I know this is supposed to be a travel blog, but you could also think of it as an adventure blog. And a vintage ale tasting that spans two decades is definitely an adventure. A once in a lifetime adventure.

We aren’t experts. We aren’t even close to experts. But we know people who are experts, and we invited them to join us. The attendees included a brewer, an assistant brewer, a brewpub owner, and a recent graduate of a college-level beer tasting course.

And then, there were the rest of us…

The first challenge was deciding the tasting order. Youngest-to-oldest or perhaps, oldest-to-youngest. But then Evan had an idea. Save the youngest and oldest for a side-by-side tasting at the end, and start by tasting the second-youngest through to the second oldest. It was a brilliant idea … but we decided to do it anyway.

The next challenge was deciding what we were looking for. The obvious theory was that as the beer aged, the flavours would fade in intensity, but integrate into a richer whole, much the way a good stew mellows but improves with age. But while preparing for this tasting I came across another theory. As a vintage ale ages there are many chemical reactions competing with each other. Some are good and improve the flavour, and some are … not so good. As a result, you see a flavour cycle … better … worse … then better again. In a tasting like this, it would depend on exactly where you were in the cycle.

We were curious to see which one of these theories was correct. I’m sure you’re dying to know the answer. What … wait … you aren’t? Well, too bad. I’m telling you anyway.

The answer is … both are actually true. Overall, the flavours did fade and integrate. But at the same time, there was a definite cycle with sweet and bitter flavours intensifying, then fading, then intensifying again.

In the end we couldn’t agree on a single favourite vintage … it was a tie between the oldest and the youngest. The oldest had all the flavours fully integrated and in balance, and the youngest was fresh and lively, but also in balance. And the conclusion was … I have no idea what the conclusion was, but it was a fun evening.

Here is the crew who joined us for this epic tasting.

I opened this post by noting that this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Of course, having said that, we have no choice but to try to repeat it next year.