The Return of Bigfoot!

Now in my second year, A Whale A Week is my challenge to try (with an array of beer loving friends) a rare beer for every week of the year.  Last year I had a great time with this and have continued it for 2016.  Not every beer will be a truly "white whale" beer, but all are hard to find and a treat to try!  This week we try something different.  Tired of just trying out one beer (and lets be honest how can I really shrink my cellar at this rate) each week, we're going to break out a bunch of them!

This week we do the second of a two-part series on Sierra Nevada's classic Bigfoot Barleywine Style Ale.  This is a beer that I first tried back in the 1990's and promptly spat out in disgust.  How and why would someone create such a bitter beast of a beer?  Sierra Nevada was really one of the first American craft breweries, and is still sitting pretty today as one of the biggest and still most popular.  Their Pale ale was one of the very first commercially available, and really set the guidelines for the whole category (local Summit Brewing was right up there though!)  Anchor Old Foghorn was released back in about 1975 so they held the lead on the modern American Barleywine, starting with a fairly English barleywine malt bill but jacking it up with American hops.  Bigfoot really took the style to new hoppy levels. Bigfoot was first released in 1983 and is now known as the default for what the style should taste like.

I invited over Dave Manley--one of the most barleywine-enamored guys I've ever known--for this one.  Discovering that Waconia Brewing's illustrious brewer Tom Schufman is a huge fan of this beer, I made sure he could take part as well.  For the second tasting we also brought in noted award winning homebrewer and beer judge Kevin Meintsma.  And of course my wife Sarajo helped out despite her lack of love for the hoppier beers.  With 19 years of beers to try, we decided to split this tasting into two parts.  I really wanted to try all of them together in order to better pick our favorites compared to each other--but barleywines are high in alcohol and even two tastings is pushing it!  If you want to check out the first round (1995-2006) you can read it HERE.  Without further ado, let's raise another glass to the crypto-zoologists of the world!

Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Vertical 2007-2015

Bigfoot 2007

Eric: Aroma--Cardamom, honey, oxidized citrus.  Appearance--Only slight carbonation, and a bit murky.  Flavor--Definite oxidation and a minty-fresh finish.  Reminds me of herbal tea with orange peel.  Astringent finish.  2.75
Kevin: Aroma--Oxidation!  Maraschino cherry.  Some hot alcohol.  Caramel.  Low plastic.  Appearance--Legs.  Flavor--Slick.  Malty-caramel and sweet.  Moderate sherry oxidation, not unpleasant.  Med-high body.  Sharp tang in the finish.  No carbonation.  2.5
Tom: Appears flat.  Oxidation!  Molasses, plum, caramel forward.  Bitter finish.  3
Dave: Love the malty aroma--caramel.  Slight oxidized, vegetal, but not close to the older ones.  Not a lot of hop aroma, but plenty of hop flavor and bitterness.  3.25
Sarajo: Something unpleasant in this one.  2.75
Overall Score: 2.85 (Very oxidized and a bit astringent.)

Bigfoot 2008

This is the first year that Sierra Nevada used a non twist-off cap.  This was also the 25th Expedition and had a different label than all the other vintages.

Eric: Appearance--Lighter in color.  Better carbonation than any thus far, but head still fades fast.  Aroma--Brighter hops, more orange peel and a hint of grapefruit.  Caramel.  Flavor--Much better balance than previous.  Front end is bright citrus hop and then notes of toffee.  Middle has a bit of earth and sherry cask tannin.  Finish is bitter but not overly so.  Carbonation is much improved.  3.5
Kevin: Aroma--Low oxidation.  Slight molasses/honey aroma.  Moderate alcohol.  Low caramel.  Appearance--Low head.  Very clear.  Flavor--Sharp oxidized malt flavor.  A bit unpleasant.  Burnt malt.  Some low molasses flavor.  Kind of smokey phenolic in the finish.  Low sweetness.  Good carbonation for an old beer.  2.5
Tom: Hoppier aroma--oranges?  Hoppy flavor.  Bitter finish with a hint of spice?  Sherry cask.  Nice.  3.5
Dave: Smells like a hamster cage.  Nice carbonation finally!  Less tannic than 2007.  Better flavor profile.  Definite hop finish.  3.5
Sarajo: Less hops as it warms up...or my tongue is getting numb... 3.25
Overall Score: 3.25 (We all like the carbonation, but Kevin is a hater.)

