Simple technique helps insure your precious aged beers will survive

Deschutes Mirror Mirror and Sam
Adams Triple Bock images from
websites.

Most food and beverage labels warn with“Best Before” dates implying that the product is not at its finest upon “expiry.”  Craft brewers are once again changing the paradigm.  Some beer types are best laid away to rest before enjoying.

Read the Deschutes Brewery notes on its latest release, Mirror Mirror.  “Best if consumed after April 2010.”  At 11.5%  and 30 Bittering Units (relatively low) this malt emphasized oak aged barley wine is probably more in the style of English barley wines than the hoppier American version – but that is besides the point. 

There is one thing that is of important note about this beer you won’t on their web page.  It is a significant detail absent and that is could not be emphasized enough.  What I’m about to tell you will probably be one of the most important reasons why this beer will rise in quality and popularity.  The bottle closure is sealed with wax.

This may seem insignificant, but it’s a very big deal to those who collect, age and savor beer.  Boston Beer Company was one of the first with their original editions of Tripel Bock in the 1990’s.  Few brewers are doing it. You can do it easily. Why is a wax seal important?

Whether a beer is corked or sealed with a bottle cap, there is oxygen “ingress” into the bottle.  The seal is never perfect.  Air ingress happens slowly by way of the interface between the seal material and glass.  Oxygen causes an “oxidizing” aging process in the bottle.  For aged beer this can be positive up to a point.  Once that point is reached (and it varies with each beer) the beer will take on oxidized flavors that are not so pleasant.  Characters in aroma and flavor such as vegetal, wet paper, wet cardboard, unpleasant caramelization will send an otherwise classic, expensive and highly rated beer “over the hill.”  There is always some oxygen content in bottles of the best of beers when it is packaged.  Wax sealing will not 100% prevent negative aging character, but it will slow it down. 

Photo left: Savor the flavor of well aged beers in appropriate glassware. photo by Charlie Papazian

I speak from experience.  I’ve addressed this in a previous column post and it’s worth telling the story once again.  I dip the closures of the wines and strong beers and meads I’ve made in melted paraffin.  Better yet, I should use sealing wax, available at most homebrew and winemaking stores.  It’s a simple process and will dramatically extend the age of your cherished “great” beers, provided that oxygen introduction into the bottle was minimized during the original packaging.  Some of my 20 year old treasures have little or no oxidation character and I don’t have access to sophisticated packaging techniques professionals use.

Sadly, I have other very old beers I had hoped would survive the years that are not drinkable.  Oxidation has eventually destroyed them. They were not waxed.

It’s a great time to be a beer drinker.  If you love to collect and sample beers later in their and your life, do yourself a favor – wax those closures.  You’ll be thanking me for this advice years later.  Yes of course you could send me a bottle of that 15 year old barleywine or imperial stout as gratitude or share it with me at the table we sit across from each other.

See also: The World Needs More Dannys