Bread? Beer? Cheese? What are you coming back with?

Start again it today.

Not any strong beer. You got to a picture a Scottish ale but bigger on the alcohol and malt.

I almost went out and picked some grapes but decided against it.

They, we?, most definitely are aging barley wine. Anything that isn't high in hops and is over 9% is a candidate for ageing. Barely wine, as the "wine" implies, is at the top of the list for aging.

When I drank this just after it came out it was almost undrinkable. Way too tannic, hop spice was disproportionate, it had too many long chain alcohols making it taste like lighter fluid. But if there are a few yeast in there then given time they will mellow out every one one those issues as they metabolize anything that looks usable.

Now it's bitter like coffee but has a fruity phenolic profile with low esthers that perfectly balance the bitterness. The spice has reduced and blended with the alcohol which has been cut down from those sharp long chains to pure ethanol. It's now a magical drink after all these years.

So, yeah, aging beer is definitely a thing. And there are beers that don't work and ones where it's mandatory.