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

[greyghost]

I have a Smoked porter and Smokey Oyster Stout that I brewed that are a year old. But my favorite is a 1994 Sam Adams triple bock open a bottle every year around Xmas. Yes it is drinkable some of my brewing buddy's will fight to get a taste. I tend to cellar a bunch of different beers for an extended time.

 

[pkrath84]

I've got a dryhopped coffee IPA that's almost a year old. I cracked one open for St. Patty's day. It doesnt have the in your face dryhop aroma anymore but the coffee is still there, its still pleasantly carb'd and it tastes fine.

Surprisingly, this is the first time I've noticed a significant difference in aroma specifically after aging. Taste was still fine though. I could still tell that there was a firm presence of citra and coffee. This actually makes me skeptical on the urgency to drink IPAs. I think with proper handling you can keep beer for a long time, and keep it fairly "fresh." I was REALLY surprised the coffee didnt fade more than the hops.

 

[VaBrewer]

I have an 11% Gulden Draak clone that I brewed back in 2008. It keeps getting better and better.



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[Hello]

Dogfish head 120 from 4/2011. It sure the heck is still drinkable!

As for home brew, 8/2012 and yes, it's a pumpkin and it's still good.

 

[CarbonTom]

Dogfish head 120 from 4/2011. It sure the heck is still drinkable!

As for home brew, 8/2012 and yes, it's a pumpkin and it's still good.

It is!! I had one of my 2010s last year. Keep holding on, it gets so good and so much more complex



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[CastleHollow]

When my daughter was born, I gave out homebrew. For some reason, my father-in-law never opened his bottle and when he passed away, we were able to reclaim it from his house:

I plan on opening it with my daughter when she turns 21, but not looking forward to it still being very good.

On the other hand, I have a number of high gravity holiday homebrews from 1995

and a coffee imperial stout from 1996

that I open on special occasions. Surprisingly, all have been aging very well.

 

[Darkness]

I have a Bourbon Barrel BIIPA made Feb of 2011. Opened one last weekend any it is freaking great. The Barrel notes are coming through now and I like it better now than when it was fresh.

I have multiple verticals going back 5-7 years. How well they age is all on ABV and storage conditions. That's what I have noticed. Also Barrel aged beers hold up well maybe cause of tannins picked up from the barrel. Can't wiat to try my beers in another 6-10 years, you guys that have been brewing a while with beers set back make me jealous.

 

[kh54s10]

A winter warmer ale. 2 years and 3 months. It was really harsh after 6 months, was getting good but foamy at 9 months through 1 1/2 years. After that it did not foam over any more but the taste has peaked. It is still quite good.

 

[Dynachrome]

Rumor has it that there is a bottle of this left at my wife's office: Mai Bock

I'll probably never get it back tough.

...wifey surprised me and brought it home.



I'm torn about opening it. Should I save it?

 

[Meadiator]

...wifey surprised me and brought it home.







I'm torn about opening it. Should I save it?

:S I would have no self restraint. Good luck

 

[Meadiator]

Well, it's decided. I'm gonna brew some of Geer's T.A.M.B.A.S. When ingredients come in and hide some from myself.

Does anyone have advice on bottling technique to prevent oxidation?

 

[Beernik]

I have some two year old imperial hefeweizen still.

It's still awesome.

 

[Calichusetts]

Well, it's decided. I'm gonna brew some of Geer's T.A.M.B.A.S. When ingredients come in and hide some from myself.

Does anyone have advice on bottling technique to prevent oxidation?

CO2 purges for everything that will contact your beer after fermentation. To be honest, I've never done this and my beer has held up fine for a few years, dont know about longer. Also, maybe wax the bottles after you cap them.

 

[solbes]

Agree that if you have kegs, they make for an excellent brite tank for secondary since you can purge with CO2.

I have little actual evidence, but I have not had an oxidized homebrew that was aged when capped with the silver oxygen absorbing caps. They are activated when I dunk them in Starsan and then immediately cap. I usually keep a bag around and bottle 1-2 twelve packs using these for my bigger brews. Those twelve packs get consumed last.

I also waxed a few bottles for holiday gifts, but that was mostly for show. I suppose if you were to age for 2+ years it may provide some benefit.

 

[morticaixavier]

Well, it's decided. I'm gonna brew some of Geer's T.A.M.B.A.S. When ingredients come in and hide some from myself.

Does anyone have advice on bottling technique to prevent oxidation?

If you bottle condition oxidation is not really a concern. the yeast activity will use up any o2 that might be introduced during careful racking.

I like to put my priming sugar in a purged keg, rack to the keg and seal. Then I can shake the keg to evenly distribute the sugar and push to bottles with co2. makes for an easier bottling day for me (when I bottle a whole batch which is rarely)

 

[Codfishhead]

Well my oldest beers? I have 6 kegs from when I stopped brewing about 20 yrs ago. Anyone want to do a test? Think there’s an oatmeal stout, double Bock I iced, and not sure of the others. I’ll be opening them soon to clean them out and get them ready for new beers from my new 3 keg system I’m building.

Besides that I have some beers from 1982 to 1992 Thomas Hardy's. Last one I open was about 10 yrs ago. Tasted like scotch.

 

[Meadiator]

I'd be willing from what I've heard, as long as you legged correctly, it should still be fine, right?

Well my oldest beers? I have 6 kegs from when I stopped brewing about 20 yrs ago. Anyone want to do a test? Think there’s an oatmeal stout, double Bock I iced, and not sure of the others. I’ll be opening them soon to clean them out and get them ready for new beers from my new 3 keg system I’m building.



Besides that I have some beers from 1982 to 1992 Thomas Hardy's. Last one I open was about 10 yrs ago. Tasted like scotch.

