Flavor is a Flat Circle
I came across an interesting tidbit recently from a Martyn Cornell article on Fuller’s Vintage Ale.
After 20 years, Fuller’s now has considerable experience in how beers age, with the interplay of negative reactions – notably oxidation – and a whole series of generally more positive chemical changes, such as Maillard reactions between sugars and proteins, which happen at different speeds, while at the same time alpha acids are breaking down, reducing the perceived bitterness (and boosting the perceived sweetness) and adding extra complexity of flavour, the colour of the beer is darkening and “madeira” and “sherry” flavours start appearing, and eventually “cherry” flavours [...] The different speeds that the “good” and “bad” reactions take place at gives a “cycle” to beer ageing, which explains why that bottle of 2013 VA may taste disappointing now, but one of its brothers will be terrific if left for another nine months – and a third bottle of the same brew will disappoint another nine months after that, which a fourth, left for longer yet, will again cheer and enchant as it comes back “on” [...] you can regard this lottery-like aspect of beer ageing as annoying or part of the fun, but it does mean you shouldn’t dump the whole batch just because one aged bottle is disappointing. It may be just at a poor spot in its cycle.
They also found that storing beer cold can slow the production of negative flavors and storing it warm will speed up the positive changes.
I was reminded of the article as I sipped on a vintage Cereal Killer. I really enjoyed the beer last year, and two years ago as well. Now it’s tasting a bit muddy. The hop flavors have faded, but haven’t succumbed to oxidation yet, leaving a bitter resin. The malt flavor is in a weird place, somewhere between husky and sweet. Pretty disappointing. But I won’t be draining my cellar yet.
