Beer Advice Needed: Aged/Fermented In Bottle

I picked up a beer that has been aging in the bottle since it was brewed back in 1999. The advice I need on this is how should I drink it? Regular glass or sniffter? Should I drink the sediment on the bottom or filter that out? I'm looking to drink this tomarrow night....hopefully.
 
what kind of beer is it? i'd go with the snifter since it's not your average beer. as for the sediment..unless it's a wheat beer, i'd leave about a centimeter of beer in the bottle...give it a good swirl and drink that last bit right from the bottle..then sip on the rest of it. or reverse that order so you taste the beer first, then the last little bit.
 
Snifter? For beer? Naw. Only the finest palates can tell a difference with a fine brandy. Pour it off really, really, slow into a pilsner glass. I wouldn't drink the sediment.

Bon apetit.
 
snifters are often used for certain types of beer. why not?

a finely crafted ale is equal to a good wine or liquor in my book.

igg - i don't know that one..but i would still (personally) go with my first post. try looking it up on beeradvocate or ratebeer.
 
Well, I drank it out of a tulip glass last night. I am dissappointed. It tasted too sweet and there was a little hint of vinegar in the palet. Drinkable but not the best.
 
Dude...if you got a hint of vinegar, it was past its prime. I am sitting on 3 bottles of Thomas Hardy's I bought about 20 years ago. Alcohol around 13 or 14 %. I had a fourth bottle which I tried 2 years ago but still needed more time. Its a tough 'thang to determine when some of these types of brews are ready. Can't go wrong with Chimay blue or white. Just buy and drink.
Cheers, TB.
 
staffing said:
Snifter? For beer? Naw. Only the finest palates can tell a difference with a fine brandy. Pour it off really, really, slow into a pilsner glass. I wouldn't drink the sediment.

Bon apetit.

oh god!
 
texas blues said:
Dude...if you got a hint of vinegar, it was past its prime. I am sitting on 3 bottles of Thomas Hardy's I bought about 20 years ago. Alcohol around 13 or 14 %. I had a fourth bottle which I tried 2 years ago but still needed more time. Its a tough 'thang to determine when some of these types of brews are ready. Can't go wrong with Chimay blue or white. Just buy and drink.
Cheers, TB.

If you would like to send me a 1987 (?) TH, I would be grateful! :)
 
imaguitargod said:
Well, I drank it out of a tulip glass last night. I am dissappointed. It tasted too sweet and there was a little hint of vinegar in the palet. Drinkable but not the best.

Gales old ale should last for a long time. It, however, is not very good in the first place. Even fresh. Anytime you have a bottle that is more than a year old, I wouldnt drink the sediment. Drinking sediment is nothing more than personal preference, and I dont prefer it :)

If you want to see real sediment, go grab you a beer from Brassirie des Rocs. Anything they make has a million floating things in it. Its best to pour that through a strainer!

As I said though, no shock on the beer being bad, as it sucks in the first place!
 
that sucks the beer was no good IGG. i've never had or heard of that stuff before.



i used to discard the sediment except for wheat beers..i give them a good swirl near the end then pour that in.

with belgian ales or belgian style/other bottle conditioned beers, i pour all but the last centimeter or so, then give the bottle a quick swirl and down the last of it...sometimes before, and sometimes after i drink the actual beer.
 
Kind of a nutrient shot lol.

Beers have to be really high alcohol to last more than a year or so. That is disapointing. I have never tried that one.
 
cheezydemon said:
Kind of a nutrient shot lol.

Beers have to be really high alcohol to last more than a year or so. That is disapointing. I have never tried that one.

not true at all.

guezue lambic is good for 20+ years. average abv is around 4-5%
 
Ross..I'll locate where I have them ratholed and send you the numbers I have. I have been meaning to do some research on drinkability for batches made before and after the year I got mine. Curious...ever see Hardy's on fleabay? Cheers, TB.
 
texas blues said:
Ross..I'll locate where I have them ratholed and send you the numbers I have. I have been meaning to do some research on drinkability for batches made before and after the year I got mine. Curious...ever see Hardy's on fleabay? Cheers, TB.

I have not, but I havent looked either. i have seen numerous other beers, (dark lord, angels share, any stone beer...) but i have never looked for hardys.

hardys is supposedly very good around 25 years. though it will probably be flat.
 
In all of my brewing experience, sediment is not full of nutrients. It's yeast. Completely brewers yeast. You are taking a shot of yeast. May even have a bit of a laxative effect. Most grain/hop sediment will be removed during secondary fermentation before it even hit the bottle. Yeast yeast yeast.

Sediment in bottled beer is 99.9% yeast. Know why wheat beer has less sediment but remains cloudy? It's because the yeast used in wheat beers has a low flocculation, which means that only a small amount "settles out" of the beer to form a sediment layer on the bottom. Most ale yeasts have a higher flocculation, resulting in a clearer beer but more sediment.

I have never met a homebrewer that recommends drinking the sediment.

Yeast
 
ross said:
not true at all.

guezue lambic is good for 20+ years. average abv is around 4-5%

AHH! A Conniseur.

True, but Lambic is a bit of a freak in the beer world. It is fermented by bacteria, not yeast. So technically, it already is bad, from day 1 in the bottle.

Excellent point though.:cheers:
 
greeny said:
In all of my brewing experience, sediment is not full of nutrients. It's yeast. Completely brewers yeast. You are taking a shot of yeast. May even have a bit of a laxative effect. Most grain/hop sediment will be removed during secondary fermentation before it even hit the bottle. Yeast yeast yeast.

Sediment in bottled beer is 99.9% yeast. Know why wheat beer has less sediment but remains cloudy? It's because the yeast used in wheat beers has a low flocculation, which means that only a small amount "settles out" of the beer to form a sediment layer on the bottom. Most ale yeasts have a higher flocculation, resulting in a clearer beer but more sediment.

I have never met a homebrewer that recommends drinking the sediment.

Yeast


ummmmm yeah, and vegimite is 99% yeast too. When did you decide that yeast was not nutritious? Bent might want a word with you, bad mouthing Australia's national wonder and all.

And....if you have never seen this site. You're welcome.
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=47002
 
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