worthwhile. (I know, I know, thanks Mr. Obvious.)

Reason I say that is that I made a Dubbel about four years ago that was so good that I started hoarding the bottles and drinking it only on special occasions. The first year, year and a half, that was great. I started running low and put away the last 8-12 bottles for six months, making them about 2 when I got back at them. Something not so great had gone on and the beer was nothing like it had been.

It was almost like going to high school reunion and seeing that the gorgeous perky girl you really like had gotten jowls and gained 80 pounds and was bitter besides.
Click to expand...

how high was the abv?

I just drank a bottle of barleywine that was 4 years old and fantastic. I think a BDS around 9% would be fine for years
 
syd138 said:
Not really.. it is true for strong beers, dark beers, etc.

But with Heffe Weissens they actually start to lose their taste over time. They are much better fresh.

Belgians though are great after a few months. I cracked open a dubbel I made almost a year ago and its great.

Since its about 7% abv it'll last forever
Click to expand...

Actually dark beers are percectly drinkable from carbonation.

And the example I just gave was neither dark nor strong.

I maintain that ALL beer is better at 2 months than at 1
 

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