Bigfoot 2009

Eric: Aroma--Smokey phenol at first that reminds me of candied caramelized bacon.  Fades to a fleeting orange aroma.  Appearance--Deep orange color.  Fine off-white head is persistent.  Flavor--Sweeter than previous vintages this round.  Bit of a dreamsicle flavor with orange and caramel/vanilla.  Body medium.  Alcohol present and warming.  Mild oxidation.  Balance is nice.  Finish off-dry with slight bitterness from hops.  3.75
Kevin: Aroma--Low spicy hops.  Moderate caramel malt with slight molasses.  Moderate alcohol.  Citrus hops as it warms.  Low to moderate oxidation, some sherry.  Appearance--Low head clings to rim.  Flavor--Moderately high citrus hops--tangy orange rind with a light oxidized or burned note.  Low sherry-like oxidation.  Lingering caramel and a low plastic phenolic.  Thick/chewy.  Moderate to low carbonation.  Slick with big alcohol.  3.25
Tom: Nice carbonation.  Cherry, hoppy, black licorice in aroma.  Thinner mouthfeel.  I feel the tannic slight tart finish is back, yet still bitter.  3.25
Dave: After oxidation I pick up a spice aroma of rosemary or cardamom.  Hop bitterness more pronounced than others.  Minty, floral, malty.  I could get through a bottle of this.  3.5
Sarajo: I like this a lot better.  3.75
Overall Score:  3.5 (Spicy/herbal and a bit of phenol, but getting better!)

Bigfoot 2010

Eric: Aroma--Strong orange rind.  Hint of pine tree or juniper.  Honey notes.  Barest hint of phenolic.  Appearance--Good thick off-white head is persistent--best yet!  Flavor--Sweet start with a caramel and burnt orange peel flavor.  Carbonation is high with an almost creamy mouthfeel.  Finish is mouth-coating bitter oranges.  Less alcohol than '09.  3.5
Kevin: Aroma--Low earthy hops with citrusy support.  Malt is more subdued, some golden raisin oxidation.  Low sharp tang--probably aged/oxidized hops.  Flavor--Toasty/bready malt--very nice.  Some nice moderate toffee notes.  Hops are citrusy, bitter orange and little earthy.  Big hoppy finish, plenty bitter.  More complex.  Slick.  Not hot but big alcohol.  Moderate body and carbonation.  3.75
Tom: First time I've really noticed alcohol in the nose, along with spicy notes.  Caramel and hops (piney), candied orange rind with a firm, bitter finish.  3.75
Dave: Great carbonation--lifts the aroma, hits the tongue.  Can't place the hop aroma but it's nice.  Some maltiness/caramel in the aroma too.  3.75
Sarajo: I'm bitter enough on my own...  3.5
Overall Score: 3.65 (Carbonation is the best yet, more citrus hops present.)

Bigfoot 2011

Eric: Aroma rife with powerful fresh orange pulp.  Hint of caramel.  A hint of herbal-rosemary?  Flavor is fairly bitter from start to finish, but still pleasant.  Finish is a tad astringent.  Orange and malt in the middle--only really noted on the second or third taste once you get used to the bitterness.  Some alcohol warming.  The most bitter yet, but I like it!  3.75
Kevin: Aroma--Oxidized citrusy hops.  Low bready malt.  Tangy lightly burned orange rind.  Appearance--Light lacing, persistent head.  Flavor--Moderately toasty malt, immediately replaced by citrusy oxidized hops.  Nice supporting caramel and a low buttery diacetyl note--rather pleasant.  Sweet finish.  High bitterness.  Good balance.  Mouthfeel--Body pretty big--slick.  3.75
Tom: Bright hop nose, still orange in aroma.  Much less oxidized.  This actually tastes fresh and is fairly dry.  Molasses on finish with hops and bitterness.  3.75
Dave: Malt aroma more assertive each year.  Hops are fresher--piney and floral.  Bready malty flavor.  Hop bite in the end.  3.75
Sarajo: Too bitter.  I feel like I want to scrape my tongue off.  2.75
Of note: all four of the guys independently gave this the same score and mentioned that they almost gave it a 4.
Overall Score: 3.55 (Just on the edge of getting a 4, getting fresher and better balanced.)

Bigfoot 2012

Eric: Aroma--Bright citrus.  Leaf hops--cascade?  Flavor--Again bright and fresh tasting.  Tons of citrus flavor.  Balance is to the bitter side, but still has plenty of malt and flavor complexity.  Herbal/minty hop quality as warms.  Alcohol present, but not hot.  Balance is key here.  4
Kevin: Aroma--Big hops--citrus/orange rind, resin.  Light minty aroma as it warms.  Low oxidation.  Appearance--Head lingers, lacing is light.  Legs!  Flavor--Wonderful bready malt--toffee notes behind.  Bitterness exactly balances the malty--perfect!  Moderate alcohol.  Sherry notes in finish.  Very smooth.  Mouthfeel--Good carbonation.  Slick.  Fairly thick. 4
Tom: Aroma still orange (tangerine?) hoppy.  Way more malty than 2011.  Tangy finish.  3.75
Dave: Picking up candy sugar in the aroma.  Floral, less piney.  Metallic/phenolic flavor profile.  3.25
Sarajo: Better than the last one!  3
Overall Score: 3.6 (Very bright and citrusy, very well balanced.)

