4-5 year old beer, WHAT?

So I started brewing about 5 years ago, with two of the years only brewing around 3 or 4 brews a year, college kinda took over. The other day I found a couple home brews in a mini fridge that I keep in my garage. The home brews were not dated but were in 12 oz bottles, the last time I bottled in 12 ouncers was around 4 or 5 years ago. The bottles have been in the fridge for that entire time just below the freezer. Last night I got a little to curious+a little buzzed and decided it was time to taste them.

Digging deep into my brain I remember what this beer is from. This was a nut brown and was the last extract brew we ever did. After about a month in the bottle the beer was just undrinkable, it was horrible. Being new to brewing we just decided it was not going to get better. My buddies all dumped theirs, I dumped most of mine but I kept about 5 12 oz bottles in the fridge. 6 months passed had one, it was nasty. A year passed and we moved out of our appt into a house when the better half decided it was time to get ride "of that crap beer in the fridge" I did, except for two, and I proceeded to forget about said beer for 4 more years.

Me and a buddy of mine decided to taste said beer last night and honestly it was f-ing amazing. I was a little scared to try it due to its age, but it looked and smelled really good, so down the hatch.
Both me and my home brew buddy thought it was pretty damn good, esp for an extract beer. I couldnt believe it and decided it was a perfect example of NEVER DUMP YOUR BEER, and a little crazy just that I managed to keep a beer that long. Usually beers last, ohhhh around a week in my fridge, consumption gets the better of me.

Ill try to find my camera and take some pics of the second beer tonight! We will see if both bottles aged the same way.

Any one else ever had experience with bottles keeping that long?

My oldest was 10+ years. Still good!

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/your-oldest-brew-27881/

FlyingHorse said:

My oldest was 10+ years. Still good!

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/your-oldest-brew-27881/

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Only 8 more years of brewing to get to 10 for me.

These stories make me wonder sometimes, since it always sounds like the old beers are still good. Anyone actually find an old beer, open it up, and found that it had lost a lot of quality in aging? Poor seals, UV skunking, or 120 degree in the summer sheds aside, anyway? It seems to be one of those things in common wisdom that no one ever talks about experiencing.

Killer_Robot said:

These stories make me wonder sometimes, since it always sounds like the old beers are still good. Anyone actually find an old beer, open it up, and found that it had lost a lot of quality in aging? Poor seals, UV skunking, or 120 degree in the summer sheds aside, anyway? It seems to be one of those things in common wisdom that no one ever talks about experiencing.

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I've had a couple IPAs that were past their prime.

I have had a lot of IIPA/IPAs that lost all hop flavor and aroma after 5-6 months. Then they just tasted funky, not bad just a little weird and they were stored under cool conditions. But for the most part, beers with low hop usage seem to keep for a long time.

Last weekend I opened up a 9 year old Chimay. It would have been exceptional if it wasn't corked.

double_e5 said:

I've had a couple IPAs that were past their prime.

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So I take it they weren't good?

Brewin_CRAZY said:

I have had a lot of IIPA/IPAs that lost all hop flavor and aroma after 5-6 months. Then they just tasted funky, not bad just a little weird and they were stored under cool conditions. But for the most part, beers with low hop usage seem to keep for a long time.

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That does seem a little odd given that the hops are used as a preservative. But I guess if it just loses taste but doesn't actually start to taste bad that still counts as preserved.

Killer_Robot said:

That does seem a little odd given that the hops are used as a preservative. But I guess if it just loses taste but doesn't actually start to taste bad that still counts as preserved.

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On the contrary. IPA's and IIPA should have tonnes of hop flavour and aroma. However, both hop flavour and aroma will dissipate or die off over time, so it really isn't odd.

Sometimes this will leave a good tasting beer, but it might produce a lacklustre IIPA.

There's a reason bottles of Pliny say "Do Not Age This Beer" on the label.

Killer_Robot said:

These stories make me wonder sometimes, since it always sounds like the old beers are still good. Anyone actually find an old beer, open it up, and found that it had lost a lot of quality in aging? Poor seals, UV skunking, or 120 degree in the summer sheds aside, anyway? It seems to be one of those things in common wisdom that no one ever talks about experiencing.

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I had a 6 month old Blond ale that was oxidized and ****ty. It happens. No one wants to brag about it though!

I couldnt agree more, its just fun to talk about those beers that you either forgot about and they turned out to be great, or planned to age. Either way its pretty cool! Esp when you have multiple years invested.

Some good stuff, the tasting once again and a little less intoxicated....
It is amazing clear (I guess 5 years of settling will do that). Tastes very similar to a nut brown, still has the nutty smell and a little bit of a caramel smell. Tastes malty and nutty with a hint of a buttery taste. Carbonation is a little low, and has absolutely no head retention, probably due to my lack of brewing skills back in the day!

That is greatness! I have a tradition going, everyone of my brews I throw one of them into the back of the fridge to drink on a rainy day (leaning towards new years). So far I have 10 22oz bottles back there.

Deuce said:

That is greatness! I have a tradition going, everyone of my brews I throw one of them into the back of the fridge to drink on a rainy day (leaning towards new years). So far I have 10 22oz bottles back there.

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haha, i wish I could do that, I just dont have the room. I cant wait to get my new house with my own shop... Ohhh the dreams, stupid grad school sucking the life out of me, 2 more months, 2 more months that all I have...

On a different note I will have to do that with my good beers and the little space I do have. It would be cool to get this started with 12 22's and once a year has set in have your 1 year old beer once a month... Ill have to get started!