Arcadia Cereal Killer Special Edition Cellar Aged 3 Years
Arcadia Brewing Company
- From:
- Arcadia Brewing Company
- Michigan, United States
- Style:
- American Barleywine
- ABV:
- 10%
- Score:
- 87
- Avg:
- 3.9 | pDev: 7.95%
- Ratings:
- | reviews: 4
- Status:
- Retired
- Rated:
- Dec 06, 2016
- Added:
- Aug 01, 2013
- Wants:
- 0
- Gots:
- 10
SCORE
87
Very Good
87
Very Good
No description / notes.
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Ratings by mtomlins:
More User Ratings:
Reviewed by rudzud from Massachusetts
3.7/5 rDev -5.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.75
3.7/5 rDev -5.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.75
Received a bottle of this back in 2013. Aged 3 years and then aged another 3 years in my cellar...hah!
A - Poured into my Duvel tulip a nice deep garnet/ruby hue with a one finger off white light brown head that fades slowly to leave a thin blanket and thin lacing.
S - Aromas of sticky caramel and toffee, nice malts, maybe some very, very light english hops, no real bourbon or barrel notes though.
T - Taste is more of that nice sticky lightly sweet caramel and toffee, very faint hop bitterness. Some light vanilla and maybe even a little bit of dark fruits. No real bourbon notes though...
M - Mouthfeel is lightly carbonated, smooth, alcohol hidden very very nicely.
O - Overall this beer was a very, very solid and enjoyable barleywine. If this wasn't a BA one then the numbers would be much much higher, however, the bourbon and barrels are practically non existent here. Very unfortunate.
Serving Type: Bottle
Dec 06, 2016A - Poured into my Duvel tulip a nice deep garnet/ruby hue with a one finger off white light brown head that fades slowly to leave a thin blanket and thin lacing.
S - Aromas of sticky caramel and toffee, nice malts, maybe some very, very light english hops, no real bourbon or barrel notes though.
T - Taste is more of that nice sticky lightly sweet caramel and toffee, very faint hop bitterness. Some light vanilla and maybe even a little bit of dark fruits. No real bourbon notes though...
M - Mouthfeel is lightly carbonated, smooth, alcohol hidden very very nicely.
O - Overall this beer was a very, very solid and enjoyable barleywine. If this wasn't a BA one then the numbers would be much much higher, however, the bourbon and barrels are practically non existent here. Very unfortunate.
Serving Type: Bottle
Reviewed by deadchef from Michigan
4.3/5 rDev +10.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
4.3/5 rDev +10.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
2010 vintage 12oz poured into a New Belgium brand snifter
a: deep ruby with hazelnut foam. short head that mostly dissipates. nice lacing.
s: sugary sweet, maple, bourbon, cedar, caramel, light floral
t: molasses, dark caramel, bourbon, oak, vanilla, umami, unsweetened cocoa
m: chewy, coating, low carbonation, alcohol heat
o: this barleywine is a great example for the style. it's appreciated that a brewing co has the passion to hold something so special for a few years and release to the gen pop. this is certainly a treat. sip slowly and make sure you drink this at around 50f. this has more in common with a nice brandy or bourbon than it does with 'beer' and should be treated as such. great job arcadia!
Mar 17, 2014a: deep ruby with hazelnut foam. short head that mostly dissipates. nice lacing.
s: sugary sweet, maple, bourbon, cedar, caramel, light floral
t: molasses, dark caramel, bourbon, oak, vanilla, umami, unsweetened cocoa
m: chewy, coating, low carbonation, alcohol heat
o: this barleywine is a great example for the style. it's appreciated that a brewing co has the passion to hold something so special for a few years and release to the gen pop. this is certainly a treat. sip slowly and make sure you drink this at around 50f. this has more in common with a nice brandy or bourbon than it does with 'beer' and should be treated as such. great job arcadia!
Reviewed by StoutHunter from Michigan
4.16/5 rDev +6.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
4.16/5 rDev +6.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
I picked up a bottle of Arcadia's Cereal Killer Special Edition Cellar Aged 3 Years a while ago for around $9 at The Lager Mill. I like Cereal Killer, but it's a little rough around the edges when it's fresh. I had a bottle of this when it was released and I really liked it and I thought it really smoothed the beer out, so lets see what I think of it now. I think this was released late winter early spring last year. Poured from a brown 22oz bottle into a snifter.
A- The label is pretty simple and straight forward but the waxed dipped bottle makes it a little eye catching. It poured a caramel brown color that took on more of a redish brown color when held to the light with a finger and a half worth of off white head that died down to a thin ring that eventually faded away and it left a little bit of spotty lacing behind. This was a pretty nice looking beer, I have no complaints.
S- The aroma starts off with a higher amount of medium sweetness that had a slight brown sugar/ molasses like aroma to it followed by some fruity aromas being the first to show up and it imparts a nice dark fruit aroma with raisins seeming to stick out the most. Up next comes some nice caramel and toffee like malt aromas that show up just enough to balance out those dark fruit aromas. Towards the end there might be a slight alcohol aroma, but it's very light and it's hardly noticeable. This beer had a pretty good aroma, all the aromas that I liked about it when it's fresh come through nicely and the booze and sweetness is well hidden.
