Aged Great Divide beers

I recall a few years back when a lot of people on here claimed that Great Divide beers didn’t cellar well for various reasons and hearing some claim that they "heavily filter" their beers and that contributes to the lack of shelf stability.



Now having knowledge of the topic and working in the industry I know that filtering isn’t really a contributor to shelf stability either way because it can go either way.



Also in having many aged strong ales over time I have realized that it is batch and even bottle specific.



All this being said, I’m drinking a Bottled on Dec 08 2009 Old Ruffian and it’s drinking fantastic. I kept it in a cool dark basement since purchase and it has aged gracefully. Yes there is some oxidized beer flavor like all aged examples but this is drinking better than the 2010 Bigfoot I had last week.



Cheers

Aging big alcohol beers really brings the style to its true flavor. That is if the brewery does not age it ahead of time. Horn dog, by flying dog, is nearly perfect as a Barleywine and is actually cellared by the brewery until it is ready. When they made ipa, no one drank em fresh. They were carted via boat through varying temperatures halfway around the world in 6-8 months time.

Russian Imperial stouts were meant to last a cold harsh winter. And saisons brewed in the spring time were aged to drink in the fall. He’ll even monks cellar their beer until they feel it hits the profile they want it to be at for consumption. Trappists have been doing it the longest I guess ...

gross

Ba old ruffian with 3 or 4 years on it might be my favorite beer

There is going to be a lot of great beer bro logic in this thread.

The best I can come up with regarding the aging of any beer is "it depends".
I have had ones that definitely improved, gushers, terribly oxidized ones and ones that lost so very much it saddened me deeply and has made me the miserable and bitter old man I am.

I’ve enjoyed Old Ruffian anywhere from 2-3 yrs. old. I’ve had fresher examples too, but they don’t hold a candle to an aged version in my opinion.

I dig Hibernation after 2-3 years of cellaring. It can take a few years in addition to that, from my experience.

Recently had an oak aged yeti that I purchased in 2006, not sure when it was produced, but likely at least 6 months before I bought it in Sweden

Was way too old, but hadn’t gone really bad or anything, just lost a lot of its original character.

I typically age my oay from GD at least 6 months to a year after I buy them, mainly since I do not want the hop character it has when fresh when I drink it.
Typically it holds up beautifully to my taste for at least 3-4 years.
Though it don’t change a whole lot compared to other beers I age, other than the initial hop mollowing out.

The original yeti also age very well, it does change more than ig brother yeti with time though.

Great Divide beers just taste so good fresh. I don’t screw with a good thing.

Originally posted by HonkeyBra
There is going to be a lot of great beer bro logic in this thread.