How old is your oldest beer? (And is it drinkable)

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Meadiator

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Someone told me that there are brewers that age their beers for years. To me, that sounds crazy for a low ABV that is common to beer.

So what's your oldest beer? Is it still drinkable, or is it poison?

Provide pictures if possible! :D
 
I have a stout that is old enough to drive this year. It has been forgotten about and moved three or four times to different houses. I haven't had the nerve to try it... But what could go wrong?
 
Longest I've ever aged a beer was about a year and a half. Oldest current beer is an 8 month old batch of that same recipe. I only have 6 bombers of it left, so it's not going to make it that long, but it's at its peak right now. It is a wood-aged strong Scotch ale at about 13% ABV. Maybe the next batch I'll try to hold a few bottles to age and do verticals with, but keeping from drinking it is a bit difficult.
 
A two year old Barleywine. Brewed it 2 weeks after the birth of my son. It was terrible after 6 months. Ok after a year. Pretty decent this year. Hoping it continues to get better over the years. My plan is to brew another variation every 2 years.... so, I'm due to brew another... actually about a month overdue.
 
My oldest is my apple pie stout that I brewed 2/13/2013.

I have a problem with not being able to hang onto beers very long. I have to almost hide them from myself.
 
Uh, what time is it?

Seriously, I brew mainly session ales, and I like to drink them. My oldest beer right now was brewed over Christmas (~3 months ago). The only reason it's still around is that I'm making a conscious effort to accumulate 1 or 2 samples of each batch until I decide to drink them all.
 
I've got a three year old barley wine, 2 year old barley wine, 1 year old barley wine. some friends of mine just moved and discovered a 3 year old christmas barley wine I had given them.

a couple years back a guy posted on another forum about a tasting he did of some 100+ year old barley wine originally brewed for the Perry arctic expedition. It sounded pretty good.

low ABV beers (< 8% or so) that do not interesting yeast and bacteria still active in them start to fade reasonably quickly (months) and will often show signs of oxidation if stored incorrectly but it's not going to hurt you. certianly not poison.

Big beers and mixed culture beers will not only be drinkable after years in the bottle they may actually continue to get better.

For my birthday this year I did a 10 year vertical tasting of Sierra Nevada bigfoot and the oldest bottles were for sure showing their age, muted sherry like notes that hinted at oxidation, but they were still very drinkable.
 
I hid my T.A.M.B.A.S. Stout (Thick as Mud, Black as S***) and it's about 3 years old at this point. It's overcarbed but if you pour it into a 25 oz glass and let it settle, it is one of my favorites. I've brewed it several times and kegged it but the overcarbed bottles are still around. Still tastes like Dark Chocolate, Coconut, and Coffee.
 
Oldest is a Tripel that was bottled in Dec 2011, probably breweed in September. So about 2.5 years old. Lately I'm detecting just a hint of oxidation, so I put my remaining 10 bottles into the fridge for consumption. Some are the best yet, some are starting to lose out.

Behind it I have a 2 year old RIS, a 1.5 year old Wee Heavy, and a 15 month old Lambic (which is okay but clearly has not peaked yet). Some 1 year old Duvel clone beers and Westy XII clones as well. Barleywine that is just bottled, but will be aged.

I get a lot of enjoyment out of brewing a batch and seeing how it develops over the years. Of course I only do this with the bigger beers that would benefit from it.
 
I made a barleywine for my grad school graduation that I still have a dozen bottles of. I brewed it the summer of 2011. It was really good after about a year, but now for me it's just ok.
 
I drank a kolsch last nite that was 2 years old. It was crystal clear and tastes great. It was the last batch I bottled before I started kegging. When the keezer was up and running I just forgot about them.


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Just started brewing in December last year, so my "first born" is 3 months old. Only about a 6'er left.
 
I had a raspberry wheat that made it almost a year from when it was brewed....a little over 6 months in the bottle.
 
I have a Russian Imperial Stout that's 3 and a half months old. I'm assuming it's good but I won't open it til April 19th (Wedding day and it's my last bottle).

My Oldest mead is 14 months at the moment, again, last bottle so not opening it for a while.
 
geer537 said:
I hid my T.A.M.B.A.S. Stout (Thick as Mud, Black as S***) and it's about 3 years old at this point. It's overcarbed but if you pour it into a 25 oz glass and let it settle, it is one of my favorites. I've brewed it several times and kegged it but the overcarbed bottles are still around. Still tastes like Dark Chocolate, Coconut, and Coffee.
Click to expand...


That sounds amazing... Where could I find a recipe? ;D

Agate said:
I have a stout that is old enough to drive this year. It has been forgotten about and moved three or four times to different houses. I haven't had the nerve to try it... But what could go wrong?
Click to expand...


Sounds scary o_O I hope it's sealed properly!
It's worth the risk, of course :drunk:
 
morticaixavier said:
I anyone is interested in reading about the tasting of the 100+ year old ale...



https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=10552.msg131468#msg131468
Click to expand...


Holy crap... 137 years. I can barely leave my mead alone long enough to be drinkable. This really makes me want to hide away a few bottles of strong beer and forget about them.

That article is also sort of like a history article at the top, which I am particularly keen of. I've never thought about looking up some Brew History before... That might be a cool thread to start, too! Haha
 
Meadiator said:
That sounds amazing... Where could I find a recipe? ;D:
Click to expand...

I thinks its based on one of these HB stout recipes but I don't remember off hand. I'll look up the recipe when I get home and PM it to you. If the OP is ok with me posting it here, I would but don't wat to overthrow the thread.:off:

And back to your regularly scheduled programming:drunk:
 
I have an Imperial Alt (13% ABV) that was kegged almost 5 yrs ago in March. I've got about 1/3 of the keg left. I typically only have some when I have guests over, and it is typically at the end of an evening of drinking, so the pours are 4 oz. tops. It is quite tasty!!
 
