Vintage Beers are a unique class of beers that literally has a life of its own. Often characterized as “living beer”, these luxurious beers are designed to improve with age in a bottle, similar to wine and Champagne. Many come with a cork stopper and a metal restrainer, again, just like Champagne, which may account for why they are also often referred to as Champagne Beers.

No matter how you call them, Vintage Beers have become the darlings of not only beer aficionados but also wine enthusiasts in the Philippines.

Luxury Vintage Beers from Yats Wine Cellars

One question that is frequently asked beer drinkers in Philippines about Vintage Beers is how they can improve with age inside a bottle while regular beers should be consumed quickly before expiration. Here is a short answer to that question:

Vintage beers are bottle conditioned which means that a slow fermentation process takes inside the bottle. Bottle re-fermentation gives the VB its complexity which cannot be achieved with a normal one-shot fermentation. As the yeast feeds on the residual sugars in the beer, the beer loses some of its body and becomes dryer. Even after the yeast runs out of sugar to feed on it contributes to beer’s body, aroma and flavor profile. One of the main flavoring ingredients – hop – carries certain bitterness that mellows down after a few years of ageing allowing the VB to become balanced and round.

Because Vintage Beers are fermented on lees, there is a deposit of the yeast in the bottle and they are partly filtered. Ageing potential for VB varies according to their structure and composition. High alcohol content protects the beer against negative effects of bacteria. With as much as 11% in Alcohol-By-Volume (ABV), a VB can easily age for 15 years. If well kept, they can easily preserve if not improve for another decade or more.

What exactly is “Bottle Re-fermentation”?

Fermentation is the transformation of sugars by micro-organisms – yeast – to yield alcohol. This process takes place in big tanks, called fermentation tanks. VBs undergo another round of fermentation not in these tanks but inside the bottles, hence the term bottle re-fermentation (or sometimes called bottle conditioning).

Yeast is added during bottling to provoke re-fermentation inside the bottle. The yeast that is kept in the bottle provides a good source of vitamin B which gives the VB a very special aroma. Since it is re-fermented in bottles, like Champagne, there is no oxidation because the yeast that eats the sugar also eats up the oxygen. This preserves the freshness of VB while it ages for many years.

PRICES of Vintage Beers in the Philippines start at 850+VAT for a 750ml bottle.

ORDERS AND INQUIRIES:

Just click here to contact Yats Wine Cellars directly for inquiries and purchases.

Other questions often asked by beer drinkers in the Philippines about Vintage Beers

Food pairing

To many gourmets and top chefs, Vintage Beers come to the rescue when faced with food with that wine find awkward to pair. Spicy food, plain chicken, sandwiches and Asian fusion cuisine have played havoc with wine enthusiasts for decades but are heaven sent for lovers of Vintage Beers. Ordinary beers fall way short because it lacks the complexity and depth of flavors that fine wines and VBs have to offer.

Another attribute that VBs can bring to the table with food pairing is age. Couple the styles of Vintage Beers with the extra dimension age and we have a rainbow of options to create a perfect pairing.

Service Tips

Vintage Beers can be served very cold like ordinary beers but cold temperatures tend to mask out nuances and undertones that form the extra dimension of taste. Whereas there is really nothing wrong with drinking Vintage Beers icy cold especially in the typical hot summer’s day in the Philippines, but allow yourself to savor them in slightly higher serving temperature – white wine temperature to be more precise, 10-12C. If you fancy that over the colder version, it might be a worthy experience to try the big ones at red wine temperature of say 14-16C.

There are sediments in Vintage Beers. Take special care with the last glass out of the bottle. Decanting is an option but should be done by first chilling the Vintage beers to near freezing to avoid loss of fizz, and poured as gently as possible.

How to store Vintage Beers properly?

Keep your Vintage beers like you would for your vintage Champagne and fine wine. Ideally, you should lay them on their sides in a cool cellar totally away from any direct contact with sunlight. That’s easy if you happen to own a chateau in Bordeaux with a cave the size of a tennis court. For some of us who might have to cut a few small corners, the good news is that VBs are incredibly resilient to oxidation. If you can avoid sharp intraday temperature fluctuation and direct contact with sunlight, lay them down on their sides and they will mature nicely for many years.

Yats Wine Cellars
is known among Asian wine lovers as a good source for well-priced vintage wines from all the major wine regions of the world. What makes shopping at Yats a lot of fun is the fact that we offer not only the familiar labels and expensive trophy wines but also lesser known but really interesting vintage wines of excellent value sought after by connoisseurs and beginners alike.

Yats Wine Cellars
Manila Sales Office
3003C East Tower, Phil Stock Exchange Center,
Exchange Road, Ortigas Center, Pasig,
Metro Manila, Philippines 1605
Tel: (632) 633-1566 or 0917-540-3626

In Philippines Clark Zone, Pampanga,

Clark Wine Center

Bldg 6460 Clark Observatory Building
Manuel A. Roxas Highway corner A Bonifacio Ave,
Clark Field, Clark Air Base,
Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga, Philippines 2023

Tel: 0917-485-0943 or (045) 584-4006

Click here to contact Clark Wine Center to obtain further assistance.

FACEBOOK: The Facebook account of Yats Wine Cellars, called Yats.Wine is a media with which the professionals at Yats as well as fellow wine professionals in the trade throughout the world will share with our friends and wine hobbyists in the Philippines knowledge, findings, experiences, tasting notes, insights and opinions about wine, food-wine pairing and news about wine.

Click here to sign up to be a friend of Yats Wine Cellars to keep abreast of what’s happening in the wine scene in Philippines.

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You are welcome to post your comments and questions about any topic related to wine on http://www.YatsWineCellars.com or email Wine@Yats-International.com with your comments, suggestions, questions, purchases or inquiries on wine and wine-related topics. Don’t forget to register yourself on our mailing list to be informed of the dates and venues of the Yats Wine Experience public wine tasting events.

Pampanga Clark Freeport is blessed with an appealing ambiance that is conducive to a day of leisure and relaxation.  Adding to Clark Philippines’  many advantages as a premier destination for teambuilding, corporate outing and weddings, is one more feature.   Just a few-minute drive further down from the main gate of Clark, is one of the biggest wine shops in the Philippines.  Wine City Philippines is much more than a large wine shop in Pampanga.   It is a multi-purpose wine destination, offering a good bistro in Angeles City Pampanga.   It is also a good wine bar in Pampanga Angeles City.

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