Cellaring beer, what's the point of diminishing returns?

[tacks]

Hi everyone, I have been collecting and sitting on some of my local (Michigan) beers and am interested in finding out what the point is where I should just drink it because it won't get any better, or it will start going bad. I know most Brett bers are 3-5 years at their best, or so I've heard, maybe there's a best age for these ones too? Anyhow, what I've got in the basement -

Backwoods bastard - several bottles going back to 2014.
KBS from 2015.
Hopslam going back to when they actually bottled it in 2014 and 2015.
Bell's planet series, one each left of Jupiter, neptune, mercury, saturn, and venus.
Project pam, age unknown, probably 2016.
Not a Michigan beer but have Heady Topper from 2016, would like to know best age for that.

Thanks all, it's not nearly the collection that some people but it's not too shabby.

 

[Mainer]

The deeply unsatisfying answer: it all depends. Don't believe me? Check out the notes from this tasting of 100+ year-old barleywines. https://beerandbrewing.com/19th-century-beer-in-a-21st-century-world/

 

[Mainer]

The Heady Topper isn't recommended for aging. I think they recommend it within 3 weeks of the brew date. I don't know Hopslam, but I'm guessing that's better fresh, too.

Generally speaking, the more hops (especially high-alpha new world hops) the shorter the shelf life. Dark malts, low hop levels, high ABV, sours, or smoked beers tend to have the longest shelf life.

 

[jrgtr42]

With any hoppy beer, fresher is better. That HOpslam and Heady Topper are likely past their prime at this point. Not as familiar with the Planet series or Project pam,
but basically the bigger beers, like stouts and barleywines can stand aging. barrel aged and sours can handle it as well. Some people say that KBS doesn't age well, but I have many bottles going back to 2010 and I find it ages well, except the coffee flavor tends to fade out after a while.
All this also does depend on your cellaring conditions, dark and cool (roughly 55F is best) without direct light and without drastic temperature fluctuations - a few degrees either way is fine, but you don't want it going from cold to hot and back again quickly.

 

[Clef051]

head topper should be drank as soon as you can. Fresh is best for IPA's

 

[Yesfan]

The deeply unsatisfying answer: it all depends. Don't believe me? Check out the notes from this tasting of 100+ year-old barleywines. https://beerandbrewing.com/19th-century-beer-in-a-21st-century-world/

That King's ale didn't fair so well.


I wonder if there's a recipe for the Ratcliff. Obviously, I wouldn't see the point of brewing a beer that will continue aging after I passed this world, but I like to know how that recipe would have tasted 3, 6, or 12 months after it was brewed.

On a side note, for cellaring.....does one need to start off at the cellaring temp? Does it have to be bottled from the start? If one has a barleywine that's already kegged, could he bottle a few off to put away or will the temp change from 60s during fermentation to low 40s for kegging hurt it aging wise?

I do have a Belgian Dark Strong I plan on aging.

 

[MrHopScotch]

That King's ale didn't fair so well.





I wonder if there's a recipe for the Ratcliff. Obviously, I wouldn't see the point of brewing a beer that will continue aging after I passed this world, but I like to know how that recipe would have tasted 3, 6, or 12 months after it was brewed.



On a side note, for cellaring.....does one need to start off at the cellaring temp? Does it have to be bottled from the start? If one has a barleywine that's already kegged, could he bottle a few off to put away or will the temp change from 60s during fermentation to low 40s for kegging hurt it aging wise?



I do have a Belgian Dark Strong I plan on aging.

If you bottle some from the keg with the intention of aging, I would be careful with oxygen exposure.

With regard to the temperature, being previously held at low temperature isn't a problem. Almost every commercial beer that people age for months or years has spent time in cold storage in a warehouse or liquor store before they bought it.