So I’m probably kind of crazy.
I recently celebrated a birthday which concluded an experiment a couple years in the making. As my “special” birthday beer, I drank a Hopslam (yay!) that was two years old (boo!).
The reason? Why not? I’m doing this for you, dear reader.
When it comes to aging beer, I always point people to this handy set of rules supplied by the folks at Dogfish Head, which point out general guidelines for aging beer. The number one guideline they provide appeals to me: “a little experimentation goes a long way.” (Note: generally speaking, higher ABV beers are best for storage, but IPAs are not ideal because of the importance of hop freshness.)
Rudimentary searches online suggested that by aging Hopslam, which is made with honey, I may end up with some kind of mead-like drink, so what the hell?
Let’s put on our lab coats and hope time provides more of a eureka! moment rather than evil, maniacal laughter.
These notes were archived the day I drank each bottle and are copied/pasted below for this experiment.
Fresh
FreshJanuary 2012
As expected from a just-bottled batch, the aroma and taste were amazing. Rosemary and passion fruit were noticeable on each sniff while the beer’s mouthfeel was juicy, citrus-wet and full of mango. The sweetness of the fresh hops mixing with honey offered a near bubble gum smell and taste. Closing my eyes, I could actually picture funfetti cake, for what it’s worth.
The freshness of the hops was extraordinary, as expected. Huge amounts of foam helped push all these aromas right out of the glass and into my nostrils.
One year
January 2013
Time hasn’t been too kind. On its pour, the 2012 HopSlam had a non-existent head, maybe due to biological breakdown. I could barely smell any hops. There might have been a touch of that mango still kicking around, but nothing truly discernible. If anything the beer provides some kind of vegetal quality.
The taste was interesting, however. While the bitterness of the beer definitely enhanced from all the residual hop freshness going away, the honey it was brewed with really took a step forward. It was sweet up front and a bit bittingly bitter on the finish with few flavors in between. It never reaches anything near sugary sweet or the fruit and candy like before.
Two years
January 2014
Happy birthday to me?
There’s foam! But I can’t smell hops. At all. Maybe, if I strain, there is a slight touch of some kind of Noble hop-like aroma I’d equate to floral. It mostly just carries smells of grainy honey and corn tortilla.
The taste is even more disappointing, although this beer is certainly trying to make itself worthwhile. Tastes of orange and strawberry Starburst candy are detectable, but an overall bitterness just washes each away. Trying to nail down the flavor, I’d argue it tastes a bit like stale cardboard with honey drizzled over it for flavoring.
Yikes.
Conclusion
So … that went downhill fast. Or is it slow? It’s been two years.
I should add, however, the two-year old beer was not undrinkable. It just tasted like some very average IPA … that may have sat too long on the shelf at your bottle shop. It wasn’t off-putting, but given where Hopslam starts, it’s disappointing, but certainly not surprising, where it goes.
Here are a couple on-the-fly reactions I shared on Twitter as I was tasting the two-year old bottle:
@1PATR10T it’s kind of like a mead, but dry hopped with cardboard. And bitter. And sad.
— BryanDRoth (@BryanDRoth) January 7, 2014
@TapDancerBlog @bierbatteredNJ There were definitely some aspects that weren’t terrible, but only emphasizes importance of fresh
— BryanDRoth (@BryanDRoth) January 7, 2014
@jacobsberg I saved a few bottles to drink at increments over 2 years. This last one was unacceptable in context, but not terrible to drink.
— BryanDRoth (@BryanDRoth) January 7, 2014
What do you think? Have you done any crazy experiments with beer – aging or otherwise?
+Bryan Roth
“Don’t drink to get drunk. Drink to enjoy life.” — Jack Kerouac
