Cellar Door | Stillwater Artisanal Ales
Brewed by:
Stillwater Artisanal Ales
Maryland, United States
stillwater-artisanal.com
Style: Saison / Farmhouse Ale
Alcohol by volume (ABV): 6.60%
Availability: Summer
Notes / Commercial Description:
Over the ages the term ’cellar door’ has numerously been referred to as the most beautiful term in the English language. Upon setting out to create the first summer addition to the Stateside line up of ales; the feeling that almost instantly came to me was that of beauty & cleansing. Many summer offerings tend to lack the complexity of their bigger, colder season counterparts; so my goal was to craft an ale of extreme balance with a delicate complexity that allows for contemplation while also providing quaffable refreshment. Starting with a base of German wheat & pale malts this crisp slightly hazy foundation was then accented with a blend of Sterling & Citra hops providing a intricate blend of herbal grass & tangerine citrus flavors and aroma. To pull this all together and to complete the ’cleansing’ aspect of my vision I gently finished the ale off with a touch of white sage, lending a mild earthy spice character to the blend. Of course let’s not forget our house saison yeast that brought all the elements together leaving a dry yet intricate finish.
Added by John_M on 05-22-2010
Ratings: 1,222 | Reviews: 350
4.11/5 rDev +2.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
Earthy m, sweaty sweetness (that "funk" everyone talks of), with herbal green hop in the back- Complex flavors with that added unfiltered fuzzy wheat, sage, & tangerine flavors. I am really digging this.
203 characters
look: 3 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
Earthy m, sweaty sweetness (that "funk" everyone talks of), with herbal green hop in the back- Complex flavors with that added unfiltered fuzzy wheat, sage, & tangerine flavors. I am really digging this.
203 characters
4.04/5 rDev +0.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
4.09/5 rDev +1.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
3.75/5 rDev -6.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.5/5 rDev -12.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
3.74/5 rDev -7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Pours a fairly hazy golden yellow. Fluffy white head holds up well. Strong spicy peppery herbal flavor from the nose. Fruity esters are well restrained. Sage comes through clear as a bell.
Taste has a nice interplay between the black pepper phenols and sage herbal spiciness. The herbs and phenols overtake any subtle nuances from the esters or malt. Light bodied. Carbonation is higher than your average beer, but short of the bottle conditioned Belgian saisons.
465 characters
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Pours a fairly hazy golden yellow. Fluffy white head holds up well. Strong spicy peppery herbal flavor from the nose. Fruity esters are well restrained. Sage comes through clear as a bell.
Taste has a nice interplay between the black pepper phenols and sage herbal spiciness. The herbs and phenols overtake any subtle nuances from the esters or malt. Light bodied. Carbonation is higher than your average beer, but short of the bottle conditioned Belgian saisons.
465 characters
3.93/5 rDev -2.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
4.24/5 rDev +5.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
3.75/5 rDev -6.7%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
Beautiful light haze accompanying the golden hay body. The head is a sticky, clingy, gelatinous force of nature that starts off at 2 fingers and recedes to a nice 1/4 ring.
Aromas of sage, pale malts, hay, juicy orange, grapefruit, pear, and barley. A beautiful yet still simplistic aroma.
The flavor starts out hop forward, and fades to fruity esters and breadiness, with notes of pear, apple, and grapefruit rind. A touch of yeast and bubble gum finish out the profile with more planty hop bite.
Feel is relatively creamy and very carbonated. It leaves a dry, dusty finish on the palate.
Overall, Cellar Door is a pretty decent Saison. It doesn't quite come together in the flavor for me, and it's a little hoppy for my tastes, but that's part of the history of farmhouse ale recipes. Great for a hot summer day with a little more bite and bitterness.
861 characters
look: 4.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
Beautiful light haze accompanying the golden hay body. The head is a sticky, clingy, gelatinous force of nature that starts off at 2 fingers and recedes to a nice 1/4 ring.
Aromas of sage, pale malts, hay, juicy orange, grapefruit, pear, and barley. A beautiful yet still simplistic aroma.
The flavor starts out hop forward, and fades to fruity esters and breadiness, with notes of pear, apple, and grapefruit rind. A touch of yeast and bubble gum finish out the profile with more planty hop bite.
Feel is relatively creamy and very carbonated. It leaves a dry, dusty finish on the palate.
Overall, Cellar Door is a pretty decent Saison. It doesn't quite come together in the flavor for me, and it's a little hoppy for my tastes, but that's part of the history of farmhouse ale recipes. Great for a hot summer day with a little more bite and bitterness.
