The Brew Basement

Looking for a good smoked brew? They’re a bit of an elusive breed, to be honest. In your typical US beverage store you’ll find stacks and stacks of lagers, row after row of pale ales, but not very many smoke flavored beers. It’s a simple fact that if you find yourself in the mood for [...]

Looks like Stone Brewing is giving us all a St.Patty’s day present this year!
One of America’s favorite stouts, Stone’s Imperial Russian Stout is being released this year on March 17th. This brew is a consistent winner from year to year, and gets great respect from both the BeerAdvocate and Ratebeer review boards.
Since Stone’s RIS is [...]

Now that we’re past the holidays and the time for Christmas ales have come and gone, we’re starting to see some winter seasonal releases hit the shelves. These beers are often among the strongest brews released by brewers, and are designed to take a bit of the chill off of a cold winter night. This [...]

Here’s the second half of my best beer cellaring tips of the year.
6. Do everything you can to minimize temp swings when dealing with live yeast - When cellaring a bottle-conditioned beer where the yeast are still active, do everything you can to minimize sudden changes in temperature. Failing to do so may send your [...]

Please check out my earlier articles on the use of Brettanomyces yeast in beer. There was an overview of Brett in beer, a discussion of the flavor components of Brett beers, and some info on how to best age and cellar Brett beers.
Not that you’ve read my three-part series on Brettanomyces (you did read it, didn’t [...]

Label for Noel de Calabaza, the Holiday Ale release from Jolly Pumpkin Brewery
The holiday season is a fantastic time of year for all of us lovers of craft beer. It’s also a wonderful time of year for those of us who like to age and cellar our beer, as many of the holiday seasonal releases will [...]

The Abyss - The best beer in America? 
Welcome to the second (and last) part of my series pointing out some medal-winning beers from the recently held Great American Beer Festival that should be great to cellar. Part 1 of this series focused on Belgian-Styled brews, while Part 2 has a focus on bocks, stouts, and [...]

Recently I’ve been digging through the list of winners from last month’s Great American Beer Festival in an effort to identify the beers that would age well. I wanted my list to focus on the beers that are at least somewhat attainable to us average folk. A lot of the winners seem to be special releases that aren’t [...]

As a follow up to my posts on great Stouts and Belgian beers to cellar, I have for you today of some Old Ales and Barleywines that have been known to cellar well. As always, this is in no way a complete list, just some recommended beers that you’ll know you can tuck away if [...]

If you’re looking for a good porter or stout to cellar, this is the place to start. Not only will the beers listed below quench your thirst, they should prove to be interesting and fun to age for awhile.

Avery Mephistopheles
Bell’s Expedition Stout
Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout - You can try an aged one of these any time you’re [...]