April 2012 Cellar Reviews

I have yet to do a side by side, (and probably never will) but I would imagine they would be fairly similar despite the pasteurization/filtration of the 22oz formats. I'm on the fence, but I think I prefer the fresh ones to the aged ones, but then again that also may be subjective to the mood of the day.

 

My post was a whimsical response to Wiscobrew, who mentioned cellaring orange slices for 4 years producing a "funky, earthy" result. I love cellaring beer and tasting cellar experiments, but I also love poking fun at those who don't really cellar beer to drink it, but instead to collect it and (I presume) post videos and pictures of their multi-thousand dollar collections (what else are they doing with 1,000+ bottles of old beer?). My overall experience with BA forums is that they function better when there is a little humor interjected from time to time. People get their panties in a bunch fairly easily on BA in my experience, and a little humor (if it isn't too cynical) can help offset this common beer-forum phenomenon.

 

2010 Yeti (12 oz dated 4-16-10)

Wow, awesome. I've never heard much about any Yeti aging so I wasn't sure how this would hold up after 2 years. Great appearance, lots of lacing left, still well-carbonated. The biggest difference to me are most of the hops have diminished, so you get waves of fudgy roasty caramel Yeti goodness. Extremely smooth and drinkable for a 9.5% stout, alcohol is still well buried like fresh Yeti but I'd say this is a bit smoother overall, this 12oz went down easy. There is a slight olive quality in the scent but other than that this is excellent, definetely worth aging, glad I have 2 more from this bottling.

2008 vs. 2012 Stone IRS

Opened a bomber of each vintage side by side, 1 month old vs. 4 years old. Being that this is one of my favorite stouts, this was a great comparison. Both had great appearances, though the retention and lacing were a bit better for the 2012, as was expected. The 2012 was good, big roastiness, licorice, dark chocolate and smoke/bacon-y notes. But the 2008 was a whole other beast - extremely deep and complex with lots of dark fruit, melted chocolate bar, leather, roasted malt, and port with an aftertaste that lingers nicely. Both were well-carbonated with barely any alcohol taste, quite easy drinking. The fresh 2012 was good but the 2008 was just excellent, it solidified my opinion that it is just an awesome vintage that has been great every step of the way. It not only continues to age well, but also is getting better and gaining depth with age. I wonder how different the recipe is between these two vintages, because in many ways they feel like completely different beers.

 

Glad to hear this, my favorite bar got some vintage bottles for a tasting last week and I grabbed one of the last 2008 bottles, super psyched to try it soon.

 

Alaskan Perserverance 25th Anniversary.

Been in the ’cellar’ for 7 months. Pours a deep dark black, with a large mocha head, which settles down after a while and dies down to nothing. Big aroma of anise/liquorice dominates the nose, with a hint of hops, molasses, dark chocolate & dark fruits in the background. Flavour is mainly anise/liquorice with a great bitterness from the hops tingling the side of the tongue, followed by bittersweet chocolate, sticky dark fruit (dates, Figs etc etc) and smooth sweet honey; leaves the lips nice and sticky. Great, easy carbonation, medium to big body, bitter sweet, slightly sticky sweet finish (in a good way). The 7 months ageing has really brought this beer together as the alcohol was a little harsh when fresh.​

 

The 09' C&C bottle I opened up with some friends a month ago was very acetic, not very integrated at all. It was hard for 3 of us to finish this beer during our sour tasting.

 

I too feel there was something special about 2008. They say they have left the recipe relatively unchanged since they created the beer back in the day. All I know is 2008 was fantastic and I personally haven't been much of a fan of Stone IRS since.

 

2008 Highland Imperial Black Mocha Stout

This beer is holding up well. Smooth supple roastiness with sharp chocolatey notes. I think I liked it better fresher though. In any case, good ageability.

 

2006 Pelican Stormwatcher's Winterfest
Interesting nose, it's spicy, the bruising ABV (not stated on the label, but 13.5% IIRC) present, but there's a very earthy, wood like vibe...not oak barrel, but more sawdust, almost like roasted peanuts. Taste is sweet, strong clean ethanol and toffee. Sweet, in-spite of the cutting dryness of the alcohol, this one is pretty damn hot and not as integrated as I hoped. One more, I'll try it at 10 years and see if it's improved or just fallen off....

 

Unibroue Terrible, bottled Nov. 26th 2010 at 3:41pm

This ended up being one of those beers that was unintentionally cellared. A friend gave it to me and just ended up hanging on to it for a year+. I have had this beer fresh and really enjoyed it.

Has the quintessential Unibroue taste, yeast really brings out the dark fruit. Some oxidation, flavors coming together a bit more. Unfortunately the finish is a problem here. A definite tartness, cherry flavors getting close to a sourness, not in a good way. As the beer warms it is somewhat less perceptible but definitely takes away from the beer, probably would be un-drinkable in another 6 moths or so. I will finish the 750 but in this case it would be better to drink fresh. Always one of the dangers of (unintentionally) cellaring.

