Your oldest brew?

[FlyingHorse]

I'm sure this thread has been done, but my feeble searching didn't turn it up...what's the oldest of your beers that you've (a) consumed or (b) still have on hand?

I have one remaining bottle of Invisible Blizzard Imperial Stout, which was brewed in the winter of 1996-97. Records incomplete (actually, this is the only one missing frm the log), exact date unknown, but the batch prior was Nov 96, and following was Mar 97. One of my first (and few) artial mash brews...I remember being awestruck by the amount of grain I was stuffing into that cooler. The beer's moved with me at least 5 times, and seems none the worse for it. I had the next-to-last bottle during a brew a few weeks back...still damn tasty. Hints of oxidation, poor head retention (which it always suffered) but silky smooth, balanced and yummy.

I'm reluctant to crack the last one...I've lost the recipe, so it will be the end of the line for Invisible Blizzard. I'm thinking I might crack it open next week when I brew a barleywine, and dump maybe an ounce into the boil, for posterity. Then I'll hang on to one of those for 10 years...

Anyway, what's your oldest?

 

[magno]

I just recently drank the very last one of my first brews ever. It would have been two years old next week I think.

It was a stout, and it was suprisingly drinkable. Not "good", but drinkable.

- magno

 

[Pabst Blue Robot]

If you count wine, I have some that's about 3 years. For beer, my oldest is 3 months and that's a couple bottles that were overflow stock, the keg blew a couple months back.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Oldest one I've drank is about 4 months. Age definitely improves the flavor! I have some 7 month old pumpkin ale, but I was planning on sending it off to the in-laws as a gift.

 

[Brewtopia]

Oldest beer I have on hand is one last bottle of "Double Indemnity" Belgian Double, 3.5 years old. Next is "Edmund Gwen" Grand Cru at 2.5 years old.

 

[sirsloop]

I just raided the closet and pulled out a couple oldies..

Coffee Stout #1 6/8/2006
Oatmeal stout 6/26/2006

They were great!!

Really...I can't see the point in keeping beers for 2-3 years before drinking. Sure it'll probably be drinkable, but its definitely past its peak. You're just letting good beer go bad at that point.

 

[david_42]

I still have some 2003 Old Bog water in the keg. A bit of a cheat, as 8 ounces of Peat-smoked barley made it undrinkable for the first year. Nothing older, because before then guzzleboy was still alive and he could float a keg in two weeks.

[The 1909 Mild is the recipe's origin, not when I brewed it.]

 

[Ó Flannagáin]

Really...I can't see the point in keeping beers for 2-3 years before drinking. Sure it'll probably be drinkable, but its definitely past its peak. You're just letting good beer go bad at that point.

I keep hearing the complete opposite about high gravity beers: Imperial whatevers, doppels, tripels, barley wines.

 

[Sir Humpsalot]

My SWMBO and her brother don't drink as much as I do, so I like to bring them a generous supply of my beer. They then hide it from me and about 3 months later, I get to have one of the last few.

I don't have that much self control. :cross:



Random aside: I am sampling my Special Orange Bitter at 9:45am. I should have my Maibock bottled sometime around noon, then it will be off to the LHBS to drop off a sample of my SOB for critiquing, then I'll be brewing a sweet stout for SWMBO and picking up a few supplies to further lock myself into a recipe for my barleywine which will be the next beer I brew.

I'll be getting all new tubing due to a few recent infections. I'll also be using my GIGANTIC O2 bottle for the first time (20 years' worth of O2, they say) and my aeration stone, and I've stepped up to a 1/2" autosiphon (the smaller one will be reserved for bottling only, where I don't need the wort moving so fast. I'm also going to be getting my groove on with my newly created CFC. This will be an interesting brew session, though the long line of new gizmos have me a bit overwhelmed, to be honest....

 

[sirsloop]

I was under the impression that big beers such as dark belgians, etc, etc... they peaked somewhere around 9 months. I know it was on a PDF article I read somewhere that had some super graph.

 

[kvh]

I was under the impression that big beers such as dark belgians, etc, etc... they peaked somewhere around 9 months. I know it was on a PDF article I read somewhere that had some super graph.

I would like to see said PDF. Anyone, anyone?

k.

 

[Bernie Brewer]

I've got some mead that is around 5 yrs old. I lager my Bocks for 4-6 months and my Marzens for at least 6.

 

[JayMckeever]

oldest brew I have on hand are the ones that were bottled yesterday! Longest I have held on to a brew was my Delirium clone, and that lasted 3 months.

 

[DeathBrewer]

I was under the impression that big beers such as dark belgians, etc, etc... they peaked somewhere around 9 months. I know it was on a PDF article I read somewhere that had some super graph.

depends. they still change with age, up to 10 years supposedly. doesn't always mean they get better, and there's little controlled experimentation, but I've tasted some damn fine (high gravity) beers that were 3 or more years old. no home brews, however. I'm definitely going to leave a few of mine to sit.

btw, wuts up with the Trois Pistoles? I was gonna try a clone of that soon, how's yours doin?