Bigfoot 2013

Eric: Aroma--Tangerine with a hint of oxidation creeping back in. Alcohol zip.  Pine as it warms up.  Flavor--Strong happy hoppy citrus flavors.  Maltiness and toffee is stronger in this vintage.  Good balance, making this very easy to drink.  Bitter but not astringent finish.  Honey flavors as warms.  4
Kevin: Aroma--Low citrusy/honey hops.  Tangy oxidized malt.  Resiny.  Light, pleasant molasses and sherry.  Appearance--Persistent head with lacing.  Flavor--Really nice malt.  Lots of toffe--raisin, cherry.  Bitterness mod-high, citrusy/resiny hops.  Still a little tang in the finish--bitterness lingers.  Pair this with a cheesecake!  Mouthfeel--Thick, sweet, clearn.  Good carbonation.  4
Tom: Dried orange peel, hoppy!  Citrus and spice.  Still dry, but malt really shining as it warms.  Smooth finish.  Well balanced.  4
Dave: Piney, floral, herbal, honey-sweet aroma.  Almost a mead sweetness.  Love the biscuity malt.  Hops hit at the end.  Bright.  Drinkable.  4.25
Sarajo: Would be OK with food.  3
Overall Score: 3.85 (The best of the lot yet!  More malt, but good balance with the hop bittering.)

Bigfoot 2014

Eric: Aroma--Strong pine and freshly grated orange rind.  Flavor--Even more fresh and bright orange flavors.  Some pine tree sap bitterness.  Bitter finish compared to previous vintages.  Biscuit maltiness present but almost as an afterthought.  4.25
Kevin: Aroma--Bright citrusy hops.  Low honey.  More fresh, but less complex aroma.  Flavor--Amazing malt!  Bread crusts, toffee, raisins, figs.  Sweet.  High bitterness.  Citrusy and minty hop flavors.  A little too bitter---less is more!  Low oxidation.  Still a tangy finish.  4.25
Tom: Minty, candy, orange, zesty?! hop aroma.  Nice cracker malt and caramel forward.  Complex!  4.25
Dave: Slight step back--a bit more alcohol hotness.  I like the malt complexity.  4
Sarajo: 3.5
Overall Score: 4.05 (Stronger hopping and better malt complexity.)

Bigfoot 2015

Eric: Aroma--Alcohol is pretty apparent.  Biscuit or cracker malt.  Grapefruit and mint.  Flavor--Malt forward and sweet honey flavors.  Orange marmalade--reminds me of the older vintages from pre-2007.  Strong alcohol--pretty hot.  Less hops than expected.  Mouthfeel is coating and creamy.  Needs more time.  3.75
Kevin: Aroma--Fresh citrusy hops but lower intensity.  Nice malt.  Alcohol.  Appearance--good retention.  Flavor--Light caramel malt, toasty, bready.  Hoppy bitterness is perfectly balanced.  Resiny hops.  Not very complex.  3.75
Tom: Less hoppy aroma than 2014.  More malty, but booze!  Firmly bitter, almost harsh.  A downgrade.  3.75
Dave: Might be the only one where the malt equals/exceeds the hops.  Piney/resiny.  Big caramel malt.  First one I've had that I've thought needs more time.  3.75
Sarajo: 3
Overall Score: 3.6 (Hotter alcohol and less complexity overall.)

Barrel Aged Bigfoot 2015

Eric: Aroma--Boozy!  Bourbon sharpness and oak tannin fades to a more vanilla as it warms.  Caramel.  Pine aroma but minimal orange.  Slight sulfur.  Appearance--Deep orange, darker than most vintages.  High carbonation with a wispy head.  Flavor-- Sweet orange, vanilla, brown sugar.  Fairly strong booze warming but not solventy.  More complex and smoother than most of these.  Reminds me of the 2002 from the previous tasting.  4.5
Kevin: Aroma--Light caramel.  Low woody oak.  Low resiny hops (no citrus).  Lots of vanilla, low sherry.  Appearance--Serious head.  Flavor--Really nice vanilla and bourbon flavor.  Faint oak.  Very low hop bitterness.  The characteristic citrusy/resiny hops are low. Balance to the malt in a big way.  Pair this with a creme brule.  Wonderful beer!  4.25+
Tom: Boozy-whiskey aroma at first.  Nice sweet malt character with hints of toast and vanilla.  4.25
Dave: Bourbon, toasted oak, marmalade, coconut aromas.  Coconut on flavor as well.  Bourbon sweetness compliments the hops.  Bananas Foster!  4.25
Sarajo: Still a little hoppy.  4
Overall Score: 4.25 (This was the winner of the night, but cheating a little since it was barrel aged.)

