Beer guru Rick Swartz, a manager in Vero Beach, joins our "official" beer team. Follow him on Twitter @abcbeerRick for everything new in Beer Country, and watch for his posts here.

With all of the major beer brands touting their born-on dates and gimmicky labels that change colors when at the “proper” ice-cold temperature, it is easy to miss a couple of key beer facts.   The first of these facts is that a great beer can be as age-worthy as a great wine.  The second is that not all beer is most enjoyable when it is ice-cold.

Just like with wine, there are elements to consider when both selecting a beer to “lay-down” and deciding how to store that beer.  A general rule is that the higher the gravity, or ABV, of a beer the better cellaring potential is has.  As far as storage, if beer is stored too warm, you risk shortening the beer’s lifespan and if they are too cold, they can become cloudy.  Generally, the strongest beers (quads, tripels, barley wines, and Imperial IPAs and Stouts) benefit the most from “room temperature” storage in the 55 to 65°F range.  Standard ales (IPAs, doppelbocks, stouts, Belgian goldens) should be kept at a “cellar” temperature of 50 to 55°F.  Lastly, lighter beer (lagers and wheat beers) should be kept refrigerated at 45 to 50°F. Just like with wine, the appropriate storage temperature is also the appropriate serving temperature. 

When you are going to purchase beer for cellaring, it is also important to buy at least two of any beer you are going to store. After all, you are going to want to try one now and most likely, you will want to do vertical comparisons at some point in the future, trying several “vintages” in a single tasting session.  Then, sometimes, you will just want to pull out a special bottle for a special occasion. 

For me, such an occasion is today (I'm writing this on the weekend).  I have the day off.  College football is on the TV, meat on the grill, and a bottle of Clipper City’s Heavy Seas Below Decks barley wine from 2006. This is an English-style barley wine with 10%ABV. This beer began its life in the bottle with a deep copper color, but has darkened some with time to show a little more brown and ruby tones. 

A slow pour into a tulip glass reveals a slight frothy head that builds to about a centimeter before quickly receding.  On the nose, there are notes toasty malt and caramel backed up by slightly spicy, piney hops.  In addition to these expected general characteristics, there are other layers of complexity in the nose including sweet tobacco, worn leather, raisin, milk chocolate, and very subtle notes of cardamom and fresh peppercorns.

On the palate, it is front-loaded with caramel and toffee sweetness.  On mid-palate, it carries some semi-sweet bitterness, not unlike what one finds in a caramel latte. It finishes with some lingering sweetness balanced by very subdued English hop bitterness. Overall, it has a silky, though perhaps somewhat thinner than expected mouth-feel for a beer of this gravity; nevertheless, it is highly enjoyable.