Rare Beers

[Pecan]

My recent reintroduction to brewing has reminded me of just how much I love beer. After starting to chill a few bottles of my recently ready Scottish ale, I decided to take a trip to my local retailer and pick up some more brewing inspiration. While I was there, I started to consider collecting in addition to brewing and drinking.

This brings me to my question: What beers are prime to be collected? The rarities, the most exalted, or simply classic beers; what do you consider these to be?

I've already indulged myself with buying 2 bottles of Utopias, one for drinking and one for keeping. I was looking at a Chimay Magnum and a 3L Double Bastard earlier thinking either of these may be the next addition to either my collection or my stomach...

Also, a disclaimer... I know some other beer enthusiasts have different goals or opinions. Specifically that a beer is for drinking, period, but please try your best to provide positive feedback on this post.

 

[moti_mo]

Get a Magnum of Anchor's Christmas each year to keep and try them later down the road. The recipe changes a bit each year. For that matter, I'd think any annual brew that the brewery touts as having a new tweaked recipe each year would be my choice for collecting and sampling somewhere down the road (especially being able to try two slightly different recipes of the same brewery's beer, say brewed 4 years apart, side by side. And then of course, the ultra-big beers are always good choices for such a project.

I don't know when, or if, I'll ever get to this point, because I don't have the will power to cellar beers, but I think its a cool concept.

 

[weirdboy]

Bruery Black Tuesday is currently a hot item. They sold 1000 bottles on release day, and that's all. Athough in terms of rarity, their barrel-aged Partridge in a Pear Tree is more rare in that there are only 250 bottles in the wild, that were given exclusively to the reserve society members.

Each year's release of Three Floyds Dark Lord is a similar phenomenon.


Westvleteren 12 is also very limited production and only available for sale at the brewery by reservation.

The older Stone Vertical Epic beers are also pretty darn rare nowadays.

 

[wonderbread23]

Almost any beer (with exception of hoppy beers) on this list would be considered collectible.

http://beeradvocate.com/top_beers

Ideally, you should buy what you like to drink and beers that will evolve/get better with a little age. This is typically 'big' malt forward beers (barley wines, imperial stouts, big Belgians, old ales, etc.). Yearly released beers are interesting because they lend themselves to doing vertical tastings.

 

[SPLASTiK]

I really just collect special beers that breweries make that will get better or change with age which typically are bigger beers. I collect barley wines each year from a few breweries, and Alaskan Smoked Porter.

 

[carnevoodoo]

The darker and stronger you buy, the longer it'll age. Rarities are fun. I get all the things from Deschutes, Russian River when I can, Alesmith, etc. Barleywines age well, Imperial stouts, big porters, and stuff like that. I haven't had a ton of good experiences with aging sours, but some do well (had a bottle of Beatification the other night that was really nice!)

Some good Belgians will also do you well.

I doubt my 03-09 Vertical Epics will be good when I open them. I don't have a lot of hope for a lot of those beers, but I know they're rare or whatever.

I also have a 2006 double bastard. I should open that and see how it is coming along.

 

[carnevoodoo]

Oh and forget about "rare" and go for "good". I had a ton of rare beer last weekend and the best bottles were so much more commonplace.

 

[Tilldeath]

Some that I currently have are westvleteren 12 1990, utpoia 2006, 2 bottles barrell aged yeti, 05 goose island burbon county. If your gonna collect you're gonna want high abv and something that will age well, other wise I trade so e rare things for things I want to drink now.

 

[Sigafoos]

I doubt my 03-09 Vertical Epics will be good when I open them. I don't have a lot of hope for a lot of those beers, but I know they're rare or whatever.

Well if you don't want the 03, I'll take it off your hands. Pay it forward and whatnot

 

[khiddy]

Deschutes The Abyss has been historically a superstar aging beer. On release day last month, I picked up a case and did a small vertical tasting at the brewpub. The 2008 was delicious, it had really aged very, very well. The 2009 was young and will no doubt calm down in the bottle, so it should taste marvelous in November 2010. I've seen bottles of the 2006 for sale in the $300 range.

Here's an interesting reflection from Garry Fish, owner of Deschutes, about cellaring beers, posted to his blog the day after The Abyss 2009 was released:

As we all know the Belgians can be somewhat creative in the ways they make beers and in the ways they market those beers. As we were sitting there one day examining the label of a particularly unique Belgian offering (no, I don’t remember which one it was) we noticed the date code on the label said “best if consumed after . . . “ The date was set at least a year out (not knowing the bottling date we could not be sure). “What a clever idea!” We had been struggling with date coding our Reserve Series beers because we knew they could cellar well for several years, just how many we could not yet be certain. It is likely, that with some, they may last for a decade or two, or more. So, last year we started date coding our Reserve Series bottles with a “Best After” date that was set one year from bottling. We thought the beers were better off having a year to age and would only improve from there. Well, people were certainly confused. “Is it ok to drink before one year?” “Will it make me sick?” The answers are simple, no it will not make you sick (Unless you drink too much and we all know we drink responsibly, don’t we?) And, yes it is ok to drink before one year. As evidenced by our experience last night, it is not only ok, but terribly delicious as well.

So, our recommendation is as always, buy enough bottles so you can enjoy one now and have others to enjoy as far in to the future as your patience and self discipline will take you. Keep it “cellared” appropriately in the mean time (in a cool, dark place), so your efforts will yield the maximum benefit. Maybe you can put on your own “vertical” tasting for family and friends and show what you really know one day.

 

[carnevoodoo]

Well if you don't want the 03, I'll take it off your hands. Pay it forward and whatnot

The 03 was good. I drank a couple of cases of it back in 2003. I think the 2004 is really my favorite though.

 

[middleofnowhere]

Look for a case of Dominion Ale, Black Horse, India Beer or Blue Star where you live. They are newfoundland brewed beers. Not rare here, but I bet everywhere else they are rare! Good??? Not really.

 

[mixmasterob]

bells expedition stout.

 

[Pecan]

Thanks for the suggestions! Looks like a trip to my retailer this weekend... I'm excited, but I think its going to depress my wallet.

 

[Pivot]

I picked up not too long ago a bottle of Fuller's 2009 Vintage Ale. Its a barlywine they brew every year and only release about 150 000 of these beers a year (or even less sometimes). The bottles even have a serial number on them, so it definitely meets the criteria for collectable.

And if you have seen me post on this beer before, you probably can tell that I'm love haha