October 16 Cellar Reviews

Founders Nemesis 2009

I absolutely loved this beer fresh & spend a good deal of time tracking down as much as I could to punish my liver with. I decided to age a four pack & had one at about 18 months & it sucked. Terrible. My hope was it was going through its sulky teenage years & would come out of it.

Suddenly seven years have passed. I have no idea how.

The carbonation is gone; nary a whisper from the cap popping & no visible bubbles. And I'm happy to report it's not just holding on, but very good. Maple & bourbon are faded but immediately identifiable. Immensely sweet, bone dry, woody, & still boozy after all this time.

It can't touch the fresh version, but it's rebounded to a very good, very interesting beer.

 

Cracked open a 22oz bottle of Pretty Things' Fumapapa (moment of silence). Had this beer fresh in 2015 and then scooped up a couple more when the owners announced their hiatus. Bottled May, 2015 so there's ~18 months on this. Bottle popped open with great carbonation and the pour looked as good as ever - deep black with a dark khaki head. Nice head retention and lacing. The aroma is very nutty and earthy with a sugary air - gave me pause as to whether autolysis took ahold of this. Not the case. Taste is charcoal, toasted malts and burnt caramel. Even after the all the time at rest the smoky/charcoal taste is most prominent. Not a fan or the aroma though. Odd. Thick beer that finishes heavy. Nice complexity and taste profile. One more bottle to go...

 

Had a party over the weekend and decided to crack the oldest bottle in my cellar...

2005 Sierra Nevada Bigfoot.

First off, Bigfoot is already one of my favorite beers, so I was super excited to crack this as the oldest one I had previously was a 2009 in 2015. I regret not documenting this more as I was too excited and too "party mode" to sit down, take notes and pictures, etc. The appearance was murkier than fresh, but still relatively clear and amber-red colored. Surprising amount of carbonation for a beer this old, and it poured a solid finger head. Still some slight hop smell and brown sugar malts on the nose, with a surprising amount of bitterness still on the taste. Mouthfeel was still comparable to fresh bigfoot. Overall, a truly remarkable beer that had aged simply beautifully.

 

Popped a bottle of Barbapapa a couple nights ago myself. I'm not actually 100% sure how old it was, label should be notched for the bottling date but it isn't. The years printed on the label are '13 and '14 but maybe they were just using old labels. In any event it's holding up real well, some of the dark fruit flavors associated with aged stouts just barely starting to creep in. If there was ever any hint of booze it's gone now (at 12% abv!). Big soft silky chocolate soaked gentle giant of a beer, should be good to go at least a few more years. If you stashed these at the time, be glad that you did, and if you happen to see a some dusty bottles hiding in the back of some neglected shelf somewhere, snatch them up.

 

Very nice @Josholson666 ! Gets me incredibly excited for my 11 year Bigfoot vert (2006-2016)! Sounds like you're as big of a barleywine fan as I am, so thinking the vertical will be pretty epic. Cheers!

 

Sounds like you'll be in for quite the treat my friend!

 

I second this! Barbapapa was one of my favorite stouts period. BA or non-BA. I have one left and unfortunately have not seen any hanging around my usual haunts. Love the description "gentle giant of a beer." Perfect.

 

It's a lovely grey and rainy Northwest fall day, I thought I'd warm myself by the fire and open something from my oft forgotten cellar-

Avery Uncle Jacob's Stout Batch 2, 2012

Pours obsidian black with brown head, 1finger height, lingers to leave nice lacing. Smells of dark molasses, coffee, chocolate, vanilla, bourbon, and slight oak. Taste- amazing. Bitter chocolate covered espresso bean, graham cracker, bourbon vanilla. Mouthfeel is thick, silky, slight pricks of carbonation plays with alcohol heat that has tamed, sweetness is backed by bitter, thick balanced by heat and carbonation. Very well balanced beer, I can feel a warming in my chest from the smooth bourbon burn. This just gets silkier and more decadent as it warms.

