Old Stock Cellar Reserve (Aged In Bourbon Barrels)
North Coast Brewing Co.

 

 

 

 

2017

 

 

2018 vintage - aged in rye barrels.

Pours a dirty river water brown/caramel color. Some sediment present. Decent head with a hard pour that dissipates as the beer sits.

Lot of sweetness comes through both in taste and smell - lot of caramel present.

I like Old Ales and BA stouts. Not sure I love the combination of the two with this beer. One to experience. Would I get it again? At $25 for 500 mL, probably not.

2014 version poured from a 500ml bottle into a tulip. Cloudy gold in color. Plenty boozy at 14.44% with light syrup sweet flavor. Glad this one held on nicely in the bottle for 8 years.

 

 

 

Old Stock Cellar Reserve pours brown, with no head. Rich aroma, sugary sweet, with lots of bourbon. Flavor is sweet, sugary, sharp malty flavors, and noticeable bourbon flavors, with a warm finish. Good body and feel. Overall, very rich, candy sugary flavors, with bourbon. Great to sip.

 

2017 Cellar Reserve, so this baby was nearly three years old when I opened it.

Pours a lovely brownish copper color with honey edges and over a finger of head. The nose is malty, bready and biscuity. The flavor follows the nose but it is more muted than I expected. No bourbon flavor was discernible. Perhaps this sat a wee bit too long.

The alcohol has certainly been tamed by the long dormancy.

 

2013 vintage, 14.1% abv

Pours a deep murky mahogany with a small tan head that reduces to a ring quickly, some particulate floating about

Aromas of chewy caramel malts, figs, dates, dark roast coffee, light bourbon punch. Boozy and sweet, highly intriguing

Deeply complex in flavor, this evolves throughout each sip and even in the middle of a sip. The big dark fruit presence starts it off before a huge wave of toffee, brown sugar, and molasses rush over the tongue with a bit of stinging barrel wood to back it up. The finish brings it back to that dark fruit, chewy with a chocolate like sweetness, long and contemplative, amazing

More carbonation than I would've expected, but this is a full bodied babe right here. It's heavy and finishes sweet and robust, just as a beer of this size should

Despite the less than stellar looks, this thing amazed me. So full of flavor and character, I would love for them to brew this again so I can try it fresh, as opposed to having 7 years on it. It is the oldest beer I've ever had up to this point by a long shot, but it's crazy how well this has held up. Absolutely worth the $7 price tag and I would gladly pay more, I wanna pick more up for special ocassions