Is there a resource online that gives the recommended ageing times for different style beers. And secondly someone gave me a box of gently used 1L flip tops, would they be okay for ageing beer in ?
I would look up ‘cellaring beer’. I believe there was a Zymurgy and/or BYO article. Beer cellaring has also received some mainstream press recently (maybe NYT?)
Generally, the more booze, the better it ages, and the darker, the better it ages.
I happen to love aged saisons though, as well as aged biere de gardes.
I’m not sure I would be comfortable aging in swing top bottles, but I suppose the seal is just as good, maybe even better than standard crowns.
I also like to use O2-absorbing crowns for just about all beers, except hop forward beers, as I’ve heard they can suck the aroma right out of them (will be doing a side-by-side on this one).
The ONLY thing that matters in aging beers is your tastebuds. Try one every so often and drink them when they taste good to you.
I didn’t think about the fact that the flip tops are not O2 absorbing . I like the idea of the 1L bottles for sharing a sample with a few people, get better feedback that way. Plus they look cool. I kind of do what D says with the beers I’ve made so far but they have been with American ale yeast . And they are a little green before 2 weeks after that I havnt noticed much difference. I want to start experimenting with yeast flavor sand I heard that is more age dependent
No, it’s not necessarily. There’s really no ROT other than really strong, really hoppy beers usually need longer to age. But it’s only a rule of thumb…there is no hard and fast rule. It’s up to you.
My own personal rule of thumb is to drink the beer as soon as it tastes good. If it doesn’t taste great within a month or two of bottling/kegging, then wait longer. If it does, then drink it. In general, most beers don’t get any better with a lot of age. There are exceptions for very strong high alcohol beers. But for the most part, even these will show excessive signs of age after 2+ years of age. Most beers were intended to be consumed within 9 months of bottling/kegging day. Beyond that, you lose more than you gain. In general.
I love my Grolsch bottles. They work fine for a long time. I have a lot of wine and mead in Groslch bottles and they taste great even after 3-4 years, maybe more.
this^^^^
I have beers that I brewed 10 days ago that I am drinking and I have beers that I brewed 10 years ago that I could also be drinking. Beers that age well tend to be strong, dark, or sour, or some combination thereof. MOST beers do not age very well and will peak somewhere between 2 and 4 months of brewing. Very few beers are in the middle that will peak after 6 months but go downhill after a year (some belgian styles like dubbels or tripels might fall here). A few beers get better, or at least, continue to evolve with age-- barleywines, imperial stouts, quads, gueuze, flemish sours. But, even within a given style, individual recipes may or may not improve with age. I know of imperial stouts that are best consumed young (Otter Creek RIS and Old Rasputin) and others that I prefer after a year or so (Stone IRS) and others which I really want a few years of age on (Bell’s Expidition, Brooklyn BCS). Experiment… it’s fun, there are no rules.
