This suspense is terrible. I hope it will last.
— Gwendolen Fairfax in Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest
———
Wine. Cheese. Dame Helen Mirren. Some things just get better with age. And beer is no different—up to a point, anyway. All beer needs a period of time during which rough edges can smooth, flavors can meld, and yeast cells can clean up after themselves. Maturation, the sixth essential step in brewing beer, is as critical a phase as fermentation itself, and it can be as bearable as a couple of days or as insufferable as a couple of years.