Too much beer is certainly one of the better problems to have, but once in a while I find myself in a situation in which I have to risk a hangover or dump beer owing to a large format bottle of a high ABV beer, and no one to share it with.
Not sure where I got this idea except that it is not my own: swing-top bottles to store excess beer in short term. I bought a German dark-ish lager, whose name I don't remember, for about two bucks (tax included) precisely towards the purpose of acquiring a swing-top bottle.
All I needed now for the experiment was a beer that's considered robust and is drinkable at low carbonation, and is CHEAP. And my palate should know the beer well enough. Old Rasputin fit the bill on all counts.
Side by side: Left one is fresh, right has been in the swing top for 3 days Immediately after I pried off the 12 oz. bottle open, I poured half of it into the swing-top in a gentle, but not too gentle of a pour, and clamped the top shut. The reason my pour was not the most gentle one was to release some CO2 to form a layer on the surface of the beer, that would keep oxidation in check... not sure if it makes sense, but my understanding is that some CO2 in the headsapce is good for freshness.
About 72 hours (7/24/2011) later I poured the hand bottled sample and a fresh sample to try them side by side. The swing top opened with a loud pop hinting that the carbonation was still around. The head that formed settled into a thin ring that lasted forever. The freshly poured sample was typical Old Rasputin, big head with very good retention and lacing.
I didn't smell anything foul in the older sample, and the smell of the beer was actually stronger, most likely because of the lack of a huge head. Both samples tasted the same with the older one having a better feel (to me) because I find Old Rasputin a little too heavy on the carbonation anyway.
The differences evened out with time and temperature and both samples smelled/tasted/felt pretty close eventually = Good news. The experiment was successful in short term (that is actually the time horizon of interest) and now I have a container to store surplus beer that I cannot enjoy! In fact, half of the bottle from which I poured the fresh sample is now stored in my swing-top for another tasting that will test the ability of the swing-top to keep the beer "alive" for a couple of weeks :-)
At 2 weeks (8/7/2011):
I poured half of a fresh bottle for tasting against the 3 day old sample, and poured the remaining half of that fresh bottle into the swing top to repeat this tasting at 2 weeks.
The swing top opened with a pop, meaning the beer was not entirely flat. Good.
Side by side: Left one is fresh, right has been in the swing top for 14 days Perhaps my hand-bottling was not-so-prompt the last time as this sample because this one poured with an even better head after staying in the swing top for two weeks! The quality of the head is readily seen from the picture, and the head retention and lacing were not bad either!
As to aroma, there's not much change I can pick between the two samples. However, the aroma of the "AGED" sample is certainly richer, and the differences are huge in the taste. The famous leather note makes an appearance, adding nothing but good. The oxygen exposed beer is certainly mellow and lacks the bite of Old Rasputin, thankfully! It seems sweeter perhaps because the hops haven't held up, but the roast is mellower too.
However, the key point is that different as the fresh and old samples are, they are not that different: meaning storing surplus beer in a swing top should work on the scale of a couple weeks.
Half of the freshly opened bottle went into the swing top again for another tasting that will evaluate the differences at a month or so. Cheers!
At ONE month (9/7/2011):
Same procedure this time. Half of the fresh bottle went into the swing top that contained a month old sample prior to the pour. The old sample opened with a loud pop again! Almost like opening a C&C beer. Encouraging!
The head on the fresh sample was predictably excellent, typical Old Rasputin; but the head on the old sample wasn't bad either. In fact, it was very good, but different --- not as creamy.
Side by side: Left one is fresh, right has been in the swing top for 32 days
The retention of both samples was good and so was the lacing. The aroma of both samples was similar: dark and malty, but the older sample was certainly richer. The samples were so similar that I had to ask for my girlfriend's blind opinion. She is not a big beer drinker and hates stouts. She had the opinion that the older sample's smell was more abrasive to her and had more powerful coffee notes. She also remarked after a while that the new one "kinda stinks". She and myself picked that the carbonation was higher in the new one.
The taste is again similar, BUT the older one stays longer on the palate precisely because of lower carbonation. Assuming that that the reader already knows how Old Rasputin tastes freshly poured, I will say that the older sample has developed/heightened flavor that almost tastes of proper aging. However, it should be noted that the carbonation is still higher than your usual Imperial Stout.
Bottomline being that a month in the swing top hasn't done the beer any bad, and perhaps some good. At the same time, the two samples were so close that I had to ask for a different opinion. Good news.
At 3+ months (12/11/2011):
I am down to my last sample and there's no fresh bottle to compare it with. Although at this point I am fully convinced that beer is not that delicate, here it is for completeness.
Opened with a pop and the CO2 pushed the cap out, encouraging. The head formed in cascades like a typical Imperial Stout. Good head size, retention and lacing. Had I not known, I wouldn't be able to tell based on the looks that this sample wasn't fresh and had sat in a swing top for 3 months. Like the previous sample, the head was more bubbly and less creamy in comparison to the fresh bottles I have had. In absolute terms it was mighty creamy.
The sample has been in the swing top for 95 days
Good aroma too: standard Imperial Stout, malty, dark fruity. No off flavors either. But the beer has changed, it's not the fresh out of the bottle Old Rasputin. Stronger coffee, slightly mellow roast. Perfect carbonation and a silky feel. Overall much more chocolaty and contrary to what one would think, a better beer than fresh Old Rasputin. Your mileage may vary :/
In summary, using a swing top promptly seems like a great way to save beer for later. All my samples were refrigerated at all times. All the notes are from my palate unless noted. I have tried my best to be consistent, but it is impossible to eliminate all variations.
Why not try it with a hop forward beer?!
I fully understand that Imperial Stouts and such are often heavily hopped, and that it's necessary to balance the beer. However, it cannot be denied that Imperial Stouts showcase their malt/adjunct/barrel character while other hoppy beers like DIPAs flaunt their hops. And hops are delicate, especially the late additions.
But the fact remains that DIPAs often match the big stouts and Quads in their alcohol content, which makes the problem of having too much beer pertinent. To probe this, I repeated the experiment of storing excess beer on a very tasty DIPA, Galactic Double Daisy Cutter. Since I did not want to push it, I kept it in a storage bottle for only 24 hours but the results were encouraging and I might try this on a longer timescale. But then I have seen the bitterness go down in as less as 72 hours (for Old Rasputin) so I won't keep my hopes too high.
Below are the pictures of the fresh and the stored sample:
Left one (w/ bottle in picture) is fresh while the right one is a day old.
As my original review indicates, and also evidenced in the picture, this beer did not have a massive head to begin with. However, I did not notice any difference in carbonation/head size over 24 hours.
The tropical fruit and dank notes of fresh sample were present equally in the both samples to the best of my memory of the fresh sample. The day old sample is just as bitter and crisp as the fresh one and doesn't even remotely resemble a beer left open overnight. Of course, the
old sample was capped immediately and kept refrigerated at all times.
My palate cannot detect any signs of deterioration whatsoever in the beer, and that is a reason good enough to justify this experiment. After all, all I wanted was a little more time to finish my beer ;-)
So, if you're hating an otherwise coveted beer that your friends would totally drink, or you think that you can't/shouldn't/mustn't man up and kill it right f'in now, get a swing top and put the darn thing in. More likely than not, it will be okay. Cheers to responsible and moderate drinking!
