Not sure I understand this edition of the session but maybe that is because I don't put too much energy into the particulars of my beer stash as long as I have a certain volume of brew tucked away. This is the question that has been put to use by Pints and Pubs:
I’m interested to know if you take stock of the beers you have, what’s in your cellar, and what does it tell you about your drinking habits. This could include a mention of the oldest, strongest, wildest beers you have stored away, the ratio of dark to light, strong to sessionable, or musings on your beer buying habits and the results of your cellaring. I look forward to reading your posts on Friday March 1st, leave a comment here when you do.
I am not sure that I agree with Stan that you screw up cellaring more often than not but I see his point. I have 7 of the 12 Stone series in there, a 2-4 of Hardy's ales, a series of Fuller's Vintage Ales, some gueuze and Christmas ales and the rest are pretty random. I am, by any standard, fairly disorganized. I actually like to hide stuff on myself. I hide stuff behind stuff. Layers. Every once in a while I take a look see to see what is down at the back and at the bottom of the pile. A bottle of Girardin. That's the last bottle that gets opened. But there's likely something like 27 gallons of various sorts of beer plus maybe 70 bottles of good wine in the way. I have no plan. I buy and forget.
Comments
pintsandpubs - March 2, 2013 2:37 AM
I like the idea of hiding stuff from yourself, for the enjoyment of picking out a forgotten bottle from the back of the pile. But for me 'buy and forget' has led to too many bottles of beer going past their best. Clearly, I'm cellaring the wrong kinds of beer and need more Fuller's Vintage etc
Thanks for contributing
Alan - March 2, 2013 9:51 AM
Nothing back there is under 8% as I recall. Or already sour. Helps that my cold room is long and narrow. I set traps for myself so I can't reach the back!
Gary Gillman - March 2, 2013 2:40 PM
I've tried storing various kinds of beers and learned a few things. First, the fridge almost never works, it's too cold. Even well-filtered beers throw a haze before long and taste wonky (i.e., past a few months).
Cool room temperature works well, but there is a characteristic "degraded" taste from oxidation I can recognize that I don't really like.
The sherry and port tastes people speak of are straight out spoilage as far as I am concerned. At best, a storage of a strong or acidic beer can't do it much harm but I doubt it improves the drink much.
As I result of this, I drink up fairly fast and therefore know what I have (pretty much) at any one time, I don't let it pile up. I think it's cool to lay stuff away, forget or half-forget what you have, and then wowee, but it's not my thing. Actually I wish I had done that with Ballantine IPA. :)
Gary