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Black Butte

Deschutes’ Tips for Vintage Beer Success

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If I’ve said it once I’ve said it a million times, craft beer represents a myriad of experiences. The simple act of drinking a beer is the most obvious and impactful experience, but it doesn’t take a $4 million dollar ad to tell people that. For those who have dared to look deeper into this great beverage, there is a whole world of different adventures and mysteries to discover.

One adventure that is becoming popular for craft beer aficionados is collecting vintage beers. Like wine, certain styles of beer can develop over time. As these beers age, the volatile compounds present in the bottle change. The adventure lies in what the beer has become when finally opened.

For many, retrieving a vintage beer from the dark and cool space it has resided for months—even years—is like finding the ‘X’ at the end of a treasure map. What the contents hold could be riches, or a bunch of old junk.

When it comes to aging beer, follow the rules (more like suggestions) carefully and you may hit it big. Or you may wait patiently for what turns out to be a glass of old, uninspiring beer. Luckily, more and more breweries, including Deschutes Brewery in Bend, Ore., are creating craft beers with the aging adventure in mind.

Deschutes produces many craft beers that have tremendous ageing potential. The brewery’s Reserve Series even has a “best after” date added to each bottle to help people who plan to age their beer. Now, this doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the beer right away, as confirmed by Deschutes:

“Our limited release beers like The Abyss, Black Butte Anniversary, The Stoic, The Dissident and others with a high ABV are delicious right out of the gate, but if you have the patience and restraint to wait, flavors will smooth and blend over time giving the beer a more complex taste and aroma that you may not experience when the beer is fresh.”

For those who wish to teach themselves a lesson in patience, Deschutes provides the road map to vintage beer success in their recent blog post, “Storage Wars: How To Age Your Reserve Series Beer“, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try a fresh version too. Their post encourages readers to, “grab at least 2 bottles, one for now, and one to enjoy after its “best after” date.

Whether you dissect it, fuss over it, age it or simply drink it, don’t ever limit yourself to your options when experiencing beer.

Andy Sparhawk, the Brewers Association's acting editor-in-chief for CraftBeer.com. Andy is a Certified Cicerone® and BJCP Beer Judge. He lives in Westminster, Colorado where he is an avid craft beer enthusiast. On occasion, Andy is inspired to write on his experiences with craft beer, and if they are not too ridiculous, you might see the results here on CraftBeer.com.

CraftBeer.com is fully dedicated to small and independent U.S. breweries. We are published by the Brewers Association, the not-for-profit trade group dedicated to promoting and protecting America’s small and independent craft brewers. Stories and opinions shared on CraftBeer.com do not imply endorsement by or positions taken by the Brewers Association or its members.