1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,560 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey 2 00:00:06,600 --> 00:00:10,319 Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren bog Obam. Here, a cold, fresh beer 3 00:00:10,440 --> 00:00:12,760 Speaker 1: is tasty at all, but have you ever tried one 4 00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:16,400 Speaker 1: that's perfectly aged in a beer seller? That's right. Just 5 00:00:16,520 --> 00:00:19,919 Speaker 1: like wine collectors age their wine, more brew enthusiasts are 6 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:23,360 Speaker 1: dabbling in the art of aging beer. In some cases, 7 00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:26,840 Speaker 1: the multi year old beer tastes subtly better. In other 8 00:00:26,880 --> 00:00:30,960 Speaker 1: cases it's entirely undrinkable. That's the fun of this increasingly 9 00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:34,320 Speaker 1: popular hobby. You the beer ager, become part of the 10 00:00:34,360 --> 00:00:38,680 Speaker 1: beer production process. Ingredients in certain beers can change with age, 11 00:00:38,720 --> 00:00:41,320 Speaker 1: giving beer collectors the freedom to play with flavors and 12 00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:45,000 Speaker 1: tweak beers to their liking. But we spoke with Eric Dunaway, 13 00:00:45,159 --> 00:00:48,560 Speaker 1: lead beer buyer for Jungle Gym's international market, which sells 14 00:00:48,600 --> 00:00:51,400 Speaker 1: more than four thousand different types of beer in southern Ohio. 15 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:55,000 Speaker 1: He said, the beers we want to age are beers that, 16 00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:58,000 Speaker 1: for one reason or another, may develop in interesting ways 17 00:00:58,040 --> 00:01:01,320 Speaker 1: as time goes on. Multiply vers may change or develop, 18 00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:05,440 Speaker 1: Fermentation flavors may increase over time, and if the beer 19 00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:08,440 Speaker 1: is in fact barrel aged, that may become more apparent 20 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:13,200 Speaker 1: when bottle aged. True beer aging is more than simply 21 00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:15,759 Speaker 1: throwing beer on a shelf and forgetting about it. It's 22 00:01:15,800 --> 00:01:19,800 Speaker 1: a science. It takes practice, experimentation, and the willingness to 23 00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:23,160 Speaker 1: mess up and start over again. That said, there are 24 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:26,440 Speaker 1: some ground rules when it comes to aging beer. It's 25 00:01:26,520 --> 00:01:29,080 Speaker 1: best to avoid aging hoppy beers like I. P. A 26 00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:32,920 Speaker 1: S because hops are quite volatile. Dunaway explained the aroma 27 00:01:32,959 --> 00:01:35,360 Speaker 1: and flavoring that hops provide to a beer are actually 28 00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:37,760 Speaker 1: a result of the most fragile elements of the hops. 29 00:01:38,080 --> 00:01:39,880 Speaker 1: The hops will be the first thing to sort of 30 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:42,600 Speaker 1: fall apart in the beer. You should drink these beers 31 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:46,240 Speaker 1: as fresh as possible. The beers that do age well 32 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:49,880 Speaker 1: fall under the wild beer's category. This includes anything aged 33 00:01:49,880 --> 00:01:54,200 Speaker 1: by wild organisms think Flanders, reds Lambix, and American wild ales. 34 00:01:54,680 --> 00:01:58,000 Speaker 1: That's because those wild bacteria and yeasts bring interesting things 35 00:01:58,040 --> 00:02:00,400 Speaker 1: to the party, and they're already a little funky to 36 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:04,240 Speaker 1: begin with. Multi beers like quads, barley wines, and imperial 37 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:07,480 Speaker 1: stouts are also good candidates for aging because those malts 38 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:10,639 Speaker 1: can develop in interesting ways. Sours are also good candidates 39 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:13,640 Speaker 1: because they tend to get more sour as they age. 40 00:02:14,320 --> 00:02:18,160 Speaker 1: The beer will change depending on several things. It's style, complexity, 41 00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:21,480 Speaker 1: and flavors. Some beers will become more dry, while others 42 00:02:21,560 --> 00:02:25,760 Speaker 1: will taste yeastier and become more complex. Alcohol content plays 43 00:02:25,760 --> 00:02:29,040 Speaker 1: apart two, and the higher the alcohol content, the more 44 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:32,400 Speaker 1: likely a beer is to maintain its original characteristics or 45 00:02:32,440 --> 00:02:35,480 Speaker 1: to develop well over time. I think seven percent alcohol 46 00:02:35,520 --> 00:02:40,040 Speaker 1: bi volume or higher. But all that being said, aging 47 00:02:40,120 --> 00:02:43,640 Speaker 1: even a great candidate beer, is tricky. According to Dunaway, 48 00:02:43,720 --> 00:02:45,919 Speaker 1: there's no hard and fast rule for when an aging 49 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:48,520 Speaker 1: beer is ready to be consumed. It comes down to 50 00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:53,480 Speaker 1: trial error and unfortunately a lot of wasted beer. Dunaway said, 51 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:56,080 Speaker 1: if all you want to do is drink a tasty beer, 52 00:02:56,320 --> 00:02:58,800 Speaker 1: then there's no need to age beer at all. Just 53 00:02:58,919 --> 00:03:01,360 Speaker 1: drink all the fresh beer you want. The purpose of 54 00:03:01,400 --> 00:03:03,840 Speaker 1: aging beer is to gain a better understanding of how 55 00:03:03,919 --> 00:03:07,080 Speaker 1: beer works, and beer aging is like a grown up 56 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:11,000 Speaker 1: science experiment. Dunaway recommends buying multiple bottles of the same beer, 57 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:14,280 Speaker 1: drinking one fresh bottle, then logging notes about the fresh 58 00:03:14,280 --> 00:03:16,800 Speaker 1: one so you can revisit and compare tastes with the 59 00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:20,160 Speaker 1: other aged bottles in the future. He said, if you 60 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:22,360 Speaker 1: only buy one bottle, of something and you age it 61 00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:25,480 Speaker 1: for two years, while it might taste awesome, but you 62 00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:27,400 Speaker 1: have no idea if it changed or not, or if 63 00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:30,720 Speaker 1: it changed for the worse. And this beer log doesn't 64 00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:33,200 Speaker 1: have to be pen and paper. Yes, there's an app 65 00:03:33,240 --> 00:03:37,480 Speaker 1: for that. Beer. Seller List and seller h Q capitalize 66 00:03:37,520 --> 00:03:40,440 Speaker 1: on the beer aging trend with user friendly interfaces that 67 00:03:40,520 --> 00:03:44,120 Speaker 1: make beer organizing easy. You can add personalized beer reviews 68 00:03:44,160 --> 00:03:46,720 Speaker 1: and scan in new brewis with the upc to keep 69 00:03:46,720 --> 00:03:49,640 Speaker 1: tabs on what's working and what's not. Some d i 70 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:53,520 Speaker 1: Y beer collectors swear by color coding methodologies, using specific 71 00:03:53,560 --> 00:03:56,360 Speaker 1: stickers for each year to track when brewis were purchased 72 00:03:56,440 --> 00:04:01,040 Speaker 1: and more importantly, when they're ready for drinking. Unfortunately, there's 73 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:03,400 Speaker 1: no set signs for when an aged beer is ready. 74 00:04:03,880 --> 00:04:06,240 Speaker 1: You can age some beer for months, some beer for 75 00:04:06,320 --> 00:04:09,400 Speaker 1: years and even decades, but Dunaway does have a few 76 00:04:09,440 --> 00:04:13,080 Speaker 1: timeline tips to keep in mind. Quote. Among the styles 77 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:15,680 Speaker 1: of beer that are age worthy, some are more age 78 00:04:15,720 --> 00:04:18,360 Speaker 1: worthy than others. If you have a Belgian Triple that's 79 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:20,600 Speaker 1: two years old, I wouldn't think anything of that. It's 80 00:04:20,640 --> 00:04:22,840 Speaker 1: probably still drinking great, but I don't think it will 81 00:04:22,920 --> 00:04:25,520 Speaker 1: last a decade On the other hand, I've had English 82 00:04:25,520 --> 00:04:28,479 Speaker 1: barley wines that were fifteen years old and we're still fantastic. 83 00:04:30,040 --> 00:04:32,479 Speaker 1: Just like wine, aged beer needs to be kept in 84 00:04:32,560 --> 00:04:36,080 Speaker 1: mild conditions, not too hot, not too cold. The latter 85 00:04:36,160 --> 00:04:39,440 Speaker 1: slows down or halts the aging process. Instead of stowing 86 00:04:39,440 --> 00:04:42,120 Speaker 1: bottles on their sides, like many wine collectors, you should 87 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:47,240 Speaker 1: store beer bottles upright to avoid unwanted flavor manipulations. Dunaway said, 88 00:04:47,480 --> 00:04:49,400 Speaker 1: if you turn it on its side, all of that 89 00:04:49,520 --> 00:04:51,840 Speaker 1: yeast is going to settle along the entire side of 90 00:04:51,880 --> 00:04:55,360 Speaker 1: the bottle instead of being concentrated at the bottom. This 91 00:04:55,520 --> 00:04:58,560 Speaker 1: changes the surface ratio of how much beer is exposed 92 00:04:58,600 --> 00:05:00,960 Speaker 1: to the yeast. You can end up with some weird 93 00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:04,000 Speaker 1: things where the yeast starts eating sugars that it otherwise wouldn't. 94 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:06,839 Speaker 1: You end up with bottles that are overcarbonated or take 95 00:05:06,920 --> 00:05:10,720 Speaker 1: on weird fermentation flavors, And dear listener, I can tell 96 00:05:10,760 --> 00:05:13,200 Speaker 1: you that one is correct from the personal experience of 97 00:05:13,240 --> 00:05:15,760 Speaker 1: aging a festive ale that wound up tasting like a 98 00:05:15,839 --> 00:05:20,600 Speaker 1: fur net. But hey, even a climate controlled seller apparently 99 00:05:20,680 --> 00:05:24,919 Speaker 1: has nothing on the ocean floor. In Fittish divers uncovered 100 00:05:24,960 --> 00:05:27,680 Speaker 1: crates of intact wine and beer from a two year 101 00:05:27,680 --> 00:05:30,760 Speaker 1: old shipwreck on the floor of the Baltic Sea. The result, 102 00:05:31,160 --> 00:05:34,080 Speaker 1: the wine tasted fresh with clear acidity, and the beer 103 00:05:34,120 --> 00:05:37,920 Speaker 1: frothed up perfectly, indicating that the yeast was somehow still alive. 104 00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:45,719 Speaker 1: Today's episode was written by Stephanie Vermilion and produced by 105 00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:48,520 Speaker 1: Tyler Clay. Brain Stuff is a production of iHeart Radio's 106 00:05:48,520 --> 00:05:50,320 Speaker 1: How Stuff Works. For more in this and lots of 107 00:05:50,320 --> 00:05:52,960 Speaker 1: other fresh topics, visit our home planet, how stuff Works 108 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:55,719 Speaker 1: dot com. And for more podcasts from my heart Radio, 109 00:05:55,920 --> 00:05:58,680 Speaker 1: visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 110 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:08,920 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.