A Few Site Updates, a Cool Quote, and a Beer Cellaring Link
By jason on Dec 10, 2007 in Links, Messages to Readers
I’m trying to do a bit of catch-up here today. After posting my comparison of a cellared vintage Celebration Ale with a fresh one on Friday, I’m spending the morning writing up the formal tasting notes for both beers in my normal review format. I’m also in the middle of my research on a new series about the effects of oxidation on aging beer, where which (for once) I’m a little overwhelmed by the amount of information available on the subject.
In the meantime, you should check out The Barley Blog where they’re starting to post tasting notes for a few winter beers they have been cellaring for the past year. Reviews of Anchor’s 2006 Our Special Ale and a 2006 Samichlaus are up right now.
This weekend I also came across a really cool quote about beer aging I thought I’d share with you. It came from a small little book called Home Beermaking - The Complete Beginners Handbook by William Moore. This came from a section where he was discussing a method for brewing a barleywine:
Barley wine is fascinating to age as it changes noticeably through the months (and years). A few weeks after bottling, barley wine tastes rich, though a bit raw, with the malt and hop flavors separate and fresh. After six months, the flavors have blended, though the yeast sediment has decomposed, adding a new yeasty (and often bitter) flavor to the brew. After a year or more of cellar aging, the harsh yeasty flavors introduced by the dead yeast sediment mellow and blend, adding a new, almost smoky dimension to the more familiar malt and hop flavors.
Sounds pretty cool to me - I wonder how much this description will match up with the barleywines I’ve been cellaring (Rogue Old Crustacean and Weyerbacher Blithering Idiot)?
Jason
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