What is a Vertical?

As with many questions this one came up on a recent outing. I was with my sister this time and one of my favorite breweries, Salmon Creek, had arranged a vertical taster tray of their prize-winning Brother Larry's Belgian. So, of course, I ordered trays for both of us. Which is when my sis hit me with our question for today.

Short answer is that a Vertical is a sampling of beers from diffrent years. Does it have to be the same beer? Most of the time.

If you are looking for reasons to try different beers this way Stone Brewing has been releasing a series of beers intended to be drunk in this fashion for several years now and Anchor Brewing releases a unique Christmas beer every year.

I know, I know, I can hear it. Several years of beer? But you said fresh beer is best!

I did say that. And I meant it. Most of the time. Some really complex or really strong beers do, however, benefit from the process of aging (bottle conditioning in beer geek speak). But it has stored carefully to keep the beer from spoiling (and even then some beers just don't age well). Belgians, for example, have a lot of sugar and can develop awesome dessert-y flavors over time.

Ok, that our question of the day is pretty well done. I promise the very next post will be a rough guide on cellaring your beer.