After all was said and done, this was a very fun experience!  Just getting a group of knowledgeable beer people around a bar and tasting beers is cool, but getting to try vintages of beer starting back as far as 1995 and going through 2015 was stellar.  This is the payoff for all that time cellaring these bottles away in the dark recesses of the basement!  The 2007 was still pretty oxidized but we had increased carbonation and drop in oxidation once they switched to pry-off caps.  Hop aroma and flavor increased from then on as well.  There were still some ups and downs year to year.  The 2015 we all felt could use some more time--and seemed higher in alcohol--even when compared to the 2015 barrel aged version!  Based on this data, I'd say the ideal age for Bigfoot is about 2-4 years old.

In Search Of Bigfoot...Barleywine!

Now in my second year, A Whale A Week is my challenge to try (with an array of beer loving friends) a rare beer for every week of the year.  Last year I had a great time with this and have continued it for 2016.  Not every beer will be a truly "white whale" beer, but all are hard to find and a treat to try!  This week we try something different.  Tired of just trying out one beer (and lets be honest how can I really shrink my cellar at this rate) each week, we're going to break out a bunch of them!

This week we do the first of a two-part series on Sierra Nevada's classic Bigfoot Barleywine Style Ale.  This is a beer that I first tried back in the 1990's and promptly spat out in disgust.  How and why would someone create such a bitter beast of a beer?  Sierra Nevada was really one of the first American craft breweries, and is still sitting pretty today as one of the biggest and still most popular.  Their Pale ale was one of the very first commercially available, and really set the guidelines for the whole category (local Summit Brewing was right up there though!)  Anchor Old Foghorn was released back in about 1975 so they held the lead on the modern American Barleywine, starting with a fairly English barleywine malt bill but jacking it up with American hops.  Bigfoot really took the style to new hoppy levels. Bigfoot was first released in 1983 and is now known by most as the default for what the style should taste like.

Screen shot from the infamous Zapruder film...perhaps he's on his way to the pub?

I tried Bigfoot again at a cellared beer tasting by a member of our then-fledgling homebrew club, Brett Schneider. Tasting aged (and more mellow) versions of this hop monster really opened my eyes to the changes that can occur in a beer over time--some good and some bad.  That tasting was around 2006 or 2007 and I've been getting a pack of Bigfoot every year since.  A few years ago Brett moved out of the area and downsized his cellar of vintage beers, leaving me with a fairly epic collection of aged Bigfoot to add to my growing stash.  I've cracked some at brewclub meetings over the years, but this year I wanted to do a more controlled vertical tasting of the beer.  While this beer isn't as rare as some we've tried for A Whale A Week, getting to try a huge vertical going back as far as 1995 is pretty difficult to pull together.  Perhaps I should call this Sasquatch Of The Week?  Yeti Of The Week?  Abominable Snow Man Of The Week?

I invited over Dave Manley--one of the most barleywine enamored guys I've ever known--for this one.  Discovering that Waconia Brewing's illustrious brewer Tom Schufman is a huge fan of this beer, I made sure he could take part as well.  And of course my wife Sarajo helped out despite her lack of love for the hoppier beers.  With 19 years of beers to try, we decided to split this tasting into two parts.  I really wanted to try all of them together in order to better pick our favorites compared to each other--but barleywines are high in alcohol and even two tastings is pushing it!  The second half of the tasting is available to read HERE.  Feel free to crack any old bottles you have in your cellar and taste along with us!  Without further ado, let's raise a glass to the crypto-zoologists of the world!

Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Vertical Part 1

For this first tasting we started back in time...the 1990's!  All of us took notes and came up with a score for each vintage...occasionally going back and either tweaking our scores or retrying the previous vintages to compare.  Your results may vary!  Oh and all of these bottles have been stored in a cool basement out of the light and have twist-off caps.

Bigfoot 1995

Eric: Aroma--lots of sherry, borders on cardboard.  Some cherry and hops are mild.  Very little head--just  wisp.  Plenty of oxidation on the flavor.  Still some bitterness that I pick up as minty.  Still better than expected for its age.  2.75
Dave: Heavily oxidized.  2 sips are plenty.  Hops still present.  2.5
Tom: Peach notes.  Light CO2.  Deep caramel.  Low oxidation flavor, but high in the aroma.  3
Sarajo: Blech.  2.5
Overall Score: 2.67

Bigfoot 1998

Eric: More hops in aroma than 1995.  Earthy, almost musty basement aroma.  Carbonation still pretty dead.  Flavor is vegetal and fungus-like.  "Kids, grow mushrooms in your basement!"  Hopping present but comes off as English hops (EKG or Fuggles).  Bitter cardboard finish.  2.5
Dave: Some oxidation, less than 1995.  Aroma--caramel. Taste--about the same, just 3 years newer.  A bit of a flip from the '95 in that I like the aroma better than the taste.  2.75
Tom: Mold aroma, high oxidation.  Wet cardboard.  Higher CO2 than '95.  Flabby.  Sherry notes.  2.5
Sarajo: Yech.  2.5
Overall Score: 2.56

