Out of the Cellar: Golden Spark

2013: Same beer. Same glass.

Today is the first anniversary of my blog, as well as the first anniversary of the first beer I ever wrote about: Golden Spark.

Certain strong beer styles age very well. The Belgian Strong Pale Ale (BSPA) is one of them. With that in mind, I cellared the last few bottles of my beer and patiently waited for it to evolve. Has it changed much since last Spring? In a word: Yes.

Here's what I had to say in May of 2012:

"After two weeks in the bottle, the beer had great carbonation and a nice dense head. Due to my forgetting to throw in Irish Moss during the boil, there was as a fair amount of chill haze, which didn't bother me. Pears and apricots dominated, with a hint of spicy bitterness. Fast forward to a month plus in the bottle and things have changed. The fruits have faded and let the bitterness through. The mouthfeel is extremely dry and deceivingly light."

To keep things interesting, I poured the beer into the same glass I used in 2012's blog. The most notable difference right out of the bottle is the appearance. In April of last year, the beer had a significant haze. Now, it's more clear (something the photo doesn't reflect, unfortunately), but still on the hazy side. The head is big like before, but seems more dense. Its retention is excellent, but not as much lace is left behind.

So how about everything else?

2012: The beer in its infancy.

It really seems like the beer has brought back some of the characteristics from when it was first bottled. Apricot is really prevalent in the nose and it follows straight into the flavor. Behind it are pear, coriander and a bit of lemongrass. Bitterness is lighter than before, but still peppery. The body feels heavier and not quite as dry. The 9.7% ABV is still well masked, but does provide some warmth going down. The heavier body makes this more of a sipping beer than it was.

The final verdict? Aging this beer was a fun experiment. I was surprised that it became a bit more like its younger self in flavor and aroma. I realize that hops fade as a beer ages, but I wasn't expecting this much fade in just one year. The body becoming heavier was unexpected as well. There are still two more bottles of this left. I may very well hang onto those until 2014.

As I final note, I've put several other beers I brewed in 2012 into my cellar. It will be a few months before I write about any of them because they're still young, but my Dubbel, Tripel, Quad, Wee Heavy, Old Ale and Barleywine are patiently aging. Hopefully they'll all evolve like this beer did.

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