MitchBastard Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 It gets thrown around a bit that leaving some brews to age or what not really helps their quality. Well, yesterday I found a solitary euro lager I bottled on the 21/2/19. It was the Oktoberfest recipe (slightly modified) from the recipe section. Upon Initially drinking them once carbed, they tasted pretty good but there was a slight twang, the “homebrew” flair we all know and dislike, at the back of your tongue. Certainly drinkable and I plowed through 20ltrs fairly quickly. The lone lager, after 4 months in the bottle, was god damn fantastic and I’m quite annoyed I only had one left. Not an inkling of twang, it was crisp, clear and I could have sworn I was drinking a Heineken. Moral of this story for those of us on the greener side of brewing......we’ll I don’t have one but just thought I’d share. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cerveja Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 Along with temp control one of the most important things for most brews. Last night I drank a Vanilla Stout that I bottled Aug 2016. Absolutely sensational. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben 10 Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 24 minutes ago, Cerveja said: most important things for most brews. I would say some. My NEIPA would not have benefitted from ageing, but my ESVA sure did. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cerveja Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 Yep, hop forward beers drink up. Other beers, chill. Maybe that's the mantra? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 It's definitely style dependent. They all have their optimal ageing time, and they all vary from weeks to months to years. On the subject of lagers, I too have noticed improvement over time stored cold. A few of them have been tapped pretty much as soon as they were kegged and they definitely improved over the month or so they lasted. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Captain!! Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 13 hours ago, Cerveja said: Along with temp control one of the most important things for most brews. Last night I drank a Vanilla Stout that I bottled Aug 2016. Absolutely sensational. Was there any vanilla left in it at all? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer Baron Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 Beer is my friend.... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cerveja Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 15 hours ago, The Captain!! said: Was there any vanilla left in it at all? There was actually. Was really smooth with a great flavour. I've also got quite a bit of RIS I bottled nearly 5 years ago. Like drinking a fruit cake 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gus96 Posted June 26, 2019 Share Posted June 26, 2019 I try and put a six pack away from each batch for a later tasting just for this reason and keep notes on change / improvements. I also found the Oktoberfest improved after 4 to 6 months later. Yesterday I had a couple of stubbies of a brew that I had written off as a fail 10 months ago, a definite improvement in carbonation and head retention. The back story to this was the first time using a yeast slurry and it appeared the brew failed to ferment with no krausen at all and no signs of activity hence a double pitch, left in the FV for 3 weeks then bottled it (FG 1005). After trying one every other month with a bland flat no taste experience I almost tossed it a few times. But I had space so left it and always had three in the fridge. While it is no where near a good beer it's drinkable and it got better with age. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joolbag Posted June 27, 2019 Share Posted June 27, 2019 I put aside a few bottles of a porter that i brewed in May 2018. I did enter this beer into the NSW State Homebrew comp and it scored a solid 76 out of 100 and I thought it was pretty good after 3 months in the bottle. Fast forward to 12 months in the bottle and the beer is even better! I had heard how dark beers improve over time, but this is so much richer and the different malt flavours have blended almost perfectly. I really need to work on the schedule that the fellow brewers on here have: brew dark beers in summer to drink in winter. Brew saisons and lagers in winter to quench the thirst in the heat of summer. And hoppy pales/IPAs in between to drink fresh. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer Baron Posted June 27, 2019 Share Posted June 27, 2019 4 hours ago, joolbag said: I put aside a few bottles of a porter that i brewed in May 2018. I did enter this beer into the NSW State Homebrew comp and it scored a solid 76 out of 100 and I thought it was pretty good after 3 months in the bottle. Fast forward to 12 months in the bottle and the beer is even better! I had heard how dark beers improve over time, but this is so much richer and the different malt flavours have blended almost perfectly. I really need to work on the schedule that the fellow brewers on here have: brew dark beers in summer to drink in winter. Brew saisons and lagers in winter to quench the thirst in the heat of summer. And hoppy pales/IPAs in between to drink fresh. Enter the beer into another comp!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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