Hip Hops: October 2008 Archives

Cave-aged IPAs? OK, it's not doctor recommended, kid-tested or mother approved. Most brew hoarders go by the eenie-meanie-miney-mo-if-its-hoppy-let-it-go mantra, so they only age high-alcohol beers. And we're sure there's some scientific sense in that. But we also know that there are exceptions to every rule. So along with the bourbon-barrel 750 ml's that grace every beer collection, we stuck hop-heavy beers in our makeshift cellar. Talk about testing our resolve! Just imagine it: you make a beer run, scoop up a frosty cold bomber of your favorite high-grade hoppy strong ale only to file it away like a dusty library book.

In honor of our efforts (and in the hopes of heading off any unfortunate science experiments) this week we popped the caps on three of our oldest pale ales just to see if they were drinkable, or better yet, even more desirable than fresh. Ehhhh, no quite... Some tasting notes.

Cave-aged: 8 months
Eye: Redhead pubic amber
Nose: Bottled air, dead flowers
Tongue: Cider, soap suds, cinnamon-stick gum and amonia
Brain: Autumnal, the strong hopping process gives a lasting die-out affect...

Cave-aged: 6 months
Eye: Sun-kissed, slightly dead marigold, no spritz
Nose: nutty, sweet nuthin'
Tongue: caramelized sugar, no hops in sight!
Brain: A surprisingly close approximation, and great version, of a barley-wine

Cave-aged: 10 months
Eye: bone-gray and corduroy-brown
Nose: gamey funk, trash and stout
Tongue: pure beer bitter, baker's chocolate,
Brain: Aged beer in a classical sense plus the still bubbly brightness of hops

Trumpets please. Ahem. One year and a half after we first birthed this cacamamy scheme to cellar some of our beer purchases, our "Beer Cave" is finally mature (give or take a few repeat bottles, which will come in handy for taste-offs). That's right, our stash has finally surpassed the official "99 bottles of beer" threshold, which means we can start cracking these old bottles open and taste the fruits of our patience. That doesn't mean we're done of course, just that we can now rotate out some peak bottles for special occasions as we replace them with fresh purchases.

This week we're tasting the first batch, which we'll preface below. But first, without further a-do, Hot Knives presents -- the October roster of the 99 bottles of beer on our wall...

Not too shabby. In the months to come, expect to see posts and tasting notes on everything from year-old Christmas ales to face-offs between different years in Stone Brewing's Vertical Epic series. But for now, we have some dirty ol' IPA guzzling to do.

You see, this milestone has come not a minute too soon, because not all of the beers we have whisked off store shelves in the last 16 months are the kind typically recommended for aging: that is especially true of the small selection of India Pale Ales and Imperial IPAs that have been skunking up our shelves for months. Wish us luck, this could get stanky. Look for the results later this week. To be continued...