Seriously aged beer

[SleepyLion]

So my wife and I are due to have our first child join us in May 2015. I really want to brew something around the time my daughter is born and store away the bottles until her 21st birthday. I am thinking of doing something big and malty but I'm open to suggestions. Does anyone have any insight? I am more considered with using the right equipment to store it that long (types of bottles, corks vs caps, etc). But I do know that some styles of beer will age better than others. Any help is great help!

 

[ruger988]

Lots of threads about brewing a barleywine that will hold up for a long time if you search around. Thats gonna be yourbest bet for sure (a Barleywine) unless you want to get into doing a sour of some sort.

 

[SleepyLion]

What about a wee heavy? I've made one before and aged it about 18 months.

 

[AnOldUR]

What I've done for my granddaughter is brew a beer each year to give to her on her 21st birthday. That way if the some of the old one's are not so good there will be some recent stuff to enjoy. It will be an interesting tasting day. So far it's a mix of Imperial Stouts, Barleywines and Old Ales.

Recently opened a bottle of the first beer brewed during her 5th birthday party to share with her parents. It was an Imperial Stout and still holding up great.

 

[SleepyLion]

What I've done for my granddaughter is brew a beer each year to give to her on her 21st birthday. That way if the some of the old one's are not so good there will be some recent stuff to enjoy. It will be an interesting tasting day. So far it's a mix of Imperial Stouts, Barleywines and Old Ales.

Recently opened a bottle of the first beer brewed during her 5th birthday party to share with her parents. It was an Imperial Stout and still holding up great.

How old is she now? Do you just use regular bottles and caps?

 

[Xpertskir]

Lambic

/thread

 

[AnOldUR]

How old is she now? Do you just use regular bottles and caps?

Five this past November. I'm 61, so my chance of making it to her 21st is a crap shot. :cross:

Been using 22oz bombers with oxygen absorbing caps. Curious if doing a wax dip would be any advantage. Anyone know?

 

[ruger988]

Five this past November. I'm 61, so my chance of making it to her 21st is a crap shot. :cross:

Been using 22oz bombers with oxygen absorbing caps. Curious if doing a wax dip would be any advantage. Anyone know?

Can't hurt. And it looks cool, haha. I say go for it.

 

[Talgrath]

Well, the oldest beer I know of age wise is 10 years, Kasteel Cuvée Du Chateau.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/212/56272/

Beyond that, there is cask aging beer. I think beer stored in bottles is probably going to be pretty nasty 21 years from now. There's an interesting article below about the aging beer in casks if you can acquire some.

http://zythophile.wordpress.com/2011/09/23/the-lost-art-of-extreme-aged-cask-ale/

 

[cjgenever]

A long aged barleywine can be bulk aged. Add fresh yeast, priming sugar and bottle six months before serving. No worry about losing carbonation.

I think it would be cool to brew one lambic a year. introduce her to sours (and good beer in general) at eighteen so she can learn. Have a blending session at twenty to give you a chance to add fruit to some. Enjoy at 21.

Of course, you could wait till her 21st to let her have a taste. By then she'll have a taste for bud light limaritas

 

[paperairplane]

Sounds like a great idea on paper. Odds of good result, virtually zero. But who cares, it's all fun anyway.

I'd do a fractional freeze of a Belgian strong and shoot for a 25% ABV 100+IBU beer. Bulk age a year or two. Then hope for the best. Find a cold, dark, quiet spot and forget about it.

 

[ruger988]

What a bout a Barleywine (or whatever) Solera type brew? TECHNICALLY it wouldn't be the same as aging a beer for 21 years, but it would be pretty neat and you'd still have the remnants of that first brew after 21 years.

 

[Billy-Klubb]

besides just beer, I'd recommend making something like a port wine.

 

[Paps]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starka

 

[zmanzorro]

There are several beers out there that age for more than 10 years. I had some friends that went on a trip to Belgium a few years ago and had Rodenbach from the year they were born (1986).

 

[fuelish]

Make her some mead......it's really quite easy, age is it's friend, it's a no brainer....and a lot less work than beer. Make it (no boiling required), primary it, rack a few times, and can bulk age in carboy or bottles - have no idea whether the bung in the carboy would be be better or worse than capped/corked bottles as far as sealing for the long haul. Mead is great stuff, once you have a full pipeline and the time/space to keep it all

 

[steveoatley]

+1 on the Mead

I made 5 gall of mead before my son was born - orange
I also made a 5 gallon batch of Wine - Cabernet
( made a beer as well - Scotch Ale 9% )

Bottled them all up, corked the wine - wax sealed the ends
Flip top on the meads, Oxygen caps on the beer.
Drank most of the beer - knew it would not last - saved a 6 pack - waxed the caps

We open a bottle of wine & mead each year on his birthday.
The Wine is getting drier
The Mead is just now getting better, smoother.

I have enough bottles that he can taste all three when he is 21.
Be sure to store them at proper cellar temps.

my 2 cents
Steve

 

[Xpertskir]

I didn't have time to type it out earlier but...

The only beer you can age that long are styles with bugs and specifically Brett. Brett is an antioxidant, any style without it will become oxidized at varying rates. Some people enjoy slight oxidation in styles like Barleywine, but after 21 years I'm betting the oxidation will be past even what that group enjoys.

Lambic(blended or straight) is really the only choice. Fruit generally does not age well and can have a negative effect long term to the overall taste, Which basically eliminates fruited lambics and the other choice a Flanders(rodenbach, ect.)

 

[Pole]

A barleywine (English style) will age just fine. I just went to the winter tasting event at Bull & Bush in Denver and they were serving some very old Thomas Hardys, the oldest of which was 1986.

 

[Beerbeque]

Any beer aged that long would likely be horrible after 21 years. A great idea tho would be to wait ~4 years for a fine 2015 vintage Napa Valley Cabernet. Keep it at cellar temp for those 21 years and you'll have an amazing prize by then.