A couple of weeks ago, a customer pulled up a stool at The Gate, a neighborhood pub in Park Slope. When it came time to order, the man got mightily confused — but not by the dozens of beverage choices on offer. Instead, he was left scratching his head over a bottle that was vintage, but it had nothing to do with grapes. What caught his eye was a brew the menu noted was from 2007.
“The guy said, ‘I didn’t even know you could do that with beer,’ ” says Bobby Gagnon, owner of The Gate.
Oh, but you can. And so-called vintage beer is bubbling up in popularity all around town.
These suds are generally craft-brewed stouts, porters, lambics and other fuller-bodied, high-alcohol brews that have been aged for long periods of time, changing their flavor.
The beers contain active yeast and will continue to ferment while they’re stored. Unlike a wine’s vintage, which signifies the characteristics of the grape harvest from a certain year, a beer’s vintage simply declares how long it’s been aged. (Brewing is less variable than winemaking.)
“Vintage beer is becoming more prominent as more people are getting into craft beer,” says Jeff Cioletti, editor-in-chief of Beverage World magazine. “We’re seeing it more in bars and restaurants.”
Gramercy Tavern was among the first high-profile restaurants to dedicate a section of its drink menu to vintage beer back in 2007, but the trend has picked up steam as beer becomes more respected and less of a red-headed stepchild to the traditionally higher-class vino.
“It’s definitely getting more popular,” says Gagnon, who began aging beer bottles and kegs in the bar’s cellar in 1999. Aged beer was once only ordered by beer snobs, but now Gagnon says an increasing number of less beer-savvy patrons are becoming curious. “I see more and more people willing to say, ‘What’s that 2007 on the menu all about?’ ” he says. Sometimes, customers want to do a side-by-side taste test between the regular beer and its vintage variety.
Head to various restaurants and bars this winter, and order one. But don’t expect a sommelier flourishing a corkscrew to show up and ask if you’d like to sniff the cork. Instead, the server is likely to snap open the bottle cap and place a regular bottle in front of you. It’s what’s inside that’s different.
“Aging is gonna have a mellowing effect,” says Julia Herz, craft beer program director of the Brewers Association. “The beer won’t be as aromatic with hops. It will be less bitter.”
In other words, it’ll probably taste better — a fact not lost on the many establishments around town that are riding the vintage bandwagon.
Order one at The Modern, as well as local watering holes, such as the Village’s Blind Tiger Alehouse. It’s become so popular that even Trader Joe’s has gotten in on the act; the chain has partnered with Canada’s Unibroue to produce an annual vintage ale. The 2010 edition ($4.99 a bottle) was described as “malty, sweet and warming with hints of cocoa, citrus and dark spices.” It’s designed to be aged for up to three years.
Vintage beer is a pricey trend; varieties can cost double that of a regular bottle. At The Modern, a bottle of J.W. Lees Harvest Ale from 1999 runs $24. A 12-ounce bottle of 2006 Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout will set you back $12 at Gramercy Tavern.
“It’s like wine,” says Gianni Cavicchi, beer sommelier at Upper East Side restaurant Café D’Alsace, which carries a selection of vintage beers. “You get to a point where you start loving old wine. It’s a disease. With beer, you can definitely get that, too.”
And one of its appeals, Cavicchi says, is that drinking vintage beer, like everything else in New York, has become a status symbol. Drinkers will scour the city to taste more exotic brands and vintages to impress their friends. Beer as a status symbol? What would Homer Simpson say?
reed.tucker@nypost.com
CHEERS TO THESE BEERS!
Ready to hoist one for yourself?
Here’s where to start:
*Blind Tiger Alehouse, 281 Bleecker St., at Jones Street
*Café D’Alsace, 1695 Second Ave., at 88th Street
*Ginger Man, 11 E. 36th St., between Madison and Fifth avenues
*Gramercy Tavern, 42 E. 20th St., between Park Avenue South and Broadway
*Mugs Ale House, 125 Bedford Ave., at North 10th Street, Williamsburg
*The Gate, 321 Fifth Ave., at Third Street, Park Slope
*The Modern, 9 W. 53rd St., between Fifth and Sixth avenues
Try one of these five beers to age on your own:
*Stone Vertical Epic Ale ($8.69)
*Goose Island Bourbon County Stout ($12.99)
*Brooklyn Brewery Black Chocolate Stout ($2.59)
*Brewery Ommegang Three Philosophers ($4.79)
*Anchor Brewing Christmas Ale ($3.50)
HOME BREW HOW-TO
Want to try this at home? You can! Vintage beers bought off the shelf can be aged, as long as they’re stored under the right conditions.
First, buy something with a high malt and alcohol content (more than 7 percent), such as an imperial stout, Trappist ale or a similar dark beer. Many microbreweries produce winter and holiday varieties this time of year that are often perfect for putting away. Then store your bounty upright in a dark, cool place, ideally between 40 and 55 degrees. A chilly basement or wine fridge should work. There’s no set amount of time to age beer, but six months is probably the minimum, with a year or two being the average. Drinkers should experiment. That said, 20 years is probably too long. Beverage World’s Cioletti once imbibed a Guinness that had been sitting around for two decades. It, sadly, tasted like syrup.