Ran across Sierra's Nevada's Bigfoot the other day;
never tried it before, and found it quite tasty.
A pity SN doesn't make it year-round.

if I were to buy a couple of cases, and keep them
at approx cellar temps, how long d'you think they'd last?

the fact that this bottlecaps had year 2005 marked
on them, set me to wondering ...

wrote:
:
: Ran across Sierra's Nevada's Bigfoot the other day;
: never tried it before, and found it quite tasty.
: A pity SN doesn't make it year-round.
:
: if I were to buy a couple of cases, and keep them
: at approx cellar temps, how long d'you think they'd last?
:
: the fact that this bottlecaps had year 2005 marked
: on them, set me to wondering ...

Several years, or until you drink it all.

You will find that the flavors change significantly with age. The hop
presence will mellow out and the malt flavors will become more complex
and, for lack of a better word, "winey."

My personal opinion is that Bigfoot and other fresh-shipped barleywines
need a few years in the cellar before they're really ready to drink.


--
Bill

reply to sirwill1 AT same domain as above

(Bill Benzel) wrote in news:ZDrOd.1485$h06.285131
@monger.newsread.com:

> presence will mellow out and the malt flavors will become more complex
> and, for lack of a better word, "winey."

Maybe the better term is "sherry-like". ;^) I think aging potential of a
beer like this is greatly determined by one's sensitivity to, and enjoyment
of, oxidation. Different types of beers seem to acquire different
oxidation effects, and I am one of apparently few people that can't stand
even a small amount of the cardboardy/sherryish smell of aged amber/dark-
colored beers (even Thomas Hardy, one of the most famous beers to cellar,
which I'm in a miniscule minority that prefers it young). Lighter beers
seem to take on a more caramelly kind of staleness, which isn't as off-
putting to me, and heck, traditional gueuze/kriek lambic and some saisons
(Dupont, Blaugies, Fantome) often seem virtually immortal (I've had some
gueuze that had turned repulsively acetic, though).

Not to mention, storage temperature will affect the results. Oxidation
increases proportionally with temperature. So a beer stored in a 52F
cellar will oxidize/age a bit slower than if stored in a 72F closet.
Slower still in a 40F refrigerator, but if the beer has live yeast in it,
it won't be active that cold.

To the original poster, I guess I'd suggest buying a case or a half-case
and trying it at 6-month or 1-year intervals. See at what point the
cardboard note becomes offensive, if ever.

Cheers,
Ern

On Wed, 09 Feb 2005 12:19:19 -0600, Ernest wrote:


>
> To the original poster, I guess I'd suggest buying a case or a half-case
> and trying it at 6-month or 1-year intervals. See at what point the
> cardboard note becomes offensive, if ever.
>

I have some 2000 that tastes like cloyingly sweet Listerine.

"Bill Benzel" > wrote in message
...

> My personal opinion is that Bigfoot and other fresh-shipped barleywines
> need a few years in the cellar before they're really ready to drink.

Most barleywines, yeah. For whatever reason, Bigfoot seems better fresh out
of the gate than a year or two in. I've never bothered cellaring them long
enough, but I've heard from more than one person that somewhere around five
years out, it picks back up again.

But most barleywines and similar-strength beers do benefit from lounging
around a while.

-Steve

"Steve Jackson" > wrote in
news:fPAOd.57454$mt.45346@fed1read03:

> "Bill Benzel" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>> My personal opinion is that Bigfoot and other fresh-shipped
>> barleywines need a few years in the cellar before they're really
>> ready to drink.
>
> Most barleywines, yeah. For whatever reason, Bigfoot seems better
> fresh out of the gate than a year or two in. I've never bothered
> cellaring them long enough, but I've heard from more than one person
> that somewhere around five years out, it picks back up again.
>
> But most barleywines and similar-strength beers do benefit from
> lounging around a while.

When I've had aged ones, it's really peaked beautifully at around three
years, but five years had more or less faded. I've heard reports that it
gets really good at about ten years, but I've got to wait for a few more
years of cellaring before I can try one that old.
--
************************************************** ***************
Dan Iwerks thinks that the beer you're drinking probably sucks.
The fundamental problem with Solipsism is it makes me
responsible for the fact that you're a complete idiot.
************************************************** ***************