Exploding can special

I don't know why I even had these. It certainly wasn't with the intention of seeing if they improved with age: the styles involved aren't really built for that. This summer's warm weather resulted in some warped cans, and I lost a few which ruptured, so I took that as a signal to try these out before they explode completely.

Eight Degrees Orange Ball

Origin: Ireland | Date: 2019 | ABV: 3.9% | On The Beer Nut: August 2019

I guess it was the orange, passionfruit and guava that are responsible for the gas build-up in this. Any freshness from the tropical fruit has departed, though there's still a pithy orange aroma, driven by plenty of fizz. My original review noted tea-like tannins, and that's the main feature of the flavour. The citrus is less apparent, leaving just an oily residue in the finish. It's not unpleasant, even if it's very much not as the brewer intended. The only downsides are an unwelcome sour staleness and a slightly metallic tang. I'm wondering if that's an inherent problem with old canned beers, especially pale ones. We'll see how that pans out in the others. It seems that some residue from the orange had clumped together and that was waiting at the bottom of the glass, increasing the intensity of the orange effect as I neared the end.

I wouldn't recommend cellaring this beer, and obviously it hasn't improved with age. It's still drinkable, however, so if you happen across some, no need to drain pour it, before you taste it anyway.

Eight Degrees Seisíun

Origin: Ireland | Date: 2018 | ABV: 4.5% | On The Beer Nut: July 2016

Took me a while to find my original review of this. It was called "Summer Days" at launch, then renamed for year-round drinking.

There shouldn't have been any rogue fermentables in this one, but the can warped anyway, though it didn't gush. Inside, the beer was a normal-looking hazy amber colour. There's an aroma of grapefruit which is pleasant, even if it's not exactly overwhelming with freshness. Unsurprisingly, the flavour is all about the bitterness rather than any fruity top notes, and yes, there's that metallic tang again.

Regardless, I think this one may have actually developed some positive complexity from the ageing. Along with the pithy orange bitterness, there's a coconut thread running through the middle of it, and a light cinnamon spicing too. That makes it all a bit Christmassy, which is fun, and not something I expected from a core-range session IPA.

The White Hag Unfinished Business

Origin: Ireland | Date: 2019 | ABV: 4.5% | On The Beer Nut: December 2019

An all-Mosaic lager can't possibly have improved. This was another gusher, with barely enough condition left after pouring to form a head. Again it's a pithy aroma to start with, harsh and bitter, with none of the tropicality from when it was fresh. I think the metallic tang is here in the flavour but if so it's very muted. There's a hard-water mineral quality: intensely clean thanks to the cool fermentation. The hops sit on top of this, bringing unsubtle marmalade and jaffa peel. It definitely seems like the tropical flavour compounds have broken down, but the residual citrus is ensuring this beer remains worthwhile, six years after packaging. Even though the hops aren't fresh, I liked how the lager element is still pristine, lacking any off flavours or staleness.

For the most part, these were better than I expected. While of course I don't recommend that anyone age pale ales or hoppy lagers in the hope of improving them, not least because of the risk of explosion, it seems it takes a lot to properly ruin a beer once it's in its aluminium jacket. There are some more up there. If they start showing signs of internal disturbance, I'll get them blogged here too.

The White Hag Barrel Aged Black Boar

Origin: Ireland | Date: 2015 | ABV: 10.2% | On The Beer Nut: October 2014

Strictly speaking, this beer hasn't been covered previously, as it's the barrel aged version, released a year after the original formed part of The White Hag's launch line-up. It's close enough for my purposes, however, and the ABV is the same. The 75cl bottle with a sealed-on cap should mean it has held up well, even after a full decade in my sub-optimal cellaring conditions. As I struggled to prise open the thick layer of wax, I hoped that the oxygen had as much trouble getting in as I did.

From the initial taste, I thought something had gone horribly wrong. There's a huge phenolic character sitting up front, all peat and seaweed. I had not noticed that the barrels it was aged in were Highland scotch, and it was clearly one of the peated varieties. There's no whisky spirit nor oaken spice, just that earthy peat. I was half way through the first glass before I could taste anything else.

The stout beneath is pristine, without a hint of oxidation, autolysis or anything else untoward. I suspect that this tastes identical to when it went into the bottle. Peat aside, it's more a beer of texture than flavour, lightly carbonated and incredibly smooth. That's easily interpreted in a less positive way, of course: the subtle coffee and caramel I noted in plain Black Boar has been drowned out by the blousy barrel, and there's no sign of evolution of extra complexity after ageing: no thinning out from in-bottle attenuation, despite bottle conditioning, and none of the vinous qualities that a little oxidation can bring to a beer like this.

This one is good for quite a few more years yet, I'd say, if you're holding a bottle. And it'll still taste mostly of peat regardless of how long it's left.