LowerCase Brewing shares some of the most common mistakes that people make when aging their beer that may detract from the desired flavors.
Aging beer has suddenly become something of a global phenomenon. Out of nowhere, everyone is beginning to talk about the benefits of leaving your beer in the cellar for a few months. However, while aging your beer can have a positive effect on its flavor profile, you need to ensure you age it correctly or you may find the flavors are diminished. Most breweries in Seattle don't age all of their beers, and here are a few reasons why.
Ask Breweries in Seattle: 6 Mistakes Everyone Makes When Aging Beer
1. Aging the Wrong Types of Beer
One of the most important factors to think about when aging beer is whether or not it should be aged. Firstly, think about the ingredients in your beer; flavors such as hops (which are flowers) deteriorate quickly, so beer that relies heavily on a strong hoppy taste, such as double IPAs, should not be aged. Wheat beers also will not hold up well for too long in the cellar and the wheat proteins will begin to break down and drop out, making the beer watery.
The best beers for aging are sour beer, strong beer (with an alcohol content of above 8% ABV), and smoked beer. The citrus in sour beer acts as a preservative to keep beer fresh for longer, as do the smoke phenyls in smoked beer. Beer with a high ABV often ages well because, like with other high-alcohol beverages, the alcohol content itself acts as a preservative.
Check Before You Age!
Like cooking, when it comes to ingenious brewing, you need to know that there are many exceptions to the rules. For example, while we recommend drinking hoppy beers as fresh as possible, certain hops (such as Kent Goldings) can actually bring some intense new flavors after aging.
Because of this, it is always best to get a professional opinion on your beer before aging it. If you purchase a beer in a liquor store or brewery, make sure to ask whether or not you can (or should) age it. If you are brewing your own beer, then it's always a good idea to ask around on some home brewers' pages on social media. Make sure to tell people what ingredients you have used and what flavors you'd like at the end.
2. Storing Beer On Its Side
By far the most common mistake that people make when aging their beer is to store it on its side. After seeing an elegant wine cellar with dozens of bottles stored on their
sides, people easily make the assumption this can be done with beer, too. However, storing wine on its side has nothing to do with presentation or space-saving: it is instead primarily done to keep the cork moist, as a dry cork can easily fall apart.
Conversely, with beer, which is not a long-life product, storing a bottle on its side exposes more of the surface area to oxygen within the container. Fine wine enjoys a bit of oxidization to mature the flavors, whereas beer does not, and even if you have a beer bottle with a cork, you shouldn't be aging it for long enough for the cork to dry out. Even if you are aging your beer in barrels or kegs, it is still highly recommended to store them upright at all times.
3. Leaving Beer to Age for Too Long
As mentioned above, certain beers hold up well during the aging process whereas others don't. On top of this, you'll need to remember that different beers also enjoy different aging periods. Imperial stouts, for example, undergo an incredible transition during aging that brings forward intense flavors of dark fruits and chocolate. However, when aged for too long, these flavors can break down and you'll be left with a beer that tastes of ink and meat.
Almost all stouts will enjoy a year or so in the cellar, however, never push beyond 2 or 3 years if you want to keep the best flavors. Barleywine, on the other hand, will benefit from a few more years. If you have a strong English barleywine with an ABV of over 10%, this could easily be left in the cellar for up to 5 years for the rich flavors to fully develop; if you can wait that long. However, American barleywines tend to reach their peak at around 2 years.
4. Cellaring Beer in Clear Bottles
As we've mentioned before, the color of the glass bottle that you are storing your beer in will have a huge impact on whether or not you can age it. Clear glass lets in harmful rays of light that will begin to break down the flavors in your beer. Even if you are storing your beer in a dark room or cellar, electric lights will damage your beer bit by bit every time you are in the room.
Brown bottles, on the other hand, let in much less of these damaging UV rays and allow your beer to be stored for much longer. Green bottles are somewhere in the middle; they let in less light than clear bottles but more than brown bottles, so keep this in mind, especially if you are brewing your own beer.
5. Allowing Sunlight Into the Aging Room
Even if your beer is stored in a brown bottle, harmful UV rays will still eventually find their way in and damage your beer, causing it to "skunk" over time. This is why most breweries in Seattle have a cellar that is left in total darkness at all times--unless someone is in there, of course. The temperature is also vital to think about, as heat will make your beer deteriorate quicker, whereas if beers are left too cold then they will not age properly and the flavors won't develop.
To ensure perfect conditions when you are aging your beer, your cellar should be in total darkness at all times and kept at a temperature of between 45° F and 65° F; ideally sitting as close to 55° F as you can. This temperature is perfect as it allows the flavors to develop in your beer without any heat causing unwanted damage.
6. Not Asking for Advice
Craft beer is a wonderful thing, and this is mainly due to the huge amount of variety you can get. As more and more people learn how to brew their own beers, we are beginning to see some amazing, original flavors and styles of beer. But because every beer is unique, it needs to be handled properly and in its own way, so never be afraid to ask about the beers you are purchasing and how it's best to store them.
These are some of the most common mistakes that people make when aging their beer that may detract from the desired flavors. While these won't all necessarily result in a skunked beer, these will definitely do your beer more harm than good. To check out proper aging techniques, and learn which beers can and can't be aged, drop by and visit us at LowerCase Brewing, where you're free to have a look around our cellar and aging room.
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