Looking for advice on beers that will age well

[permo]

Hi folks, I brew 15 gallon batches and I keg my beer. I love to brew and I used to split my batches with my father in law. Now he is moving off and won't need the beer anymore.

I still like to brew at least every other week and that leaves me with an awefull lot of beer. I have 30 kegs so that's no issue to store it.

I would like to continue to make the most efficient use of my time by making 15 gallon batches but I also want to drink good beer. I love hoppy ales and I know that hops fade over time.

I am looking for styles that I can brew that will continue to get better or at least be decent being kegged for 6 months or even a year before I get to them. I don't want to constantly be drinking imperial stout and other big beers that need age.

Can you guys chime in on some styles that will take well to extended keg time? I have a few here

Maibock style ale - dead guy type clone
American Style Stout
Malt driven amber ale
scotch ale

 

[m00ps]

Any Belgian style ages well. Over years, they can even become completely different beers, not necessarily better or worse. Like try 2 Orvals that are years apart.

Tripel, Dubbel, Saison, Belgian strong Golden Ale, Belgian strong dark ale, biere de garde

also:
Barleywine, Imperial Stout, Baltic Porter, Sweet Stout

 

[bobeer]

I think anything that doesn't have dry hops, or a big whirlpool/hop stand at the end of the boil will do you well. Stouts, porters, esb's, brown ales, marzen's, reds, dunkel's, blondes, hefe's, etc...

 

[andrewmaixner]

Store your pale ale, then dry hop it in the keg two or three weeks before you are ready to serve it.

 

[permo]

I appreciate all the feedback so far folks. This is all excellent information.

I was also thinking Kolsch style ales would be good candidates too.

I was also thinking about adding hop tea to my kegs before I put them on the gas as well

I have a 4 liter starter of wyeast 1187 (Ringwood) yeast that is spinning up right now to brew something this weekend. Not sure yet what its gonna be but the folks on this thread are sure giving some nice options.

ESB....that's a nice option for this yeast I think

 

[hunter_le five]

I think anything that doesn't have dry hops, or a big whirlpool/hop stand at the end of the boil will do you well. Stouts, porters, esb's, brown ales, marzen's, reds, dunkel's, blondes, hefe's, etc...

Actually hefe's are generally considered to be best consumed fresh. I wouldn't really consider aging a blonde either.

I appreciate all the feedback so far folks. This is all excellent information.

I was also thinking Kolsch style ales would be good candidates too.

I wouldn't consider a kolsch much of a candidate for aging either. They do benefit from a lagering period, but between the low gravity and low hops, they're not really beers you "age".

 

[permo]

I shouldn't say that I want to age the beers to improve the flavor or anything, I just want the beer to be stable over time or not be completely terrible after possible sitting in a keg for 6 months resting in my basement before I get it on tap. Belgians really will shine in this capacity I can see.

 

[hunter_le five]

I shouldn't say that I want to age the beers to improve the flavor or anything, I just want the beer to be stable over time or not be completely terrible after possible sitting in a keg for 6 months resting in my basement before I get it on tap. Belgians really will shine in this capacity I can see.

Gotcha.

I think for <1 year most styles are still going to taste okay, just maybe not quite as good as "fresh" for certain styles. Higher ABV brews will obviously fare better, and may actually improve.

The only ones I'd be really concerned about would be anything that depends on hop aromas, dry hops, etc for flavor (IPAs, chiefly) as has already been mentioned.

 

[m00ps]

I'm hoping that my recent use of a beer gun will help my kegged>bottled IPAs last longer for competitions later in the year. Hopefully it was mostly the O2 exposure at bottling that was turning my IPAs into bland PAs after 6 months or so

 

[Cyclman]

Maibock, doppelbock, Robust Porter, Quads are a few that come to mind.

 

[Calder]

Even hoppy beers can age well, if you design them with decent malt character.

 

[bobeer]

Actually hefe's are generally considered to be best consumed fresh. I wouldn't really consider aging a blonde either.

Just speaking from my experiences. YMMV.

 

[SpeedYellow]

Dead Guy is definitely NOT a beer to age. Stick with something high alcohol like RIS or Eisbock. Anything low alcohol, wheat, or hoppy is best consumed quickly. Sure you can age them, but they won't be getting any better with time.

 

[permo]

here is what I am going to make this weekend

16 gallon yield

24 pounds pale
3 pound munich
1 pound biscuit
1 pound C40
1pound C75
1/2 pound special B
1 oz Willamette at 60
1 oz tettnanger at 60
3 oz Willamette at 20
3 oz tettnanger at 20
3 oz Willamette at FO
3 oz tettnanger at FO

Wyeast 1187 Ringwood Ale 3.5 liter starter

estimated IBU = 35
Estimated OG = 1.052
Estimated FG = 1.011
Mash Temp 150

 

[Warthaug]

Shamless self-plug here, but I've done a blog series on this very topic.

General rules to follow:

1. Higher alcohol beers (8% or more), or sour beers, are required
2. Use high beta-acid hops; alpha acids fade over time, leading to a loss in bitterness and some unpleasant off-flavours.
3. Avoid beers with lots of hop aroma & flavour - these do not last, and can give additional unpleasant off-flavours as they age.
4. Be careful with dark malts; the increased acidity they add, combined with the gradual loss of body over time, can lead to some pretty horrid autolysis flavours (due to acidity-killed yeast) and an unbalancing of the beer. Dark beers age best if alkaline water is used (this was the secret to the original RIS's)
5. After the initial aeration of the wort (and any repeat arations if brewing a really strong beer), avoid oxygen exposure as much as possible - fill carboys to the neck, good airlock, O2 absorbing caps, etc - these will help the beer age better and last longer.

B

 

[SpeedYellow]

Oh wait, I just realized you're just asking about aging 6 months to a year. That's not "aging" in beer-speak, that's just sitting there on tap. Virtually any beer should be fine that long; I haven't seen any of my kegged & refrigerated homebrew go downhill in 1 year except of course IPAs will lose a bit of hop character, which IMHO isn't always a bad thing. The main factor for keeping your kegerator beer fresh that long is that you've minimized post-fermentation oxidation, and that the beer stays chilled.