Bigfoot 1999

Eric: Minty hops mix with oxidation in aroma.  Caramel noted in aroma as well.  Slight carbonation rousable with swirling.  Flavor is getting better.  Caramel but not sweet.  Some sherry cask.  Bitter finish.  A bit aqueous on mouthfeel.  Dark fruit as it warms up.  3.25
Dave: Aroma getting better, flavor improves as well.  A bit fruitier, less caramel on the tongue.  This tastes more British.  3
Tom: Less cardboard, smells like 1998.  Somewhat tart.  Tannic flavors but hoppy finish.  3
Sarajo: 3
Overall Score: 3.06

Bigfoot 2000

Eric: Hoppy aroma--mild citrus--like an orange marmalade with oxidation.  Carbonation still super low, but up from previous vintages.  Caramel increased in flavor, but still not sweet.  Bitterness stronger in flavor.  Oxidation still present but dropping.  Hop flavors of cooked orange rind present.  3.5
Dave: OK, We're getting closer...  3.25
Tom: More plum and dark brown sugar, but yup, still oxidized.  Nice bitterness.  More rounded flavor.  3
Sarajo: 3.25
Overall Score: 3.25

Bigfoot 2001

Eric: More hops and some sherry aroma--increased oxidation from 2000.  Wispy carbonation, but more noted on mouthfeel.  Increased hop citrus flavor.  Bitterness on the end, but not overwhelming.  Brighter overall.  3.5
Dave: Can we get rid of the musty aroma already?  Other than that, starting to really dig it.
Tom: Minty.  Bitter.  Same beer as 2000.  3.25
Sarajo: 3.25
Overall Score: 3.31

Bigfoot 2002

Eric: Seems like less hop aroma this year.  Less oxidation.  Flavor brighter, more orange character.  Easy to drink this one.  Balance is better than any so far.  3.75
Dave: Now we're talkin!  3.75
Tom: Aroma has a hot alcohol note.  Solid malt profile.  Well in balance, but sweet.  3.75
Sarajo: Best of them. 4
Overall Score: 3.81

Bigfoot 2003

Eric: Seems sweeter and more caramel and prunes.  Figs?  Less hop bitterness than 2002.  Oxidation up from previous year.  Drop in score from 2002.  3.25
Dave: A little more oxidation from 2002.  Hotness.  3
Tom: Tannic bitterness is back.  Not much to say.  3
Sarajo: 3
Overall Score: 3.06

Bigfoot 2004

Eric: Sweeter aroma, not much hop.  Mild oxidation.  Flavor has more oxidation and dark fruit along with some hop bitterness to even it out.  More orange/citrus character.  3.5
Dave: Still some oxidation, a little less than the '03.  Still not as good as the '02.  3.25
Tom: Marmalade is back.  Still a bit astringent.  3.25
Sarajo: 3
Overall Score: 3.25

Bigfoot 2005

Eric: Hops are back in the aroma and citrusy.  Carbonation is better, prickly.  Milder oxidation.  More hop bite.  Carbonation improves the mouthfeel on this and makes it more dry.  3.75
Dave: Carbonation helps.  3.5
Tom: Hoppy aroma.  Best balance of the vertical thus far.  Cascade hop on finish?  3.75
Sarajo: 3.5
Overall Score: 3.63

Bigfoot 2006

Eric: Carbonation!!!  Still some oxidation present, but more of a wine barrel effect.  Earthy, piney hops.  This is the stuff!  Orange and pine hop flavors--candied kumquat.  Sweet and sugary, but not cloying.  Finish is off-dry.  Smooth and mellow.  Seems like a cross between and English and American barleywine.  4
Dave: Picking up some nice malt complexity--figs and raisins.  3.75
Tom: Nice carbonation.  Somewhat thinner.  Bright flavor.  More spicy and citrus notes.  4
Sarajo: 3.75
Overall Score: 3.88

This was a fun tasting.  Frankly, I had low expectations for the older vintages and that mostly played out as expected.  Still it was fun to try a beer from 21 years ago!  Heck one of these was probably that vintage I tried fresh back in the 1990's and spat out in disgust!  I enjoyed getting Dave and Tom to take part since both of them are big fans of this beer.  There was a distinct progression of slow loss of oxidation and improved carbonation from oldest to newest with the 2006 being the overall favorite of the bunch.  However, 2002 was an enigma, coming in second overall.  We are currently planning on our second tasting: covering 2007-2015, topped off with a bottle of barrel aged Bigfoot.  If any of my readers tasted along with vintage bottles, please comment on your findings here!

Beer Archeology 101: Building a Beer Cellar.

Cellaring Beer?

Most folks I know buy (or brew their own) beer for immediate consumption.  In most cases, this is how beer is meant to be consumed: fresh!  Commercial breweries want their beer to reach the consumer as fresh as possible and in perfect drinking condition.  They do not want these beers (especially lower gravity or hoppy ones) to lose their mojo by sitting around too long thereby giving the brewery a bad reputation.  However, some beers actually do improve or change with aging.  This entry is my attempt at covering the concept.

