During the late ‘90s, I dabbled briefly in the fine art of homebrewing. I say briefly, because over the course of three or so years, I made perhaps eight batches of the stuff, including a root beer and cola. I gave up the hobby because it was both time-consuming and messy, and usually my finished product tasted, frankly, homemade.
While cleaning out my basement this morning -- a task that I've avoided for way, way too long -- I came across some surplus beer bottles from a batch of beer I never made. But four bottles in the box were full and unlabeled. The only distinguishing mark was the bottle caps: they were Mellow Yellow soda caps.
Now, I remember buying those caps at the Frugal Homebrewer in Mequon. I think the year was 1996, which would place this batch during the time my old roommate, Greg, and I brewed up a few gallons of "Brett's Brown Ale," which we dedicated to Brett Favre's third consecutive MVP season (if memory serves). We made great labels for the beer, too, with the slogan reading something like "More beVerage Please!"
If I'm right about this vintage, that would make these four bottles about 12 years old. If I'm wrong, then they're from a subsequent batch, but I'm positive they're at least 10 years old.
I think there's a decent chance that Favre (again) played his final game yesterday, and he might really retire for good this time. So what a fitting way to say farewell to my favorite football player, and to find out what 12-year-old beer tastes like at the same time.
Yeah, yeah, I know beer doesn't age like fine wine. And yes, I know the shelf life for homebrew is supposed to be just a few months.
So, did I crack open this unlabeled dusty old beer and take a swig? Hell yeah I did.
And guess what? It wasn't half bad. The beer had lost most of its carbonation and tasted somewhat sweet -- which makes sense, if I remember correctly about my limited knowledge of how yeast works. Otherwise, the beer was totally drinkable, and as far as I know, not poisonous.
Now armed with the knowledge that this beer will keep indefinitely, I have three bottles left, just waiting to be busted out for a special occasion. Maybe when Brett's number gets retired at Lambeau Field. Or perhaps when he gets inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame. Or maybe, I'll keep the science experiment going and try a bottle in another decade or two -- around the time the next Packers' quarterback wins an MVP.
Andy is the president, publisher and founder of OnMilwaukee. He returned to Milwaukee in 1996 after living on the East Coast for nine years, where he wrote for The Dallas Morning News Washington Bureau and worked in the White House Office of Communications. He was also Associate Editor of The GW Hatchet, his college newspaper at The George Washington University.
Before launching OnMilwaukee.com in 1998 at age 23, he worked in public relations for two Milwaukee firms, most of the time daydreaming about starting his own publication.
Hobbies include running when he finds the time, fixing the rust on his '75 MGB, mowing the lawn at his cottage in the Northwoods, and making an annual pilgrimage to Phoenix for Brewers Spring Training.
