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HOP LINE: Beer Cellaring

Good things come
to those who wait

by Evan Crouch
It’s been said that patience is a virtue. This age-old axiom rings especially true in the realm of beer cellaring.

Beer cellaring refers to the practice of aging beer under certain conditions in order to produce desirable characteristics that might not yet be present in fresh beer. While some beer styles on the lighter end of the spectrum stand to gain little or nothing from aging, other stronger, more robust styles can indeed mature into a better drink after even just a few months’ time.
Cellaring the right beer can be like burying a time capsule – once opened, it provides the opportunity to reflect on the past and what’s changed from then to now. Here are some basic guidelines for cellaring beer and tips for choosing appropriate styles to lay down for a while. Fortunately, cellaring is easy; the hard part is refraining from quaffing the goodies you’ve put away!

For those interested in cellaring beer, don’t fret: You needn’t add a basement to your house complete with vaulted stone ceilings. All you need to get started is a closet and time. The main idea with cellaring is to provide a relatively stable, consistent environment in which your beer can age undisturbed. This means temperature, humidity and exposure to sunlight must be taken into consideration.

The ideal cellaring temperature is around 55 degrees Fahrenheit; however, if you keep your home consistently around 70 degrees, it’s OK – you just might not be able to successfully age your beer past the eight- to 10-year mark.

Humidity becomes relevant with beers that are corked, as arid conditions will dry out corks and compromise the barrier between your beer and the ambient environment, while too much humidity introduces the risk of mold. Ideally, humidity should be in the 50 percent to 70 percent range to preserve corks.

And speaking of corks, beer is unlike wine in that it should not be laid down on its side for storage. Doing so runs the risk of introducing cork flavors into your beer and excessively moistens the cork. Beer is under pressure and thus has its own gas barrier between itself and the cork. In short, always store beer upright, even if it’s capped.

Finally, beer should always be stored out of sunlight to ensure that it won’t get “skunked.” Skunking is what happens when beer is exposed to the sun’s ultraviolet rays.

You might be wondering, why should I age beer anyway? Aging beer allows certain styles to achieve their full potential. Most bottle-conditioned beers are good candidates for cellaring. Bottle conditioned simply means that the beer is bottled with brewing yeast still present in the beer. This yeast looks like fine sand and can be found at the bottom of most corked beers. In addition, malty, higher-alcohol styles beg for at least a bit of aging in order to smooth out their flavor profiles. These beers are strong enough that, when fresh, they can taste boozy, or “hot” with alcohol presence. A bit of age will mellow out the booziness and help meld together some of the roasty or dark fruit flavors in these styles.

Other styles are fermented with so-called “wild yeast,” such as brettanomyces, and require at least some aging to produce the sour and tart characteristics that are desirable for those styles. As a general rule of thumb, any beer over 8 percent in alcohol can benefit from cellaring. In contrast to the beer styles mentioned above, light lagers and hoppy beers do not stand to gain from aging. Light lagers are intended to be consumed fresh, when they are at their crispest. Hop presence will fade over the course of even a few months, so styles like India pale ale are best served fresh, when the citrus and pine notes of the hops are at their peak. The following are a few specific examples of beers that will get better with age.

For a bottle-conditioned beer to age, try a St. Bernardus Abt 12. This Belgian quadruple-style features dark fruit notes, and at 10 percent alcohol by volume can withstand some age. Laying one of these down for a while will contribute to the nuance of the flavors and result in an extra-velvety texture. As an appetizer, this drink would be well served with aged Gouda but has the versatility to be great as a dessert paired with black forest cake.

Strong, malty beers such as Fullers Vintage Ale tend to develop slightly sweet sherry-like qualities over time. Try an aged one with a soft brie and walnuts, or as an accompaniment to bread pudding.

If you’re feeling adventurous enough to cellar a wild yeast beer, the Sierra Nevada and Russian River breweries’ collaboration, Brux, just hit the shelves. Given a few months age, this one would go well with fish tacos, as long as they’re made with plenty of cilantro and lime to accentuate tartness.

If you’re interested in starting a cellar of your own, one way to think of it is as a mini science experiment. Cellaring can be very rewarding when you are able to experience the progression of your beers as they mature, and it’s easy as long as you have patience and the willpower not to raid your stash.

Nothing puts an exclamation point on a holiday meal like breaking out a vintage beer – not only as a conversation piece and culinary experience, but also as a way to mark the passing of time.

Remember: The waiting is the hardest part, so consider starting a beer cellar today that will bear fruit for years to come.