BTN: Aging Beer Question

I recently bought a 6 pack of Bell's Expedition Stout of Comstock Mich. The back label states that this beer could " sit quietly in your cellar, aging and improving while you wait for the moment that seems perfectly appropriate for its consumption." I have never laid down beer and never thought about it improving over time. It does have plenty of abv of 10.5% and bottle dated. Any thoughts out there about how aged beer changes/improves ?

Hi Jim,

Well, that is a good question. I have quite a few beers aging in my cellar courtesy of my three sons and especially my oldest son who is a brewer with a craft brewery in Toronto, called Amsterdam.

We actually did a vertical of aged beer a couple of Christmases ago and found that as the beer aged it mellowed out, with the hoppy notes moving into better balance with the maltiness and the acidity of the beer. It was a lot like wine and the beer we tasted also had some nice fruit notes in it from the hops used. In general, I would say aging beer improves the balance of flavors the most but also seems to add more depth of flavor to the beer. By the way the beer that was 5 years old was the best of the vertical with 7 and 9 a bit faded and 1 and 3 year-old beer a bit sharp yet and not as balanced.

Thx guys..My wife was chewing me out for having some old beer in the cellar and in the fridge..told her it tasted just fine to me..Have passed your posts on to her..am prepared to duck

Jim,

One additional note on aging beer. Most beers do not age well just like most wines are made to drink now. For example, an IPA should be drunk fresh. Only the strong beers, more malty beers, and barrel aged beers tend to age well.

Thanks Tom and Jon, I may but a 12 pack of this Bell's Expedition Stout away in some corner of my basement and give it 4-5 years to see what happens.

I've been under the opinion that a beer only ages if it has live yeast added before capping.

Hi Carl,

My son, Cody, is a professional brewer and he says that live yeast is one way for a beer to age, but if sugar is added it is a dangerous way since too much pressure can build up and the bottle can explode. Aging beers do require some oxygen diffusion just like wines, but not necessarily active yeast.

I've been under the opinion that a beer only ages if it has live yeast added before capping.

Yeah, that is my impression. I've had some Belgian abbey ales (and their domestic equivalents, e.g. Ommegang) that were great after a few years of aging. These were in corked 750 ml bottles with yeast (unfiltered sometimes called 'bottle conditioned'). But I'm more partial to hoppy IPA type beers, which are best drunk young, so I don't explore aging beer much. Bells beers are unfiltered and a high ABV stout might be a good candidate for aging (as they suggest).