 

[Tarks]

I have some Belgian ales that are a couple of years old now. They are fantastic!

 

[Agate]

Holy ####! This stuff is incredible! Why did I only save one bottle for this long??

I remember this being fairly mediocre when it was made. Now, it has a nice aroma of molasses and a good toasty malty flavor. And smooooth... I'm going to have to make some more and forget about it.

 

[MaxStout]

I have a few bottles of Midwest's Trappist-style ale (extract) that I bottled in Oct 2012. Had one last night--not bad for a beer almost 1-1/2 years old.

 

[Manzier]

I had a flood at mine and lost my kegging gear but not the kegs. Too me 4 years before I bought another fridge and tap. I tried one of the old kegs and it was fine. Tasted great actually. Was a strong dark ale.


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[Meadiator]

Holy ####! This stuff is incredible! Why did I only save one bottle for this long??

I remember this being fairly mediocre when it was made. Now, it has a nice aroma of molasses and a good toasty malty flavor. And smooooth... I'm going to have to make some more and forget about it.

View attachment 187702

Oh man, that looks incredible! Was it still pretty well carbed?

 

[atoughram]

I've got a SNPA clone that has been in the bottle for about nine months - maybe I'll crack it open today...

 

[abeasst]

I have brewdog TNP that brewdog aged for a year and then I aged for another year that was better than fresh as the alcohol flavor mellowed.

 

[Dynachrome]

Well my oldest beers? I have 6 kegs from when I stopped brewing about 20 yrs ago. Anyone want to do a test? Think there’s an oatmeal stout, double Bock I iced, and not sure of the others. I’ll be opening them soon to clean them out and get them ready for new beers from my new 3 keg system I’m building.

Besides that I have some beers from 1982 to 1992 Thomas Hardy's. Last one I open was about 10 yrs ago. Tasted like scotch.

What state are you located in? I'd be interested.

 

[Dynachrome]

Holy ####! This stuff is incredible! Why did I only save one bottle for this long??

I remember this being fairly mediocre when it was made. Now, it has a nice aroma of molasses and a good toasty malty flavor. And smooooth... I'm going to have to make some more and forget about it.

View attachment 187702

Must be the RIS?

 

[ChefRex]

what state are you located in? I'd be interested.

+1

 

[stbnj]

A 2011 Belgian Dark Strong Ale. Its drinking pretty well. I think this was maybe my 5th all grain batch and I lost about a gallon going into the bottling bucket because I left the spigot open. Which explains why it is a little flattish since I most likely lost some of the priming sugar.

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[calebstringer]

2 year old bourbon barleywine (15%), a couple left for my birthday and next new years

Can I get that recipe please?

 

[Codfishhead]

What state are you located in? I'd be interested.

I'm in Middlebury CT.

I'm going to buy some new lines n see if there's gas in my old tank this week.

 

[Dynachrome]

Wisconsin - here.

 

[GuldTuborg]

The oldest I've been drinking lately has been just over 3 years. It's still getting better.

The oldest I have in my basement is well over 4 years. It's my last bottle of an RIS made in Jan 2010. I haven't had a bottle since last spring, so I can't say how it's doing for sure. That last one was good, though.

 

[mozart4898]

I have an old ale/barleywine that I brewed back in December of 2008 before I'd gotten out of brewing for a while. There's quite a few still left at this point and they're definitely drinkable. Somewhere in the 9-10% range although I'm not sure exactly what. It actually seemed to be at its best about a year or so ago but still is quite good. Certainly has oxidized/sherry notes but I don't feel they detract at all.

Planning to keep bottles of my New Year's Day bourbon barrel RIS around for a while - it's well north of 12% and doing awesome. I plan to make brewing a big beer every new year's a tradition. May not always be a RIS but some sort of barleywine, old ale, or RIS so the aging potential is there.

 

[Agate]

Oh man, that looks incredible! Was it still pretty well carbed?

Surprisingly well, considering the age. The head didn't last, but that's fine with me. I wish I could buy beer like that... I guess I'll have to try to find the recipe again.

 

[coyote68]

I have a barleywine that a friend and i brewed together back in 1998. the recipe said to age 25 years plus. our plan was to sample 1 bottle every year, (bottled in 187 ml green bottles so we had lots) and see how they are changing. My friend passed away 7 years ago, so now i sample 1 every year with his son.
the beer seems to improve with each year.

 

[TrustyOlJohnson]

Well my oldest beers? I have 6 kegs from when I stopped brewing about 20 yrs ago. Anyone want to do a test? Think there’s an oatmeal stout, double Bock I iced, and not sure of the others. I’ll be opening them soon to clean them out and get them ready for new beers from my new 3 keg system I’m building.

Besides that I have some beers from 1982 to 1992 Thomas Hardy's. Last one I open was about 10 yrs ago. Tasted like scotch.

Can I be invitedto the "Kick the keg Extravaganza!!"??


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[Calichusetts]

Can I get that recipe please?

I can post it when I get home...I just took a recipe that was a little over 12% and boiled off 20% extra.

 

[mtnagel]

I have a ~20 month old imperial stout. It was an extract batch when I had no idea what I was doing. It wasn't so great in the beginning, but it keeps getting better.

I have several other beers that are up to a year old. Not all are getting better. Some are just changing, which is cool to see.

 

[EthanH]

I have a Stone Ruination clone from last February. I let it sit on the dry hops too long, and while the age has mellowed it a bit, it's still not very good (which is why I have ~12 bombers left).

 

[david_42]

I had a kegged barley wine that gushered at 3 1/2 years. It was great up to that point and I learned a lesson: bottle beers you plan on aging. Lost about 2.5 gallons.