T- The taste seems to be pretty similar to the aroma and it starts of with a medium amount of sweetness that is right were it should be and it has a very slight molasses like flavor to it followed by the malts being the first to show up and they impart a nice caramel and toffee like flavor that's quickly followed by all those nice dark fruit aspects that I got in the aroma with the raisins still sticking out the most. Towards the end comes some sweet malts and a hardly noticeable amount of alcohol with a low amount of medium bitterness that borders on being lightly bitter with a caramel, toffee, and dark fruit like aftertaste. This was a pretty good tasting beer, I really notice how the age smoothed this beer out.
M- Very smooth, slightly rich, not cloying at all, a little silky, on the thicker side of being medium bodied with a lower amount of carbonation that worked well with this beer. This beer had a very nice mouthfeel that worked really well with this beer.
Overall I thought this was a very nice beer and it's a pretty good example of a Barleywine and how aging can really help some beers, this was a good example of both and after recently having a couple fresh Cereal Killers I would have to say that the difference is night and day and that everything just really smoothed out. This beer had very good drinkability, fresh it's not too drinkable, aged it was very smooth, slightly rich, silky, not too filling, and the taste did a good job at holding my attention, I wouldn't mind being able to have a full bottle to myself, it's about as drinkable as a Barleywine could get. What I liked the most about this beer was how much the age helped it, more brewerys should age the beer themselfs if they are really confident that their beer will age well. What I liked the least about this beer was the appearance, it wasn't bad. but it was a little bland looking. I would for sure buy another bottle if I saw one, I'm pretty sure it's at it's peak now and that aging it for a couple more years will only hurt it so I think three years is the sweet spot for this beer. I would recommend it to any Barleywine fan. All in all I was a little impressed with this beer, I aged Cereal Killer myself for a year and it changed a little but this three year old version was much better. Good job guys, this beer really made me like cereal killer a little more and i'm in the process of aging a couple fresh bottles. Great job guys, this was an awesome beer and a great idea.
Jan 02, 2014A- The label is pretty simple and straight forward but the waxed dipped bottle makes it a little eye catching. It poured a caramel brown color that took on more of a redish brown color when held to the light with a finger and a half worth of off white head that died down to a thin ring that eventually faded away and it left a little bit of spotty lacing behind. This was a pretty nice looking beer, I have no complaints.
S- The aroma starts off with a higher amount of medium sweetness that had a slight brown sugar/ molasses like aroma to it followed by some fruity aromas being the first to show up and it imparts a nice dark fruit aroma with raisins seeming to stick out the most. Up next comes some nice caramel and toffee like malt aromas that show up just enough to balance out those dark fruit aromas. Towards the end there might be a slight alcohol aroma, but it's very light and it's hardly noticeable. This beer had a pretty good aroma, all the aromas that I liked about it when it's fresh come through nicely and the booze and sweetness is well hidden.
T- The taste seems to be pretty similar to the aroma and it starts of with a medium amount of sweetness that is right were it should be and it has a very slight molasses like flavor to it followed by the malts being the first to show up and they impart a nice caramel and toffee like flavor that's quickly followed by all those nice dark fruit aspects that I got in the aroma with the raisins still sticking out the most. Towards the end comes some sweet malts and a hardly noticeable amount of alcohol with a low amount of medium bitterness that borders on being lightly bitter with a caramel, toffee, and dark fruit like aftertaste. This was a pretty good tasting beer, I really notice how the age smoothed this beer out.
M- Very smooth, slightly rich, not cloying at all, a little silky, on the thicker side of being medium bodied with a lower amount of carbonation that worked well with this beer. This beer had a very nice mouthfeel that worked really well with this beer.
Overall I thought this was a very nice beer and it's a pretty good example of a Barleywine and how aging can really help some beers, this was a good example of both and after recently having a couple fresh Cereal Killers I would have to say that the difference is night and day and that everything just really smoothed out. This beer had very good drinkability, fresh it's not too drinkable, aged it was very smooth, slightly rich, silky, not too filling, and the taste did a good job at holding my attention, I wouldn't mind being able to have a full bottle to myself, it's about as drinkable as a Barleywine could get. What I liked the most about this beer was how much the age helped it, more brewerys should age the beer themselfs if they are really confident that their beer will age well. What I liked the least about this beer was the appearance, it wasn't bad. but it was a little bland looking. I would for sure buy another bottle if I saw one, I'm pretty sure it's at it's peak now and that aging it for a couple more years will only hurt it so I think three years is the sweet spot for this beer. I would recommend it to any Barleywine fan. All in all I was a little impressed with this beer, I aged Cereal Killer myself for a year and it changed a little but this three year old version was much better. Good job guys, this beer really made me like cereal killer a little more and i'm in the process of aging a couple fresh bottles. Great job guys, this was an awesome beer and a great idea.
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