 

[RichBrewer]

I drank a porter last year that was over 3 years old. It was surprisingly good. The bottle was in the refrigerator the whole time which helped it stay drinkable.

 

[david_42]

I've had 15 year old barleywines and they were both good. Hoppy ales don't age well. The hop aroma tends to fade after a year or so.

 

[Desert_Sky]

Two weeks ago I drank the last of my Jack My Lantern Pumpkin Ale. It was almost a year old, and still too much nutmeg

 

[Brewin_CRAZY]

Gotta add to this one, I just made a post on my most recent 5 year old beer discovery, been in the fridge the whole time. Tasted like crap when I first brewed it, after 6 months still tasted like crap. 5 years later I cracked a bottle and it was damn good, even got someones opinion and he liked it too. Good times, 5 year old beer, gotta love it.

As for cider and wine, we have some cider that has made a few trips around the sun. I think the oldest is 4 years, and it gets better every year. Wine doesnt make it much past three. We dont have enough grapes, only get about 5 gallons a year.

 

[KillerKellers]

I would have to pull out the bottles for exact dates.. but I have some of my dad's home brews, and I drank one a few months back. I know the one I had was from '94, I think August but not 100% on that. The beer was amazingly good, and I was quite scared.

We split a bomber and pulled out his recipe book, to take a look at his notes on it... and the flavor had changed for sure.

 

[Stef1966]

I just cant keep myself from drinking em all very long, longest i could keep a home brew was 8 months, i say yes, the flavor was definitely improved, but not to the point i would like to age them that much on purpose, im not that fancy palated about beer.

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

Longest I've kept a beer around was about 8 months. I don't age beers except a few old ales and lambics I have laid down in the cellar. I think fresh beer is the best beer and I don't brew styles meant for aging. My oldest beer currently is about 7 weeks old and almost gone.

 

[TrojanMan]

Oldest beer I've ever consumed was a Brooklyn Chocolate Stout '01 batch. Drank that at about 7.5 years old in '08. It was exquisite.

I've had some Belgians I've aged for two years (ish) and one time I bought myself a case of Victory Storm King for my birthday. Drank one every two weeks for the entire year to see how it changed. Based on my experiment, Stom King is optimal at 4-6 months but it'll hold that optimum flavor for at least a year (don't know, didn't go any farther).

The oldest homebrew I have is some coffee imperial stout that's about 6 months old now and still delicious.

 

[clemson55]

Oldest homebrew is an oaked barleywine that is about a yr and 2 months old now and the last one I opened was still damn tasty. The oak seems to have mellowed a lot now though, I think it was better at about 8-9 months when it had a little more oak kick. I still have 15-20 of them sitting around.
Oldest commercial brew I have had several beers that were about 2 yrs old.

 

[DeathBrewer]

I just finished the last two bottles of 08/08/08 RIS that I brewed on 01/02/08.

The roastiness came out overpowering and as it warmed I could taste the alcohol. Still a damn fine RIS, but I think my later modification (less high crystals, less roasted barley, different hops) had much more longevity. Of course, we'll never know absolutely for sure, because after about 9 months, we killed the whole keg in a day

I need to brew the revised recipe again, put it in champagne bottles and let it age for a year. Hmm, maybe next weekend.

Most of my beers do not age. Most of them are lighter and intended to consume within a month of brewing. However, when I get my "bottling station" set up, I wish to start bottling anything of a decent alcohol percent and start storing bottles in my fermentation cabinet to do some age tests.

 

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

Maybe 4 months. I have an Apfelwein I made back in February, and I guess that's my oldest. However, I've been slowing down a lot on my drinking the past month or so...maybe 4-6 a week versus 1-2 every night and 5 on Friday and Saturday ! Now I've got 30 gallons of beer still in carboys, including a barleywine that I won't be touching until at least October. That will most likely last the longest, as I plan to bottle 5 gallons and put the other 5 gallons on tap.

 

[Brewmasters Warehouse]

I have had some 2+ year old Red Ale and a Brown Ale. Both were pretty drinkable even after 2 years and neither was above 6% ABV. Now I have some Apfelwein that is pushing 3 years old that is amazingly great. With the aging the apple flavor has been enhanced 1000% and is more like drinking apple juice than a drink that is 7+% ABV.

 

[IrregularPulse]

Longest HB I had was a brown at 8 months that was still decent, a bottle of apfelwein at 1 year that was great.

Oldest beer. I had a 10 year old bottle of Double Bastard. My step dad had gotten it as a gag gift when i was in high school. I remembered it a few months ago and asked if he still had it. He did. Gave it to me. I split it with my bro. It was past it's prime for sure, but was drinkable for my share. My bro didn't drink all his. Once it started warming the alcohol was very present with not enough maltiness to accompany it.