Anybody else cellared this and had good results? I am assuming my experience is an outlier since this seems like a good beer to age.

 

Fair enough. Thanks for the response.

 

Old-Stock Ale

2010
Pours a cloudy murky brown with a small tan head that fades quickly. By far the least amount of head; the carbonation levels get higher with the vintage year. Smells of toffee, some wood notes, sherry/oxidized, honey, and alcohol. Taste is caramel and honey up front that goes into a boozy middle with notes of sherry before finishing on a bready and alcoholic kick. Surprisingly hot for the age; reminds me of JW Lees.

2011
Pours a cloudy, murky brown but not quite as dark as 2010 with a bigger tan head that still lingers. Smells of caramel, some sherry/oxidized notes, along with a big toast/bread note. Taste is honey up front mixed with some more hop character or lighter, brighter sweetness that has a much bigger bitter and less sweet finish than the 2010. Seems like the flavors are not as well melded as the 2010.

2012
Pours a clear amber/brown with a big head that lingers. Smells of sweet honey with more earthy notes and toasted malt, some hop spice perhaps. Up front alcohol light honey, fig, cherry, some spicy/earthy hop notes and a smooth, warm finish. Less port and toffee like than the 2010 but brighter flavors and slightly bitter.

All were full bodied and alcoholic with low to lower carbonation. The beer changes quite a bit in these years with the 2010 being the clear favorite and having a decadent JW Lee-like quality while the 2011 seemed less “together” and the 2012 being brighter and having much different fruit/hop flavors but still more hot and bitter than the rest.

 

Drinking an Old Ruffian bottled 12/29/09, not a cellar beer, just found it at The Wine Country today. Just drinking beautifully, has that gorgeous crystal malt/hop mix that a lot of aged barleywines have. Great beer, I love barleywines when they get some age. Bottled before GD came to the Southland, I was surprised by that.

 

2011 Hopcat Oil Rigger. About 15 months old now (released early Jan 2011). Been sitting in my basement since purchase. I've had this bottle on the 'on deck' table for a couple months now, ever since hearing that it may turned. So after a long day of painting in the kitchen, went downstairs and cracked it open. I couldn't wait until the pour - I had to take a big whiff out the neck of the bottle. Smelled ... very weird. Weird enough that I figured it'd gone bad, and would likely be a drainpour. So I threw another beer into the fridge to chill for a bit till I had a chance to pour and confirm the extent of the spoilage.

Poured about 3oz into a brand new HotD tulip (received as an extra recently from a great Oregon trader). Seemed suspiciously frothy. Smell in the glass it was very similar to what came out the bottle. It wasn't too offputting, just not what I was expecting. Some cherry, some oakiness, roasted malts, vanilla, and something slightly sickly-sweet. I figured I'd drink down the obligatory couple of ounce then move on to the on deck beer. Taste was rich, a little choclatey, a tad bit sour/off. Mouthfeel was thick, and pretty well carbed. After finishing the first glass...I decided I needed another to really try to figure out all what was going on with it. Before too long, I realized that I kind of liked it, and ended up finishing the bottle.

I don't think I'd feel right about trading this beer, but I enjoyed the beer for what it was. I don't think it was what the brewer intended (was fantastic fresh last year), but sometimes beer has a mind of it's own and decides to develop in it's own direction.

 

Due to your review of Alaskan Perseverance, I decided find that bottle I recieved and open it with the tasting group. We found the beer (unsurprising) to be much thinner than the Hunahpu's that was opened before it. Everyone enjoyed the beer and had no complaints other than the body. The beer was definitely richly sweet and the the honey was really nice with a licorice finish. I didn't detect any of the hop presence that you did. Overall, it was nice, but not terribly special IMO

 

2009 Abyss

Smells of sour cherry, oaky bourbon, chocolate, coffee, wild funk. Taste is sour cherry and smokey charred chocolate, fairly complex, really good on the sour, like a dark consecration. Mouthfeel is medium, feeling good. Overall I can taste some infection funk but it does not detract from the overall experience. A good stout with sour characteristics.

 

One more for me before the month is up - 2010 Night Stalker. Bottle date was Feb. something 2010.

Really enjoyed this fresh, great mixing of a big stout and nice piny/fruity hops. The hops are pretty diminished after 2 years but definitely some light citrus and piny hops coming through. The stout side really shines here, big fudgy chocolate and dark fruit make a delicious combo. Nice mouthfeel with some booze showing through, not bad for the ABV though. It was a little more remarkable when fresh but aged this was still great, brings a bit more balance.