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"delboy":39p46epq wrote: What about getting cellaring some homebrew the durden park book which has lots of genuine historical recipes with high abvs and ibus which are all perfect for ageing.[/quote:39p46epq]

I think it would be interesting if you aged a commercial and homebrew of a similar style/nature side by side and see how the two compare after certain set periods.

I've done so with my barley wines, one of which is just over 2 years old now. Wish I'd made more of it! It was inspired by Sierra Nevada Bigfoot, so that's a good idea, I might make it again and buy a load of Bigfoot at the same time to see how they develop in parallel.

Historical recipes are always a good idea, I think. Never made one though <!-- s:D --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="" title="Very Happy" /><!-- s:D -->

Where would you guys recommend for purchasing cases/crates of beer, as opposed to buying singles off the shelf? Do you go through your regular off-licence or buy online? Or should one drive to Belgium??

The only time I buy large numbers of the same beer is in supermarkets up North.

&amp;quot;Barry M&amp;quot;:3uvvetol wrote: Hmm, I've had the pleasure of a couple of Thornbridge beers, but never the Bracia. Will see if I can get some <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) -->

Some Lambics are definitely on the cards, as well as some Trappists. As it happens, I have few Rochefort 10, but they probably won't last too long! Rodenbach Grand Cru, there's one I haven't had in a while, despite having a bottle in the cellar right now. Never thought about ageing it though. Does it change much?[/quote:3uvvetol]

I've only noticed a small change in the Rodenbach so far but its not been that long really. Going to try and keep them a few more years. I'm curious as to which way the sourness will go on this one. I did try a 30 year old gueuze recently that someone had brought from a specialist in Belgium and that was quite sweet, almost no trace of the typical lambic sourness.

&amp;quot;hayzer&amp;quot;:3uvvetol wrote: Where would you guys recommend for purchasing cases/crates of beer, as opposed to buying singles off the shelf? Do you go through your regular off-licence or buy online? Or should one drive to Belgium??[/quote:3uvvetol]

Only time I've brought crates is when I was on holiday in Belgium, we were driving so made sense to buy in bulk. Don't think it worked out cheaper in the end because I just drank more. What I thought would last me almost forever was gone in shamefully short period of time.

I think if I were planning to age beers I'd get a few of them by the case, so that you could compare as the years went by, and have plenty on hand when they hit their peak. Obviously a certain amount of self-restraint would be needed!

To answer the original post, I'd get some Samichlaus and Chimay (blue), and Westvleteren if possible (this is where the trip to Belgium would come in <!-- s:D --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="" title="Very Happy" /><!-- s:D --> ).

I see that the vintage beers article linked above lists Sam Adam's Triple Bock as a recommended beer for ageing - I have a bottle of this at home but have never been tempted to open it as I hear it's complete muck - anyone tried it?