Cellar-aged Beer: It’s A Thing

Is craft beer going the way of wine?

Some Chicago bars are stashing rare and hard-to-find beers in temperature-controlled cellars and coddling them for years, hoping to pull them out for customers at just the right time. Hopleaf, the Radler and Side Door each feature rare- and aged-beer programs that cater to in-the-know customers willing to shell out up to $52 for a coveted wine-sized bottle of beer.

While beer doesn’t age quite as well as wine and tends to be more finicky, certain styles like imperial stouts, barley wines, harvest ales, lambics and sours can improve with a little age. And a growing number of beer drinkers across the country are showing interest in them.

“There’s absolutely more interest,” says Michael Roper, owner of Hopleaf, an Andersonville bar and restaurant that’s revered by beer geeks for its extensive and ever-changing beer list. “There was a time when we had some very special beers that just sat in the basement and collected dust. The overall knowledge the average customer has about beer goes up by a quantum leap every few years. Now, more people know what’s special and they want to see what we’ve got.”… CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL STORY AT CHICAGO BUSINESS