Aged Barrel Aged and Vintage

old beer…..Really. Some beer can and should be aged.  Hops are a natural preservative as is alcohol.  The higher each is the longer you can keep the beer. Some labels will indicate an appropriate period of time within which the beer should be consumed, up to a few years. “Barrel aged” beers are brewed and lagered in barrels( oak, wine, bourbon,rum etc.) or with wood.  Barrel aging smooths out some of the roughness of a high alcohol beer with the mellow flavors of the wood bringing out vanilla, toffee and light oak.Vintage beers are dated by production year or batch number.  The brewers are often encouraging the consumer to save a few years of the same beer and try them together in a “vertical” tasting.