Why?

First off, your sense of taste changes.  Physically speaking, as you get older your taste buds become less sensitive, so at 29 that Flemish sour is less overpowering than at 21. In fact, children are born with taste buds not only on their tongues, but on the roof and sides of their mouths.  Oh how I would love to swap bodies with my six year old for day and attack the beer aisle!  Also, your sense of taste is malleable at the mental level.  There is not a beer geek on the planet who will not attest to the fact that many style of beer are an “acquired taste.”  A wide-ranged palate usually doesn’t just happen.

Second, there would have been “third party” elements that made that particular beer less appealing.  Chemicals in other foods that may have been consumed alongside a given beer can have taste enhancing or detracting effects.  Perhaps that last beer you swore off was at a disadvantage due to morsels of garlic left in you cuspids from dinner.  Miracle fruit, Synsepalum dulcificum, has chemical properties that tricks the mind into believing that even the sourest of flavor is as sweet as a sugar drop.  For the record, keep the miracle fruit away from my beer.

Thirdly, beer changes.  Far from static, our hailed beverage is not immune to the effects of time.  Lower alcohol beers may be adversely affected and oxidized over time.   Light and temperature fluctuations are never good for a beer.  But a beer kept in cool temperatures may become more desirable.  A beer can increase in complexity over time, as the chemical composition is altered to accentuate different flavors.  Hop flavors tends to decrease, and sweet flavors become more apparent.

Recently, I gave a beer that I had not rated very highly another try.  With an infant less than a week old, and budget gasping for air, instead of heading to the beer market, like the ant that toiled all summer, I am enjoying the fruits of my beer cellar.  The other night, for some odd reason, I impulsively grabbed a bottle of Dogfish Head’s Aprihop off the shelf.  Last time I tried this (and put it in my cellar) was in March.  The beer didn’t fare to well in my review, and I remember thinking, “I am not buying this again!”

Seven months later, I found myself enjoying this beer.  I still wouldn’t give it a five star rating, but it was much better than I had expected.  There the apricot flavor, while subtle, was not being contorted by the citrus (grapefruity) hop flavors.  A mildly pleasant sourness that I had not picked up on before, and some rich brown sugar flavors made my day.  I wish I had picked up a few more  to save for a rainy day.

On the other hand, some beers, when given a second try still let me down.  I recently gave Santa’s Special Reserve (Rogue) another go around after over a year of aging and found myself saying, “ugh,” again.

Have you had similar experiences?  Do you cellar your beer?  If not, you really ought to give it a try!

Spread the Word: