A couple good friends of mine got together the other night for one of the Blackhawks playoff games, where grilling and good beer was a must. Before the game we casted a fishing line out in a neighbor’s pond, and brought a few Brooklyn Summer’s and Metropolitan Flywheel’s. Although we hate wasting beer, the fifteen pound carp made up for the bottle of Flywheel I spilled.

After some pregame fishing and some lighter brews, we moved into Don’s family room, where some cellared beers started to flow during the Hawks game. First up was a Lagunitas Imperial Red aged for a year. The hops had died down a bit, but the beer held up fine and was a delightful experience. Next up was a Brooklyn Monster Ale aged for about a year and a half, and this one really got us going. In fact this beer was so scrumptious that it inspired Don to start up his own beer cellar.

Don was so enthusiastic about his experience with aged beer that when I came into work the next day, he informed me that he already had six barley wines boxed up and ready to cellar. I let him know that although I agreed that barley wines age better than any other style of beer, it might be a good experiment to mix a few other styles of beer in with them. Don obliged, and the following are his inaugural batch of cellared beers:

Avery Hog Heaven Barley Wine

Southern Tier Back Burner Barley Wine

Arcadia Cereal Killer Barley Wine

Great Divide Old Ruffian Barley Wine

Avery the Reverend Quadrupel

New Holland Night Tripper Imperial Stout

What do you think of Don’s choices of beers to cellar? What were the first beers you ever cellared? We will let you know how Don’s beers turn out, just give us a year or two. That is assuming that Don can keep his thirsty hands off of these extraordinary beers.