 mjg74 (1728), La Mesa, California, USA
May 9, 2008 Bottle from BevMo. Decent pils from the glory days of thinking Pete’s was some of the good stuff. I don’t think I would describe an old bottle of this as being "vintage". Drinkable in its time.
SilkTork (3827), Rochester, Kent, England
Apr 10, 2008 355ml bottle from Shropshire. Vintage 1996. Pours clear in a muddy butterscotch colour. Faded late summer grass aroma, slightly damp and rotting - a suggestion of citric notes. The remains and the result of 10 years age on the hops are the main feature here as the malt is playing little part other than as a base for the hops. Age is more interesting with what happens to the malt than with the hops. The hops simply fade and become less fresh, losing high fragrance and perfume notes, losing bitterness, losing most of what makes them interesting, and in the process often picking up unpleasant flavours such as cardboard. Malt on the other hand as it oxidises picks up richness such as port, sherry, fruitcake and a toffee warmth. This is drinkable and retains some interest in the hops, but the malt was not a class act to start with and does not even retain a pleasing dry biscuit quality which a number of aged pale lagers will do.
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