In about 2006 one of my friends, Brett Schneider, opened my eyes to the then novel idea of cellaring beers.  Prior to that I had really not given much thought to keeping beer around longer than it took me to drink it.  For a special Holiday brewclub event (back when Jack Of All Brews only had about 8 members) Brett brought out a bunch of old Sierra Nevada Bigfoot bottles.  I think Dave Manley may have contributed some as well, but I make things up sometimes.  With each bottle sporting a year of birth in bright blue on its base white cap, it was easy to organize this tasting sequentially.  I think we went from newest to oldest in order to see how the fresh beer tasted and then monitor the change over time by reaching farther back in years.  The newest at the time was 2006 and the oldest was 1995.  My mind was blown by this vertical tasting of one beer!  The fresh one was so hoppy and bitter that I found it nearly undrinkable.  But as we went back in time the hops mellowed.  The beers became more balanced and complex.  And eventually we reached the stage where oxidation no longer helped the taste, but hindered them instead, resulting in cardboard and muddy flavors.   There was also some variation year to year that could have been due to particular vintages or just storage conditions in the interim.  Eyes opened, I began my own beer cellar that month with a six pack of Bigfoot. 

Not my cellar...this one is Belgium!

Aging Beers

What beers age well you ask?  In general, many of the higher alcohol beers (8% ABV or higher) will age better than lower gravity beers.  Hops tend to fade fast in beers, so pale ales, IPAs and double IPAs do not typically hold up well.  Here are some guidelines for what beers age the best.

1) Barleywines seem to be ageable, but those hop flavors will fade and change with time.  If you love the fresh hop craziness of American barleywines, you may not want to age them, as you could be disappointed with the process.  As mentioned above, Bigfoot ages remarkably well, but there is a huge difference between the mouth rending bitterness of a fresh one versus the sherry-like smoothness of an old bottle.  English barleywines like the (now defunct) Thomas Hardy or J.W. Lees tend to age quite well though, getting more complex and sweeter with time. 

2) Old ales are a good choice--its right there in the name!  Fullers puts out a Vintage Ale every year that ages quite well.  This past summer Dave Manley invited a few of us over to taste some of these vintage bottles and the differences were amazing.  Each one had a box with notes from the brewer on the type of grains and hops used that really helped when evaluating these beers.  Old Stock Ale from North Coast is a good variety to age as well.

3) Imperial Stout is probably the most popular cellared beer style these days.  With a lot of special release beers like Surly Darkness, Three Floyds Dark Lord, etc. people will save these for years in order to try them back to back with different vintages.  I find most Imperial stouts to be very difficult to drink right away--so much hot alcohol and astringency from hopping and dark roasted malts.  But aged a year or two, those rough edges mellow and most will improve greatly in drinkability.  My personal favorite for aging is Darkness: I have 2008 to 2014 waiting on a perfect time to share.

4) Wood aged beers will usually do well over time.  Most have already spent some time in a barrel (spirit or wine most likely) and flavors will continue to blend well once bottled.  The Bruery's Black Tuesday, Town Hall's Czar Jack, and Goose Island Bourbon County Stout are good examples of bourbon barrel aged Imperial Stouts--making these perhaps the most cellarable of beers.  The higher alcohol of these will also help preserve the beer longer.

5) Sours are a great genre to age.  In most, the sourness and complexity from wild yeast and bacteria will continue to change for years.  Some will become less complex and more sour, others will add complexity...so your results may vary.  True sour lambics like Cantillon are perfect for aging, while some pasteurized or back sweetened ones like The Duchess or Lindemans fruit lambics may actually get sweeter over time. 

6) Holiday beers are on the edge, and it depends what base beer they are using.  Anchor puts out Our Special Ale each year with a slightly different recipe and I have had a 6 year vertical tasting of these before.  The base beer is a fairly low alcohol brown ale and I felt like it didn't hold up to age well.  Avery's Old Jubilation aged one year is incredibly more nuanced than when fresh, but by two years has lost a lot of its punch.  Age these holiday beers at your own risk!

7) Belgians are also a bit of mixed bag.  Because there are so many variations in Belgian beer styles, it is difficult to make sweeping generalizations on aging.  Higher alcohol beers and those darker in color tend to age better, but I've seen some that age well and others that don't.  I've had bottles of New Glarus Belgian Red from the 1990's that were still amazing and tasted like baked cherry pie, where by all rights a 4.5% ABV beer like that should have been terrible.  In general I don't age most non-sour Belgian style ales longer than 2 years.

Beer aging at Cantillon in Belgium

Storage

How should one store their beer for the ages?  The enemies of beer quality are oxidation, light, and heat, so avoiding these should be the cornerstone of good beer storage. 

