It’s mid-December now, so that means it’s the time for end-of-the-year lists on the Internet! In keeping with this tradition, I’ll be posting a few lists of my own over the next couple of weeks. To start things off, I skimmed through my research and came up with what I thought were some of my top cellaring tips and hints. Tips 1 through 5 are today, the rest will be coming later in the week. Enjoy!

1. You shouldn’t limit yourself to cellaring only bottle-conditioned beers - Although it certainly helps, a beer doesn’t have to be bottle-conditioned (which is a beer that has been bottled with active yeast) to improve in the cellar. There are a number of desirable chemical reactions, such as Maillard reactions, that occur in beer that don’t depend on the metabolic activity of yeast. In addition, there are a number of unbalanced non-conditioned beers out there that can benefit from a period of rest to allow the flavors to better blend together or “Calm Down”.

2. High ABV% and Dark beers can develop tasty flavors through Maillard reactions - As I discussed in my articles on why high ABV% (alcohol by volume) beers age well, beers that are dark and/or high in ABV% are highly prone to Maillard Reactions. These reactions can result in a range of flavors that include toffee, caramel, roasted malt, and coffee, among others. These beers will also typically darken over time.

3. Keep those hoppy beers cold! - Just recently in my article on Evolution of Wine and Brandy Flavors in Aging Beer, I was talking about how the bitter flavors associated with hop oils in your beer are prone to degration through oxidation. If you want to keep the bitter hop aromas and tastes for as long as possible, keep your beers cold. Hop oil oxidation is a temperature-dependent process, so be sure to refrigerate those IPA’s when you get ‘em!

4. Yeast need warmth - On the other hand, you should probably keep those bottle-conditioned beers out of your cold fridge - at least at first. Yeast metabolism needs a warmer environment then a fridge to be fully active. Keep your bottle-conditioned beers at normal cellar temperatures (55 degrees F or so) or even warmer to let your yeasty flavors fully bloom. Once the yeast start to die off (or autolyze) after a year or two, feel free to move your brews into a fridge.

5. You need to age Brett beers to fully enjoy them! - When Brettanomyces yeast are used by brewers, they are typically added at or near bottling time. Because they are used so late in the brewing process, they will generally need 6-12 months to full develop in flavor. Drinking a beer of this type fresh off the shelf will often result in one missing out on the Brett flavors that have yet to develop.

Tips 6 -10 soon to follow…..

Jason

jason@brewbasement.com

www.brewbasement.com