I still have some barleywine I brewed in the mid 1990's. I opened a couple of them last year. One was wonderful, the other was just okay.

I also have a Thomas Hardy's Ale from 1990 in my cellar. I drank a 1993 this winter. It was flat, but still drinkable.

IMG_06291_zps776cfb16.jpg
 
My oldest is my Brett Tripel. Brewed in September of 2011. I've also got an Imperial Red from September of 2012. A few bottles of each left, which are stashed away. I aim to have at least one of each left at their respective 5th birthdays. I also just bottled a Lamebic I brewed April of 2012. I've got an English Barleywine I dried out and bottled with Brett C, along with a Belgian Quad and Tripel, all from last spring/summer. I had a Wee Heavy from 2011 and an Oaked/Peated Scottish Ale (90 shilling-ish) from 2012 I finally killed off a couple months ago. They are all (or were all) fantastic.

I try to time my brew days so that I have quick turnaround session beers to drink while others age.
 
They don't last long once they enter the pipeline around here. My oldest is a Roeselare Red brewed in early Jan.


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My oldest is a 12% ABV American Barley Wine that is 4 years old. Great stuff. Took a good year or two to mellow out. It'll be good for many years to come.

Kal
 
Hmm 2 weeks ago I stumbled upon a case of the first beer I brewed in 2010. Theres a case because well....it was hard to get through the first case haha. Mini mash honey heffe. It was pretty bad then, maybe I'll get the courage up to try one soon. But hey the honey might have aged it well?

The oldest I have is a DFH 120 min IPA from 2010 and bottled on my birthday. I had 4 of these that I bought in 2011, I have had 3 since and have been holding on to the last one for a while. Also picked up a bottle from 2011 and another one from the release that came out last week.

Also have a 2012 Roquefort quad, and 2x Grey Sail 2nd anniversary tripels from this summer that I plan on aging.

I plan on brewing a wee heavy or tripel some time soon where I save at least half of it for as long as I can. Interesting thread!
 
I have a 2006 braggot from Atlantic Brewing in Maine. I drank the 2007 a year or so ago and it was fantastic. As far as my own beer. I found about a dozen or so Citra Pale Ales that I brewed a year and a half ago...they weren't bad, and the clarity was perfect, but they have taken on almost a maple flavor..

I also have a couple of Mad Elf clones that I brewed 2 years ago and I drink each winter..the ones I had this year still tasted great.
 
Have a 2 year old whiskey porter thats about to start falling off, 16 month pumking clone thats mellowed deliciously, multiple mead and apple wine that are fantastic.

All are drinkable, within reason and mood to drink them of course.
 
Meadiator said:
Someone told me that there are brewers that age their beers for years. To me, that sounds crazy for a low ABV that is common to beer.

So what's your oldest beer? Is it still drinkable, or is it poison?

Provide pictures if possible! :D
Click to expand...

"Low ABV that is common to beer"

Not sure i understand what that means?
Ive had 19.5%abv Chocolate Rain, 18.5%abv Rumpkin, 15%abv Bois

Much higher abv of wine, unless your talking about spirits??
 
I tried to age out a batch of an oatmeal stout, I thought it would help with age but ended up being my water was too hard, so they never got any better. The good taste was really good, but the iron was just tepid and terrible. That was about 14 months.

I also tried to age out a wine my girlfriend made. I didn't know too much about wine making at the time and it ended up with probably an extremely low OG - probably around 1.05, and fermented drier than a desert with a noxious amount of H2S. 12 months did help, but it was going to take another 4 years to mellow out that H2S... and I didn't want to move it so I dumped it.
 
Meadiator said:
Sounds scary o_O I hope it's sealed properly!
It's worth the risk, of course :drunk:
Click to expand...


Well now I'm inspired to try one of these. They were both poorly made in '98-99, back when I thought I knew something about brewing. The bomber on the left is an attempt at an RIS, and the one on the right is a pilsner. I'm sure they'll be delightful...

If I don't reply back, it was nice knowing y'all. ImageUploadedByHome Brew1395282251.902091.jpg
 
Agate said:
Well now I'm inspired to try one of these. They were both poorly made in '98-99, back when I thought I knew something about brewing. The bomber on the left is an attempt at an RIS, and the one on the right is a pilsner. I'm sure they'll be delightful...

If I don't reply back, it was nice knowing y'all. View attachment 187087
Click to expand...

Worst case, a combination of vinegar, mustiness, skunk piss, cardboard, and soy sauce.
 
I have seven 1/6 kegs that I've been planning on using to age barley and sour wines in, but I've yet to get to that. I thought i could brew one every couple months then within a year the first one will be ready to go... etc.

My oldest beer now is a month or so and just about tapped.

I do have an apple wine that's a bit over 2 years old and a pear cider that is just about 2 years.
 
I have 7 bottles of seven month old winter warmer. One is being held for my wife to try after the baby is born and the other six are for next December. It's just under 8% so I hope it is fine after 1.25 years. So far it has continued to evolve although I think it may have peaked a month ago for my tastes..

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I have a bottle from my first brew ever, a fat tire clone, brewed 7 years ago, that stares at me every time I open the fridge. It mostly likely will taste so-so, but I can't bring myself to pop the top and get rid of the last bit of evidence of how far I have come.


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I just opened a Foreign Export stout that was brewed in ~ 2003. I was a novice back then, and thought a pint of red raspberry juice would be a good idea. It completely overpowered the beer, and we would only open a bottle to use in brownies. :) Now, its much better than before, and the raspberry has mellowed enough to bring out some of the stout flavors. Only minimal oxidation. Still have about 3/4 case left...
 

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