Accidental aging

[Wild Bill]

I was digging around in the garage last night looking for some wire I knew I had stashed and came across a box with bottled beer (amber ale) and bottled sparkling apfelwein I had made. Looking at the dates, they were both bottled back in 2014. Now I purposely age high alcohol content Russian imperial stout (10% abv) in bulk for up to 6 months and in the bottles for 1-3 years with great results. I figured the amber would be shot as it was only about 5-6% originally. Boy was I wrong. It had lost much of the late hop addittion presence but the maltiness was very smooth and balanced with the bittering hops and the carbination was spot on. The sparkling apfelwein had lost its carbonation but did not taste at all of vinegar and quite drinkable as well. I thought higher alcohol content was mostly responsible for graceful aging, but obviously darker malts play a big role as well. I am sure my blonde ale would have been undrinkable after 4 years but I may have to hide a bottle or two and find out. They were stored on the garage floor in a paper grocery sack inside a cardboard box so no light got to them. Also the garage floor stays 50-60 degrees F year round. I love it when my forgetfulness pays off !

[Bushman]

I have read where many members find products that they forgot about. That has never happened to me as I have a room dedicated to storing my alcohol and also aging products. I do understand why it is a great find as I have been doing this long enough that I do not need to sample products after a few months as I monitor my supply so I am never that low on any one product I produce.

[Wild Bill]

All my distilled products are kept in the same area purposely selected for big temp swings but beer is a different animal and steady temps and no light is the name of the game so it gets stashed here and there where those parameters are met. I am just getting to the point with the higher spirits where I have enough in the pipeline to really let things ride and meet their true potential through aging. It would be sweet to have a complete room to dedicate to that purpose! Maybe someday.

[Bushman]

All my distilled products are kept in the same area purposely selected for big temp swings but beer is a different animal and steady temps and no light is the name of the game so it gets stashed here and there where those parameters are met. I am just getting to the point with the higher spirits were I have enough in the pipeline to really let things ride and meet their true potential through aging. It would be sweet to have a complete room to dedicate to that purpose! Maybe someday.

[Wild Bill]

The stillin and brewing are on the back burner for a bit now as it is fishing season. Getting ready to pour pipe jigs and tying salmon leaders for a Neah Bay trip next week!

[zed255]

Got back into brewing a little before starting down the distilling road. I went through my supply of bottles to discover about eight were still full from pre-hiatus, about 14 years prior! I figured they would be skunky and poured the first one out to discover that despite their advanced age (for beer) they were perfectly viable. Drank the others and they were actually rather delicious.