1) Oxidation: There isn't a lot we as the consumer can do here--the packaging process is where this comes in.  Some oxidation can be beneficial and adds to the "aged" character of the beer, but too much will shorten the lifespan of the stored beer.  Based on past experiences I tend to avoid aging beers from "new" breweries because they may lack the resources to properly avoid oxygen exposure resulting in beers may not age as well.  Twist off caps let in more oxygen, so I tend not to age those.  Wax dipped bottles keep out more oxygen over time, so improve the aging process.  I recently tried the aforementioned New Glarus Belgian Red--one in a 750 ml wax dipped bottle, and another in a 12 oz capped bottle.  The latter  had more cardboard/oxidation character that I attribute to the cap.  Corks can potentially be problematic--like in wines if not kept moist it will dry out and allow more oxygen into the bottle.

2) Light: Avoid light exposure to any of your beer!  Ultraviolet light will react with molecules in the beer (hop related) to cause the famous skunky aroma in beer.  Some European lager breweries actually do this on purpose (Heineken I'm talking to you!) to give the beer the Euro-skunk aroma and flavor.  Most bottles nowadays are brown, which blocks most of that UV light, but blue, green or clear bottles will allow more through.  Keep your beers in a dark place like a closet or cupboard, or in covered boxes to minimize sun and light exposure.

3) Heat:  Avoid extremes of heat and cold.  Ideally you want to keep beers cold to slow the aging or staling process.  If you are very lucky and have a walk in cooler--you are going to have fresher beer!  On the other hand, some of those beneficial characteristics you are looking for in aged beer may take longer to develop under refrigerated conditions.  I've tried side by side the same year's vintage of Lagunitas Brown Shugga aged in the fridge and in general basement temp for one year.  The warmer beer had developed more of the classic aged barleywine sherry notes and the refrigerated version had little change from when fresh.  Most home cellars should be located in an area that stays a fairly consistent temperature throughout the year.  I keep mine in the basement where it stays around 62 degrees most of the year.  Those who live in Texas may have problems...

4) Infection: Not mentioned above, but infection will ruin a stored beer and waste all that time and effort you have put into cellaring it.  This is not something you can control (except for homebrews) at home.  If the brewery making that beer had less than stellar sanitation practices, even a small amount of wild bacteria or yeast can set up shop and funkify your precious beer.  A few years back, Boulevard had an infected batch of Chocolate Ale that slowly soured over time.  They were good enough to refund customer's money to make up for it, but I still missed my chocolate beer that year!  Just this past month I cracked one of my special Town Hall Czar Jack bottles from 2011 that had soured, and ended up dumping it down the drain.  I also had this issue with a Bruery White Chocolate that I shared at a recent homebrew club meeting.  This is a risk you take with aging beers rather than drinking them right away.  A small amount of Brettanomyces may not cause problems right away, but a few months after bottling can give you some serious off flavors.  I have even heard stories about exploding bottles and growlers from latent infections, though have not had this happen to me.  I will often open aged beers over a sink in case of gushing from infections, just to be safe.

Building Your Cellar

I'm not handy so this is not a how-to for construction of an actual beer storage cabinet, but rather a way of going about collecting beers for your cellar!  Everyone who cellars beer does it for different reasons.  For some it is the thrill of the hunt--being the first to find that white whale beer and have bragging rights about it.  For others it is the delayed gratification of holding onto that beer for years and finally opening it up for a special occasion.  And for some, it is just another thing to collect like comics or classic cars.

I came into the hobby slowly.  As I mentioned before, the Bigfoot vertical was my start, and each year since then I buy a 6 pack to store away.  Being Minnesotan, I have fairly easy access to Surly special releases and started squirreling away Darkness in 2008 after getting my 6 bottle allotment at Darkness Day.  Other beers I randomly pick up and shove them into my cellar, forgetting about them for a year or two until I suddenly realize I need to crack them open.  Some I get as gifts, or bring back from travel to other countries or states.  On one recent occasion a friend decided to quit his beer trading hobby and sold me his entire cellar at once!  I had to do some serious reorganizing after that.  Another friend moved and I inherited a bunch of beers from the late 1990's to 2000--some have aged well and others have not.  I am rather enjoying sharing those ancient beers out amongst homebrew club members.  So for me, collecting has been a rather organic process over time.

Some people will focus on one particular beer (Bigfoot, Darkness, etc.) or one particular style of beer.  This is probably the easiest and gets less messy, but limits your options.  My tastes are way too varied for that!

I tend to stick to what I can find in the store, or get my friends to bring back from other states.  This takes longer for your cellar to develop, but you end up paying base price for the beer and have control over how the beers are stored.  It is always nice to know someone who lives near a source of rare beer, who can mule it back for you!  I was slightly sad when my mom moved back to Minnesota from Oregon, since she would bring me cases of Deschutes beer each year!  But now, being retired, she will still help me hunt down other local limited release beers while I'm working in the office, so it all evens out!