861 characters
3.5/5 rDev -12.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
4.31/5 rDev +7.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
4.53/5 rDev +12.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
3.75/5 rDev -6.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
UPDATE - The new version is quite unique. I can't believe there is no lime or lemon in this beer. The smell is bright fresh lime, saison yeast, and subtle sage/general spice. The taste follows with more sage coming through and less lime. Refreshing and lovely beer.
This is an interesting and tasty beer. The smell is sage spice over a light fruity background. The taste is more traditional saison leaning toward spicy rather than fruity yeast. The sage comes through mostly as a peppery finish. yb
499 characters
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
UPDATE - The new version is quite unique. I can't believe there is no lime or lemon in this beer. The smell is bright fresh lime, saison yeast, and subtle sage/general spice. The taste follows with more sage coming through and less lime. Refreshing and lovely beer.
This is an interesting and tasty beer. The smell is sage spice over a light fruity background. The taste is more traditional saison leaning toward spicy rather than fruity yeast. The sage comes through mostly as a peppery finish. yb
499 characters
3.96/5 rDev -1.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
From the Stillwater web site: “over the ages the term 'cellar door' has numerously been referred to as the most beautiful term in the English language.”
In this case, I’m thinking “numerous” is somewhere around two times– not sure where that’s coming from. In the contest for most beautiful term, I’ll nominate “evolutionary bean-feast.”
You can’t tell from online images of the label, but on the actual bottle the beer name is damn near inscrutable. The concept for the art is pretty cool, but the words get lost in the design.
Appearance: Poured from a 750ml bottle into a tulip glass, with 2 inches of robust foam. Large bubbles dissipate over several minutes, leaving a quarter-inch of lather-like head. The beer itself is pale gold, with a steady stream of bubbles rising steadily from the bottle of the glass, even 10 minutes after pour.
Smell: From the bottle, white grapes, peach. From glass: more of the white grapes, followed by pepper and an herbal note, almost lavendar.
Taste: The sage works really well, appearing at the beginning and end of each sip. A bit of pear and sweet tangerine shows up in the middle. The sage tag teams with the saison yeast to cut through that sweetness pleasantly.
Mouthfeel: Lots of effervescence on the tongue, quickly followed by warming alcohol notes, finishing nice and dry. The sweetness suggests an ABV higher than the listed 6.6%, but it never feels heavy.
Notes:
This beer had so much carbonation that, upon being uncapped, it audibly fizzled. Great option to pair with a meal, particularly categories like Italian that tend to favor wine.
1,623 characters
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
From the Stillwater web site: “over the ages the term 'cellar door' has numerously been referred to as the most beautiful term in the English language.”
In this case, I’m thinking “numerous” is somewhere around two times– not sure where that’s coming from. In the contest for most beautiful term, I’ll nominate “evolutionary bean-feast.”
You can’t tell from online images of the label, but on the actual bottle the beer name is damn near inscrutable. The concept for the art is pretty cool, but the words get lost in the design.
Appearance: Poured from a 750ml bottle into a tulip glass, with 2 inches of robust foam. Large bubbles dissipate over several minutes, leaving a quarter-inch of lather-like head. The beer itself is pale gold, with a steady stream of bubbles rising steadily from the bottle of the glass, even 10 minutes after pour.
Smell: From the bottle, white grapes, peach. From glass: more of the white grapes, followed by pepper and an herbal note, almost lavendar.
Taste: The sage works really well, appearing at the beginning and end of each sip. A bit of pear and sweet tangerine shows up in the middle. The sage tag teams with the saison yeast to cut through that sweetness pleasantly.
Mouthfeel: Lots of effervescence on the tongue, quickly followed by warming alcohol notes, finishing nice and dry. The sweetness suggests an ABV higher than the listed 6.6%, but it never feels heavy.
Notes:
This beer had so much carbonation that, upon being uncapped, it audibly fizzled. Great option to pair with a meal, particularly categories like Italian that tend to favor wine.
1,623 characters
4.04/5 rDev +0.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
Superb golden body, clear, with a lovely white head, thin but persistent, and lots of lacing. Nose is heavy on apple and limestone, mild bread and toast, and wheat core. Tasty and very pleasant, a very well crafted saison.
224 characters
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
Superb golden body, clear, with a lovely white head, thin but persistent, and lots of lacing. Nose is heavy on apple and limestone, mild bread and toast, and wheat core. Tasty and very pleasant, a very well crafted saison.
224 characters
3.09/5 rDev -23.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3
4.61/5 rDev +14.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
3.54/5 rDev -11.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
Cellar Door from Stillwater Artisanal Ales
Beer rating:
83.6% out of
100 with
1,222 ratings
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4