How Old Is Your Oldest Beer?

[Daawl]

Fermenter basicly hasn't been dry in 6mth. Oldest I have is 2mth & only 3 tallies of that vintage. :lol:

 

[Muggus]

A mate of mine and myself have hung onto the 4 remaining bottles of our original "Belgian Chocolate Ale", which was a recipe we devised using a Brewcraft Belgian Ale Kit, 1kg of Chocolate malt, some Cascade and Hershbruker hop teabags, and WLP550 Belgian Ale yeast. Only a 12L batch, was a bit meh at first, but after a year in the bottle it was sensational, possibly the best beer i've managed to brew to date. Which is probably why i'm hanging onto a few for the long haul! Bottled 13th November 2004.

 

[axl]

2 months

 

[Tyred]

Probably only about 6 - 8 months old. I've put aside some porter and brown ale (about 6 longnecks of each). I also have a Belgian strong ale and a two can which I'm also letting sit for now. Probably start sampling in winter next year to see how they are going.

I also have some cyser that is about 2 years old and a couple of 1 liter swing top bottles of mead that would be over 18 months. Also some mead over a year old as well, which has been bottled.

 

[beers]

I have a few tallies of a stout I made October 2005. It hasn't aged well at all.... well it actually tasted like shit back in 2005 2+ years haven't helped it. Oh well maybe 2008 will be it's year

 

[Tony]

I have bottles of old ale that are about 1.5 to 2 years olt at the moment but have had beers sit for 3 and they were great.

I also have in my posetion 10 full bottles of 1999 vintage Hahn Millennium Ale and an unopened can of Tooheys Draught that was canned in July 1994. Im sure that can would be sweet necter if i opened it :blink:

I did have a can of Duff but my parents tossed it after i left home in a clean up :angry:

cheers

 

[Muggus]

Ah good old Hahn Millenium. Still have one (I had more but I gave/drank them away) in the cellar. Saving her for 2009. Have a few other vintage Chimays, beers, and wines I plan to get stuck into that year too.

My girlfriends folks were clearing out their liquor cabinet the other day and happen to have a couple of British ales in there. A Badger Tanglefoot with a best before in 2001, and a Morlands Hens Tooth best before sometime in 1999!

Needless to say, I must give them a try, cause it looks like her folks won't!

 

[kook]

I've tasted a couple bottles of 4 year old unidentified kit beer I'd made. It was terrible, but it was terrible to begin with.

Oldest commercial bottled beer I've tried was a 1979 Cantillon Framboise (tasted in 2006). Also tried Thomas Hardy's from '81, Courage Imperial Stout from '82 and a few lambics from the 80's. Oldest draught beer was an '89 Eylenbosch Framboise (tasted in 2005).

Has anyone tried Bass Kings Ale from 1902? I know there are bottles of it floating around on ebay. One of the UK ratebeer members cracked open a bottle at his wedding.

 

[winkle]

A useful thread, I just looked under my bar and there are a few AG bottles over 1 year old hiding amid a bunch of probably infected K&K efforts that are well over 2 years old. I'll use protective gear to open the K&K but the AG stuff, two chocolate stouts and an Irish Red should be nice :icon_cheers: .

 

[dr K]

I was given a bottle of (English) Pale Ale, I have left it in safe keeping at a mates place.
It is a Simonds Hopleaf, bottled around 1947, which I guess makes it sixty or more years old, it is quite ullaged and I imagine the taste is not dissimilar to licking cardboard.
I have very ordinary mead I made about 12 years ago and some RIS from 2002, apart from that my oldest beer is the ale (a tad sweet I guess) that I am drinking from the fermentor.

K

 

[Whistlingjack]

I found a bottle when I cleaned out the shed a couple of years ago. I opened it and poured out a beautiful looking stout. Looked really good. Smelled ok.

Last one I made was about 1995. It was a Coopers K&K.

One sip and I brought up the last two beers and every thing I ate that day... :icon_vomit:

It was terrible. I can't even describe the taste. As I remember, that stout I made was good, age didn't help it at all... :blink:

WJ

 

[Thirsty Boy]

I've got some 7-8mth old barleywine I made. It is shithouse and I am just going to let it go for a year or so to see if a miracle happens.

I have some 4ish month old Oatmeal stout that is drinking beautifully (BIAB too) and there is the 30L of old ale that has been doing its thing in an old port barrel since the end of May. Its being kegged, filtered and bottled this weekend.

Apart from that I have an 18month old bottle of Bridge rd Brewers Bier de Garde, a 12mnth old bottle of their Saison, a 12 month old bottle of Barking Duck and a 12mth old bottle of Hunter Bock. Pus a few 6-12mth old Chimays, Duvels, 3 Monts and few bottles of last years and this years Coopers Vintage Ale.

Thinking about the purchase of one of those wine fridges for my cellared beers.

 

[youngy]

I have some 10yr old stouts and darks I brewed with a house mate.

have drank a couple recently and they are alot better than they were 10 years ago.

 

[braufrau]

HWMBO had some stubbies of Coopers Vintage ... 2002.
It was pretty ordinary .. actually less than ordinary. It was green ... in colour! not taste.
:icon_vomit:

I gave him a sermon on 5 year old beers of not particularly high alcohol and
FG being stored in less than an ideal environment.

Now my partial tripel which is 4 months in the bottle .... :beer:

 

[bugwan]

I have a one year old Imperial IPA (around 10%ABV and 90 IBU), Amarillo'd to the buggery. It drinks beautifully, but there's a dwindling supply - maybe 6 500ml bottles left? I haven't brewed in months during wedding preparations, so looking forward to stocking up again soon...

 

[petesbrew]

Actually we have a stubbie of Brugges Blonde at home which SWMBO bought from a Europe holiday back in '98. Not worth anything, just a souvineer with a matching glass. Won't ever be opened.

 

[Rod]

I have 3 x 6 packs of duff , in the original carton

 

[Katherine]

I have 3 x 6 packs of duff , in the original carton

What happened to the other 6?????

 

[Leigh]

I've got an 8 mo K&K that just gets better with time...like the K&K Grolsch clone I have that is now just on 5 mo old, I was ready to dump the lot after 2 mo, but a bit of extra time has improved it to a very drinkable state.

The oldest I have drunk was 6y.o stout and newcastle brown that the brother in-law pulled out from under his house last Xmas when I started brewing...my brew kit reminded him that he had some hidden away for a rainy day...went down very nice indeed!

 

[petesbrew]

This thread has inspired me. I'm going to hide a dozen bottles or so of my "finest" in the xmas tree box.
Next december when I unpack it again, I'll get a lovely suprise.