(Unintentional) Bottle Aged Beer

[aa1986]

I have a small fridge in the kitchenette of my home office and it's thermostat seems to be poorly designed. As the weather turned cooler, I was turning it down a fraction every day to stop the fridge from getting too cold. Then one morning, I checked the temperature and it had effectively switched itself off. I had gone too far and it was reading about 20c! It took over a day for it to get down to the right temperature. I've been worried about the effect on my beer stash ever since. But lo and behold, today I had a bottle and it tasted better than ever. It seems the temperature fluctuation has aged it perfectly. I think I need a second bottle before it passes it's peak!

 

[theKman]

And this lovely bottle conditioned beer was none other than a..............? My basement temps range from the low 50s to the low 60s, and I maintain a pretty sweet little stash down there, ranging from current to about five years old. Wiped out a fair amount of it lately though, including a vertical tasting of Founder's KBS '09-'12.

 

[tony1679]

I thought the aging process was while at room temp, and that chilling the beer "killed" the yeast (stopped progress)? I have to double check now, if i screwed up my 6 dogfish 120s I'm gonna be [censored]!

 

[FowVay]

I found a can of beer in the bottom of some old military gear that I used to carry around with me. The beer is a can of Schultheiss Pilsner from Berlin. The date on the bottom is 24 Jan 1996. I wonder how it faired all of these years? I think I'm just going to leave it on the shelf unopened for safe measures.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Interesting. I don't think any of my wheat beers could handle that.

 

[Bluestream]

Beer does not get better with age the same way wine does. It fact it peaks at the time it bottled. Most likely you just enjoyed that bottle a little more

 

[madibob]

Originally Posted By: Bluestream

Beer does not get better with age the same way wine does. It fact it peaks at the time it bottled. Most likely you just enjoyed that bottle a little more

My experience is this depends totally on the beer. IPAs will start to lose their hoppiness after a few months. They don't age well. Higher alcohol beers can. I think Dogfish Head recommends ageing 2 years or more on their 120. I've had some 'old' stouts and barleywines that were really good and smooth.

 

[Chris Meutsch]

Originally Posted By: Bluestream

Beer does not get better with age the same way wine does. It fact it peaks at the time it bottled. Most likely you just enjoyed that bottle a little more

Not true. Properly HOMEBREWED beer, or large Belgians, can last for a very long time and actually do get better with time. I buy Trader Joe's Holiday Ales every year, and try to save at least one bottle at least 3 years. Perfectly delicious after that long of time. The science-based beers like Bud Light and the others don't last very long after their "best by" date.

 

[dave123]

Originally Posted By: theKman

And this lovely bottle conditioned beer was none other than a..............? My basement temps range from the low 50s to the low 60s, and I maintain a pretty sweet little stash down there, ranging from current to about five years old. Wiped out a fair amount of it lately though, including a vertical tasting of Founder's KBS '09-'12.

I liked Backwoods [censored] with at least a year or two on it but KBS fresh or no more than a year CBS the same way. Both of them are some of the best beers ever made.

 

[NYEngineer]

What I know about making beer could fill a thimble, but I have a friend that makes awesome beer. He brought me a batch about a month ago and said not to open it until after New Years. It's under my desk at work. 64 degree office. Can't wait to bring it home and try it this week.