Cellaring | Four Brewers Podcast

Season 2, Episode 39 – Matt snuck into John’s cellar and helped himself to some great, and not-so-great cellar-aged beers.

If you’re a beer geek with a cellar, you’ve either been here, or will be here one day. You know what I’m talking about. You’re new to craft beer and you want to be able to break out a beer on a second’s notice to pair with food, bring to a bottle share, or simply enjoy with a friend while you Netflix and chill. Then it becomes more and more apparent that you either have a problem, are on to something awesome, or both.

Cellar Worthy? Perhaps Not... — Cellar Worthy? Perhaps…

This is where John’s cellar is at this very moment. While most of his cellar is comprised of beers that could easily trade for some of the best midwest whalez, there are those few outliers that look like they don’t quite belong. On the other hand, there are beers that look ripe for the picking. That’s what we’re doing today—invading John’s cellar. It’s for his own good.

We’re kicking off the show with three beers that in their prime, were pretty great beers. These beers represent the young craft beer bottle collector’s naivety and ambition to get anything in their cellar that looks the least bit “rare” or is hyped as such. Buy one fresh, lay one down. But do you really know why this beer is headed for the cellar, or does the beer just end up there?

The second part of the show reminds us these ultra-rare whalez that you’re storing in your cellar need to eventually be opened. While it’s fun to show off your six year-old bottles of beer, they may never fulfill their true destiny when they’re ready for consumption. Are you ever going to open that $25 bottle of beer, or are you just going to stare at it? Get busy living, or get busy dying.

Hopefully, you learned something from this week’s show. Build a cellar and stock it well, but don’t overindulge. Monitor your beers, and purge those that are needlessly suffering in their old age.

(That was kind of creepy.)

BREW THE SHIT OUT OF IT.

Beers from this week’s episode:
Moo Brew: Dark Ale
Mahr’s Bräu: Mastodon – The Hunter
De Struise Brouwers: Black Albert
Avery Brewing Company: Brabant
Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project: Surette Reserva (Chardonnay Barrel Aged)
Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project: Surette Reserva (Peach Whiskey Barrel Aged)

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Season 2, Episode 23 – This week, we’re discussing beer cellaring with the legendary “Dr. Bill” Sysak at his home in Escondido, California.

This week’s blog post was provided by Yvonne England [John’s super-rad girlfriend]. You’re welcome. [Bracketed commentary supplied by John Holzer.]

[Player above not working? Download here.]

This week, we go see Dr. Bill Sysak, the Craft Beer Ambassador for Stone Brewing Co.. He “handles the beverage philosophy” for Stone. We’re pretty sure he made that shit up, but it’s cool [He didn’t make it up]. He’s Dr. Bill. He can get away with it. He’s been around the craft beer world for a while, so he’s a great resource on all things beer. He’s known for cellaring (dudes, he’s been doing this for over three decades), so that’s why we went to his cellar.

We start the show with a 2012 Double Bastard Ale by Stone Brewing Co. As John eloquently notes, this beer cellars well, transforming into a beautiful beast filled with cameral and winter fruit loveliness [John didn’t say that].

Stone Brewing Co. - Double Bastard Ale 2012 — Stone Brewing Co. – Double Bastard Ale 2012

Dr. Bill gives some advice on cellaring: if you’re getting a beer that you want to cellar, buy a case. Taste one fresh. If you like it, drink it all! But, if you want to start cellaring it, here are some rules (feel free to mix shit up). Look for 8% or stronger, bottle conditioned, and darker is better. Keep it temperature controlled—red wine temps, whatever that means [55º-65º]. Avoid extreme temperature fluctuations, direct sunlight, and minimize oxidation [This last one is direct more towards brewers]. Belgian tripels, stuff with wild yeast strains, and sour beers are also great to age.

Thomas Hardy's Ale, Vintage 1996 — Thomas Hardy’s Ale, Vintage 1996

John gets into a few details on his crazy cellaring adventures. He went a little nuts, initially [I did]. He admits it [I do]. He saw Bill’s cellar years ago and went bananas with The Bruery beers. It got out of control. Don’t do this [or, do]. Dr. Bill suggests a few styles to get you started (Barely Wines, Imperial Stouts, and so on). Then he provides a few specific beers: Big Foot, Old Guardian, Old Crustacean, and Old Fog Horn. If you’ve bought a case to cellar, try them every 6 months. When it peaks [you think it’s tasting great], drink them. Throw a party. Invite us [yes, do this].

[Insert this epic Thomas Hardy’s Ale from 1996 that Yvonne trollishly forgot to mention…]

Then Dr. Bill drops a bomb: saisons. You can cellar that shit. It’s risky, but potentially worth it. Matt disagrees [does he?]. He’s Matt. He does that. If you remember, we recently had a bad experience with an bad saison, but Dr. Bill explains it away: Nuance in brewing. A burnt kettle. It was unintentional. It was a bad side of brewing. These things happen you guys. Cool your jets [yes, do this].

If you want to learn more about cellaring beyond this episode, and you like to read, check out Patrick Dawson’s Vintage Beers book. It’s a great, scientific resource on cellaring. But, as Dr. Bill notes, it’s a practice. You should play around with it. Experiment.

BREW THE SHIT OUT OF IT.

[Thanks, Yvonne.]

Links to things from this week’s episode:
S2/E23 Show Outline

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