From the beer cellar

To prepare for such a cold and snowy occasion as Michigan winter, try to keep a few strong bottles of beer on hand. I actually have a whole basement full. No pale ales or Weiss biers down there, rarely even a simple IPA; those beers are best drunk fresh. Over the past several years, my beer cellar has slowly accumulated potent, aged, double strength beers like dark barley wines, burgundy Belgians and Swiss lagers, and as the snow just kept falling, I found myself down there many February evenings, searching through cases and over shelves to see what’s been stashed and horded. Here’s a few of my more noteworthy finds. The other night, after a peppery dinner of venison stir fry and paprika smothered sweet potato fries, I was feeling a bit surly, so I brought up a 2004 Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barley Wine and a 2006 Bell’s Expedition Stout, both weighing in somewhere around 12-14%, to adjust my mood. A little chilly down there, so I let these vintages warm up to 55F or so and started in on the barley wine. I’ve been fascinated with ageing beers ever since learning unpasteurized and lightly filtered beers are alive (yeast) and, if allowed, will change over time. Bigfoot is good both fresh and aged, both of which yield very different characteristics. A few years’ time has mellowed the hop flavor and enhanced the sweet plumb malt taste. The hot alcohol has also chilled out, revealing persistent hop bitterness. A supreme sipper; wish I had more. Fresh Expedition Stout, on the other hand, tastes like burnt coffee. Aged Expedition tastes like three day old burnt coffee, only slightly more refined. I put a new six pack down there every year. Even though I’ve enjoyed both these brews numerous times, experiencing them again serves to remind me how varied the taste and definition of beer truly is.

A few evenings ago I expected a few friends to stop by, so I dug up some bottles of beer so big and bad, I dared not tread alone. The snow, unfortunately, impeded my guest’s arrival. I was alone with two bombers of black ale obviously meant to be shared: Stone’s 2007 XI Anniversary Ale and Russian Imperial Stout. I started with the Russian. Released last spring, it’s had some time to relax. Surprisingly, the beer was not pitch black; in fact, the beer was translucent with only light roasted notes, very different from the opaque Expedition. North West hops were all over the aroma and flavor. This Russian had almost no head, little sweet malt, no chocolate notes. The body was a little thin, which probably helped me through the second glass. Beer geeks raved about this beer, but I prefer more roasted flavors in stouts. Next was the XI which looked black, but tasted like a lighter colored beer. I closed my eyes and sipped again: full body, bigger than the Russian, with more hops. Like a German Dunkel Weiss, the dark color only seemed to accentuate a perception of sweetness as opposed to adding any roasted characteristics. I’ve heard it referred to as a “Black IPA” and considering the fresh citrus hops and sweet malt, I’d have to agree. I had powerful dreams that night, something about Orcs and finding the ring.

Just the other night the melting snow had me feeling a big stagnant, so I cooked up a small loin with chili peppers and a heavy molasses sauce and brought out a couple Belgians for pairing. Like most Belgian ales, my cellar’s Moinette and Mc Chouffe Artisanal Brown are yeast driven beers, as opposed to malt or hop driven; which is about the only thing these two or any other Belgian ales have in common. I first opened the Moinette, which I hoped would cut the sauce with its potential tang. As I uncorked this 750ml, I was rewarded with the distinct nose of old wood and cold kraut. The ale was all straw gold with a slight white haze topped with an immense rocky stark white head which remained long after the beer was finished. I also remember a little bitterness, that too, I felt, came from the yeast. For desert I poured the Mc Chouffe Brown and snapped off a piece of Spanish Dark Chocolate. Coincidently, there was cocoa in the beer’s nose, along with dry fermented cider and spicy yeast. Complex dried and sugared fruits, dark chocolate and subtle spice were the middle, but the medium body eventually ended dry and tannic with a penetrating texture remaining on my tongue and roof. Be careful not to decant the yeast sediment.

Like quality red wine, beer will develop differing flavors over time if stored cool and dark. However, unlike wine, most all beers, even those with the potential to age, can still be enjoyed fresh. Next time you come across a big beer, try splitting a six pack between your fridge and cellar.

Published also in Recoil Magazine March 2008