So I have made 3 passes at brewing a Belgian style Dubbel and each time they have gotten incrementally better. But they are still light years away from some of my favorite Belgian Dubbels. Now I'm not expecting to be spot on with a home brew set up, but I feel that I could get much closer than I am now. My oldest bottled version is about 2 months old, the sedon is about a month in the bottle, and the third is only 2 weeks old. I am limited to the temperature I can keep them at. Where I store them it averages around 60-65 during the day at best and dropping down to the mid 50's at night.
Now for my questions. What does aging actually add to the flavor of a beer? I have always heard aging brings out complexity, but why does it do this....and how long is long? Secondly, what exactly does cold storing do to the beer? Am I losing anything by not being able to get them cold enough in storage?
Now for my questions. What does aging actually add to the flavor of a beer? I have always heard aging brings out complexity, but why does it do this....and how long is long? Secondly, what exactly does cold storing do to the beer? Am I losing anything by not being able to get them cold enough in storage?