 

[carnevoodoo]

I have a barleywine I made nearly two years ago sitting around. It is more like an old ale now. Hops are gone, all caramel and sherry-like oxidation. I'll probably have bottles of it for the next 2 or 3 years. I've only been brewing 2 years and 3 months, so I am sure I'll be having some more long term beers added. I have a couple of sours that are a year or so old now, but they don't count. They're still not ready.

Oldest beer I've drank? I've had some 10-12 year old vintages. Not all were stellar, but some of the barleywines, IRS, dark strongs, and a gueuze or two that have withstood the test of time.

 

[Smogre]

My youngest brews at this point are over 1.5 years. It's been a while since I brewed...

The oldest is coming up on 5 years. It's a Spiced Ale that I made around August 2004. I remember it was nasty back then. Very medicinal. These days it's one of my most prized possessions and I have only 4 bottles left, secretly stashed away.

 

[mithion]

My oldest brew is my last bottle of a pretty awful tripel I brewed 2 and half years ago. I'm keeping it just in case it gets better. I plan to crack it after I defend my doctorate thesis a few years down the road. No better way to celebrate then by drinking an old stale oxidized beer right...?

Also in May, me and my fiance cracked a mead an old friend had made and gave her a few years back. He claimed he made it back in the mid eighties as he said it was over twenty years old. I had never tried mead before so I can't compare it to others, but that stuff was really awesome. It was very tasty, but wow did it go to my poor head. I was impressed it kept that long and how little oxidation it had even though the bottle was sealed with cork.

 

[mrtrav]

I have an IPA that is the last remaining bottle of my very first batch a year ago or so. Plan on keeping that one forever and never popping it.

 

[bernerbrau]

Got one bottle of my IPA, my porter, and my cider sitting in my guest bathroom. And I know my brother still has one bottle each of my first two brews. I want to try some since at least the ones my brother has are close to a year old now, but then they would be gone

My blonde biscuit is all gone, because I went through those obsessively when I found out half of them failed to carbonate significantly. That experience also turned my palate off to lighter beers for some reason.

 

[thantos]

A friend of mine's son just had his 15th Birthday, and when he was born I brewed a batch to celebrate the occasion. My friend has saved an unopened bottle all this time. 15 year old home brew, think its safe to drink?:cross:

 

[bernerbrau]

15 year old home brew, think its safe to drink?

One way to find out!!

 

[DeathBrewer]

Safe, sure. Tasty? I dunno...

 

[Killer_Robot]

As I'm pretty new to it, I don't have anything old yet. I'd keep a bottle of my first beer for posterity, but it's one of those 1 liter plastic Mr. Beer bottles, so I imagine it won't keep as long as one in glass. Still, there's my second beer at least.

 

[Poindexter]

I still have a twelve of the 888RIS I brewed Thanksgiving 2007. The hops are way past peak, but I am hanging on to see how my sanitation does. So far so good.

This summer I have put back four cases of heavyweight ales that were intentioanlly over hopped. I am hoping they come in to their own over the long dark cold winter.

I am going to go through a series of export stouts next. Most of those will be kegged with a sixer bottled on the side so I can sample without tapping.


The trick to building up inventory is to brew more than you drink ;-)

 

[loetz]

I've had a lot of very old beers. I couldn't list all of them, but...

I've done vertical tastings of Oerbiers and Stille Nacht that dated back probably eight years. Most of them held up well, but they thinned out the older they got.

I had a 2000 Guinness Special Export Stout in 2007 and it was amazing. Ditto these dates and my reaction for Westvleteren 12.

1983 Chimay that was pretty bad.

1978 Saison of some kind that tasted like medicine.

I've had a number of other aged beers, but the most interesting to try were these:

These bottles are 1950s era beers. When opened they made no noise. One is from a brewery in Cleveland, the other Detroit. The minikeg is between 10-20 years old. The bottles tasted like sorghum and penicillin. The Beck's still had some foam to it, but it tasted metallic and medicinal.

If you're really interested in aging beer, here is an interesting article:
http://beersensoryscience.wordpress.com/2010/11/15/chemistry-of-beer-aging/

I've found that some big beers are better after a couple of years, but I'm not a fan of keeping things for longer.

 

[Spartan1979]

I still have some barleywine I brewed around 1995. IIRC it was a SMaSH. I opened a bottle last year and it was fantastic. Still carbed, nice flavors, so I opened another bottle a couple of weeks later and it was bland. Nothing wrong with it, still carbed, but just not much flavor. There's still a couple left. I'll have to chill one.

 

[hipturn]

I've got a case of beer I brewed in 1986 that I just retrieved from my parents' attic.