THURSDAY, JANUARY 7, 2021 • THE BULLETIN
GO! MAGAZINE • PAGE 11
BEER, WINE & MORE
bendbulletin.com/godrink
Saving your beer for later
BY JON ABERNATHY • For The Bulletin
I
often write about new and upcoming local beers, typically to highlight particular styles, trends or events. However, with the beginning of a new year,
it’s a good time to reflect on the past year as we look ahead to 2021. With that in mind, I thought it would be interesting to write about past beers —
specifically, several vintage beers that I’ve been aging in what I facetiously call my “beer cellar.”
First, a quick primer on storing beer
for aging. For the casual drinker, cellar-
ing your own beer might seem exotic or
complicated. In reality, it’s anything but;
all that’s required is a dark, cool space
that doesn’t experience any extremes
in temperature. A spare refrigerator is
optimal, but it could simply be a spare
bedroom or bathroom that stays rela-
tively cool. In my case, I use the back of
a closet.
How long can you age beer? It de-
pends on the style. Generally, stronger
beers with an emphasis on malt or yeast
are the best candidates for aging, as are
barrel-aged beers. Lower alcohol and
hop-forward beers are more susceptible
to oxidation and other less-than-desir-
able influences. As some beer ages, it will
continue to evolve in the bottle, particu-
larly if wild yeasts are present.
I’ve been successfully aging many
years’ worth of Deschutes Brewery’s The
Abyss along with others in its Reserve Se-
ries, and various beers from other brew-
eries, local and beyond. For the new year,
I pulled a selection of aged bottles from
four Central Oregon breweries spanning
the previous decade to reflect upon, and
included a new beer that just debuted
from Sunriver Brewing Company.
BLACK BUTTE XXIII FROM
DESCHUTES BREWERY (2011)
Deschutes first brewed Black Butte
XX for its twentieth anniversary in 1988
and has released a new version each year
since. For 2011, this imperial porter was
brewed with Seville orange zest, Theo
Chocolate nibs, and pasilla chili peppers,
and partially aged in bourbon barrels. At
about nine and a half years old, the beer
still has noticeable chili character along
with bitter dark chocolate and sweet mo-
lasses-like notes, though there is little if
any orange.
Top 5 beers to try
1. Moonless Night American Porter —
Immersion Brewing
2. Hop Tour Series: Enigma IPA — Bevel
Craft Brewing
3. Fa La La La La Winter Ale — Double
Mountain Brewery
4. Enzymatic IPA — Boneyard Beer
5. Kölsch — Chuckanut Brewery
Jon Abernathy
Aging beers for prime taste.
[BANISHED] DOUBLECROSS FROM
CRUX FERMENTATION PROJECT (2013)
This was among the first in Crux’s
“Banished” series of barrel-aged beers,
a dark Belgian-style ale that was aged in
Pinot noir wine barrels for a year. With
12 percent alcohol by volume, this has
aged well in seven years, with cherry
fruitiness and oaky barrel character
highlighting a sweet, malty base.
OUTBACK XX STRONG ALE FROM
BEND BREWING COMPANY (2015)
Bend Brewing celebrated its twentieth
anniversary in 2015, and celebrated with
the release of this special collaboration
ale from past brewers Tonya Cornett and
(then current) Ian Larkin. With nine
percent alcohol by volume, this strong
ale was brewed with wild Brettanomyces
yeast and aged in Pinot noir barrels and
has mellowed nicely with age. I found
pleasant funky notes from the yeast as
well as tart cherry, balsamic vinegar,
stone fruit, and Pinot wine character.
AMBRE ROCHE FROM
10 BARREL BREWING COMPANY (2019)
This creation from brewer Bryon Pyka
is a Belgian-style wild sour ale, aged in Pi-
not noir barrels with kumquats and con-
ditioned on vanilla beans. It’s bracingly
tart with a touch of funk and an herbal
citrus character that mellows as it warms.
There’s a floral rusticity and overall it has
an appetizing, culinary balsamic vinegar
quality that will keep you sipping.
WOOD SERIES BOURBON BARREL ALE FROM
SUNRIVER BREWING (2020)
This new beer was released at the end
of 2020. Sunriver brewed a strong, malty
ale and aged it in Kentucky bourbon bar-
rels for twelve months, yielding a sweet,
boozy, intensely bourbon-rich brew.
There are flavors of sweet, rich dark
sugars, charred vanilla, honey, cookie
dough, and wood notes, with some al-
cohol heat—though it doesn’t taste as
strong as it is, which is 12.8 percent alco-
hol by volume. This is a big and rich beer
that will age quite well in years to come.
There’s no mystery behind cellaring
beers, as long as you have space to store
them. If you’ve never tried it before, 2021 is
a great time to start; Deschutes, Crux, and
10 Barrel currently offer various vintage
bottles for online ordering, and Sunriver’s
Bourbon Barrel Ale is available now.
Other local bottled beers that are good
candidates for aging include Don Jon
Raskin English Barleywine from Porter
Brewing Company, Bourbon Barrel-Aged
TenPine Chocolate Porter from Three
Creeks Brewing Company, and Brett La-
ger from GoodLife Brewing Company.
Any of Monkless Belgian Ales’ strong dark
beers would age well too, as would most of
the beers from The Ale Apothecary.
Of course, you don’t have to wait for the
new year to enjoy the fruits of your labor,
but it can be a treat to pull out a vintage
beer for a special occasion. Happy aging!
e e
Jon Abernathy is a beer writer and blogger and
launched The Brew Site (www.thebrewsite.com) in
2004. He can be reached at jon@thebrewsite.com.