Aging beer, taste exercise for next meeting

[ctninh]

I think the next meeting is Sept 15 (need to confirm). I will have a discussion on aging beer. It will focus on temperature and time with an emphasis on staling beer.

If you are like me, drinking 5 gallons is a tough task being a sole drinker. I will discuss what happens to the beer over time and give insight to what BJCP judges face during homebrew competitions. Also, I discuss why the "born on date" is important. If you ever thought why your beer taste in the 40s at home while your competition scoresheet is in the 20s, then please come and join along.

For the experiment part, you will force age a beer and taste a “good” beer side-by-side. This is optional and it is nice to follow along during the talk. Here are some considerations on what beer to get and what to do.

Beer - need 2 bottles/cans. Homebrew is great, read below.
-Non-hazy IPA, non-sour/wild
-Best to have beer that is clarified or filtered
-Not bottle conditioned beers (Hefeweizens, Sierra Nevada, Belgian styles, ect)
-Spices and other additions not favorable. Have a plain beer of a known style.
-Not already old. Please have a beer made within 1-2 months of the meeting. Check the “bottled on” dates. Some new releases or seasonal are great.
-I suggest against crowlers or other large format packs since you will stale all of it.
-Homebrew is great. Fill a 12 oz bottle. Sanitization is really, really, really important for using homebrew. You will need 1 bottle to age and the rest of the keg can be poured the day of the meeting.
-I am getting Stone IPA for the since it is nearby, fresh, and will act the way I want it to.

Procedure
-Have 1 beer stored cool and out of light. This can be homebrew that is kegged in the fridge, a bottle/can in the fridge, ect.
-Have 1 can/bottle aged as below. There are 2 ways: 1 for prepared people and 1 for procrastinators. With homebrew, make sure your sanitization is uptight or else you will pick up more off flavors than intended. Also, mark this bottle/can so you can tell the sale & fresh ones apart.
(1)Leave 1 bottle outside of the fridge (room temperature) for 2 weeks. Make sure it is shielded from light.
(2)Carefully have it is a plastic bag and leave in your car (if it is parked in sunlight) for a day. This is very dangerous since some cans/bottles can burst. Make sure the can/bottle is in a bag and a bucket in case it explodes. I do not hold accountability if you screw up in any way and make a mess. Thus, I recommend you start early and age it in room temperature (above).
-Overall, you will have a relatively fresh beer and a stale beer to compare side by side for the meeting. The bottles will be marked so you can tell them apart.

If there are any questions, please reply. I may update this post if more info is needed.

-Calvin

[ctninh]

Now is a great time to start aging a beer in ambient temperature. It should be nice and bad for the meeting as a comparison.

-Calvin

[ctninh]

Extra note: perfect time to put a beer in a dark spot in your car that is parked outdoors. Remember to contain the bottle/can in case it leaks.

Also, cool your beer for the meeting. Putting beers in the fridge 1 hour before the meeting should suffice.

[ctninh]

Now is the time to chill your beers in the fridge. If you lack time, you can put the beer in the freezer for about 10 mins. Don't blame me if it bursts in the freezer.

Also, have 2 tasting glasses ready. Have water if you want.

-Calvin