January Cellar Reviews

Did a BCBS vert a couple weeks ago, 09 thru 14. All were fantastic. 09 has very little bourbon, some oaky-ness comes through now that you didn't get when the bourbon masked it. No signs of oxidation. IMO 11 was about perfect though, very little booziness, everything is mellow but super complex.

09 from what I understand came from GI own cellar, so that may explain why it held up so well.

 

2010 Sofie....this beer is PERFECT right now in my opinion! Brett is spot on and bone dry with some great citrus notes. Wish I had more!
2010 Matilda.....broken record, this is drinking PERFECT right now. Love what the brett has become really dry and has some great pineapple notes. Awesome beer!

 

Wish I had some of those - aged Sofie and Matilda are some of my favorites

 

Midnight Sun Bar Fly (2011) - Cabernet Sauvignon barrels

Appearance: Unremarkable. Deep black, small tan/brown colored head with no lacing or head retention.

Nose: Definitely a bit of oxidization here. Slight smoke but that seems to be dying off. Perhaps some oak, but no noticeable wine barrel presence I can pick up.

Taste: Hints of oxidization on the palate. Smoke is extremely subtle. Roasty. Oak. Touch of sweetness (wine barrel?).

Mouth feel: Oily and slick. Not luscious and thick like the 2014 bourbon barrel version is.

Overall: I have only had the newer 2014 which was a completely different barrel. This particular bottle held up pretty well, but it is, in my opinion, most definitely on the downward slope as it's getting oxidized.

 

Very Nice!

 

2013 Firestone Parabola- Heavy on the cola, vanilla, caramel. Not much roastiness. Alcohol has mellowed a bit but is still fairly present, especially as it warms. Good beer but not the spectacular barrel aged RIS I remember. The thin/cola aspect reminded me more of a porter than a stout.

 

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout 2012-13

These always get the "NBA season" designation years, so I'm thinking very late 2012. Was pleasantly surprised to find this on a store shelf recently at $9 a four pack.
Nose and finish are all tannic red wine; I'm still reading Vintage Beer so perhaps someone can speculate as to whether this is desirable or a horrible aging flaw. I enjoy it...at 55 degrees, you could almost blindfold me and convince me it's a chocolate port. Very enjoyable, but I will absolutely be drinking all of these in the next few months.

 

At a friends who inherited a few really old ones. Figured might as well open them, they aren't getting any better.

2000 Brooklyn Monster: Smells swampy almost. Couldn't drink it.

HOTD Adam bier batch 10 1995: Smells strong of leather but still pleasant. Kind of tastes like the burnt end of a smoked brisket. A sipper but surprisingly drinkable.

Late 90's rogue hazelnut brown. Smells like apple juice, tastes like hazel water.

 

I have not had great success in aging Firestone.

 

My second go at this and it's still WAY OVERRATED IMO. Another example of Alpine inflation and a product of "rare" equal "GREAT". Pass considering the shit you have to unload to grab it.
Anywho.
Lots of toffee, vanilla, wood and wee bit of bourbon. Very good.

 

2012 DFH Burton Baton

Pours like a beer, smells of toffee and prunes, raisins, slight vanilla and not much else. Tastes exactly the same in that order, carb is medium fine and mouthfeel is just thick enough to support the residual sweetness. Not a bad barleywine, horrible IPA .

 

Hey n00b, if you don't understand how this game goes then you need to go back to the Coors league. What did you do? Trade some good beer for that over hyped Cali swill? You should know better- send only Epic or Raven to out of staters for "rares".

 

Reported.

 

Very helpful. Thanks for posting!

 

Allagash FV 13

Bottled 12/21/12 in 375ml cork and cage at 8.9% abv

The beer was a four year old beet aged in oak fodders to begin with. So essentially 6 years after the beer was brewed, FV 13 is tasting fantastic. Its so fruity you would think they added fresh berries to it a week ago, yet no fruit was ever added at all. Its a remarkable sour that has aged incredibly gracefully.