I know several people who have built a quicker cellar by trading or buying beers online.  The benefit of that is avoiding four years of cellaring to get a 4 year vertical of Alaskan Smoked Porter!  However you run risks of getting poorly stored beers or heat/damage during shipping.  Most of the folks I've known who do this seem to go whole-hog for a while, but eventually either burn out, have children, or find another hobby to occupy their time and money.  Everyone has their own shifting priorities in life! 

Sj actually bought me an entire Rogue Old Crustacean Barleywine vertical from the brewery's web site last Christmas!  Ranging from little 7 oz bottles from 1998 to a big ceramic flip-top monstrosity from 2012, this was an instant mini-cellar. 

Keeping Track

I have only recently begun to properly catalogue my cellar.  I started when I instantaneously doubled my cellar, and needed to stash some things further into dark corners where I would promptly forget they existed.  If you are into trading or selling, this is essential to keep a tally on what you have available to trade and how much you paid for them.  It is also good to watch your dates, since some beers may go south and you end up with too many that you should have tasted sooner.  There are some apps for this, but I just started a spreadsheet on my wife's computer.  The most difficult thing with doing this is remembering to remove the beers when you drink them! 

I will admit that there is some enjoyment to be reached from digging in the back of a closet and discovering a dust and cobweb festooned bottle of something you thought long-gone years ago.  Like Howard Carter seeing the first glint of gold from a long-hidden sarcophagus, finding these "lost" beers can spark your excitement.  But by taking this tactic, you risk waiting too long and missing the beer's peak.  I have started storing my Belgians and lower alcohol "drink soon" beers on a shelf that is more easily accessible and viewed, and keeping the big verticals hidden away in harder to reach places.  For some folks I know, they literally have to hide these types of beers from their spouses or risk finding them empty on the counter when they come home from work!

Organizing

It is a good idea to have some sort of system to where you are storing these beers.  Some people may have just one shelf or cupboard that is easy to view, but if you have more beers than that it is easy to "lose" them.  I try to keep all my sours together in one place, Imperial stouts in another, barleywines together, and then a random shelf that is easier to see and get at that has my quicker rotation beers like Belgians.  If you have boxes or crates, make sure to label them with what is inside so you don't have to dig into each of them every time you want find a particular beer.

Many beers don't have dates or vintages listed on them and it is a good idea to record that on the bottle.  My friend Steven suggests using a sharpie and marking a date on the cap or label so you can easily find the beer and vintage you are searching for.  I have a couple years worth of Surly Smoke, from before they dated the bottles, that are still a question mark and I wish I had been keeping track better!  Another friend, Dave, used to put a sticker on the bottom of each beer with the year, cost and where he bought the beer. 

Tricks Of The Trade

Drink them!  I have struggled with the urge to hang onto the beers like I'm Smaug the Beer Hoarding Dragon, awaiting some long-distant future when the stars will align for a perfect occasion to taste them.  But if you think about it, how many truly special occasions are there each year?  Birthday, Christmas (or other holidays,) Anniversary?  A big 22 ounce of beer is about all you will be able to finish even if your spouse will share them with you.  If you buy more than one at a time, just crack of one them every 6 months to a year to monitor how they change with time.  This allows you to decide if they are at peak or starting to lose their edge.  That can also help out with judging how other vintages of that particular beer might age. 

Share them!  Periodically have a small group of beer-lovers over and open some of these beers to share.  I get almost as much enjoyment from seeing the feverish gleam of avarice in my friend's eye before we crack a rare beer as when I'm drinking it.  Watching everyone scramble to be the first to check in the beer on Untappd is always fun as well.  However, too many people present can lead to smaller pours and more chaos that isn't always conducive to discussion about that rare beer.  It is a balancing act.

Do vertical tastings!  This will be an excuse to try several at once, and judge the beer against itself.  How does time change the basic character of the beer?  Start with the youngest and go backward in time.  I've got several small collections like Ommegang's Three Philosophers 2003, 2007 and 2011, and four years worth of Alaskan Smoked Porter that will form the cornerstone of a nice shared tasting. 

Pool your cellars!  If you have a few rare beers, and know your friends have a few as well--pool your resources for a more impressive tasting.  I have 4 years of the Stone Vertical Epic beers at home.  I'm going to throw it out there to my homebrew club to see if anyone has the intervening vintages so we can have an Epic tasting of them! 

Host a beer tasting party!  Two years back I hosted an Imperial Stout tasting event at my place with me providing a 4 year vertical tasting of Darkness.  Everyone who came, brought another rare stout and we had an impressive amount of beers shared among 10-14 people.  Tastings of this size allow you to try more beers, but your share of that rare beer you hoarded for 5 years may amount to just a small taster glass.  As mentioned above, larger groups also get louder and you may lose some of the nuance when discussing the individual beers. 

Most importantly enjoy yourself, enjoy the beers and enjoy the camaraderie and company that you find yourself in.  Drinking craft beer is a social hobby and should be shared among friends. 

Are there any tricks or methods that you have discovered regarding beer cellaring over time?  If so please share them with us on the comments for this post!