 

Old Stock vintage 2000, the first bottling.

I believe I recall reading years back that old stock was North Coast's tribute to Thomas Hardy Ale as the recipe/process is quite similar in how both brews are made. However, I dont remember when/where I read that.

Anyhoo... this beer was one of the main reasons I started cellaring beer years ago. I enjoyed it fresh but to have the brewer claim that it should be laid down and will get even better with age? How? I dont understand, so I bought a lot of it to see for myself. And here we are, years later and im wishing I had even more to drink whenever I want.

This particar bottle tastes seemingly exactly the same as the last mid 90's Thomas Hardy I opened not that long ago. A breath of oxidative notes upon opening that immediately breathe away to sherry and rum soaked raisons (actually all things dark and fruity - molasses, caramel, vanilla, fig, prune, dates.) The faintest earthy oxidation and a cocoa powder aftertaste. Heavenly experience.

 

im surprised there's a slight head, how was the carbonation? Sounds absolutely lovely btw, ill have to pick some up next time i see it

 

Carbonation was perfect per the style, present but delicate. Ive never been the type of person to let lack of carbonation level/head impact my enjoyment. (Over-carbonation is a different story.)

 

Backwoods Bastard (9/24/15) - Two fingers of dense khaki colored head. Reduces to a half finger of the same. Dark ruby body with visible particulate when held to the light. Scant, slow moving carbonation is also visible. Nose is bourbon and rich butter scotch. Can perceive some booziness as well. Taste follows the nose - rich sweet bourbon notes, butter scotch, caramel, a touch of bitter orange in the middle. Finishes with unsweetened chocolate and a touch of smoke and oxidization. Full bodied and more carbonation than I would've anticipated. Absolutely wonderful and surprisingly drinkable for the abv.

 

Great review. I'm excited to get my hands on this year's batch and do a side by side. Never thought the fresh bottle had too much heat to begin with but your description makes it sound like it attains a level of silky smoothness.

 

Did a side by side of 2015 and 2016 Olde Hickory Lindley Park. 2015 has seen the raspberries fade although they are still lingering in the background. The chocolate notes have become a bit more pronounced and the heat has died down nicely. 2016 is a little hot especially when compared to the 2015. Raspberries take more of a leading role when fresh and push the chocolate and roast malt flavors to the back. I definitely prefer this with some age on it.

 

Since I've been trying to thin out my cellar, I decided to start making a dent in my case and then some of Bell's 30th Anniversary ale...

Bottled 8/27/15 - Consumed 10/30/2016

This beer pours oil black, but am able to force a finger and a half dark brown head. The head lasts quite a while, around a minute or more. Nose is roasted malts with a bit of dried fruit type sweetness in the mix. Almost as if this is starting to open up and in process of losing some of the burnt flavors I thought were present fresh. The first sip reveals some of the dried fruit flavors, maybe raisin? Or is that the sherry everyone talks of? Finishes with a bit of burnt/roasted flavor, but a nice sweetness shows up in the aftertaste. Burnt flavors and almost all bitterness seems to disappear as it warms. Not much alcohol heat present at any point, which is pretty impressive for this being 11% ABV. Mouthfeel is insane, possibly the best part about this beer at the moment. Super thick, smooth, velvety. Almost like drinking chocolate milk. This was definitely built to age for a long time.

Wow. This beer continues to impress as it ages. Didn't like it as much when it was fresh, but it gets more and more drinkable with time.

 

Thank you. I agree, there's minimal heat when both fresh and at ~one year, but the bourbon notes seemed to be more distinct, but somehow still well integrated. I couldn't detect any dark fruit (admittedly, I was completely distracted by the butterscotch/toffee). Unfortunately, I don't have my notes from a fresher bottle for comparison. If you end up doing a side-by-side, please share.

 

I opened up a '11 and a '16 recently. Side by side. Very disappointed. '11 wasn't any better really.
I hope you find Better results

 

Nice to hear. I've had two '15 in the last six months. Loved them both times. I do have a '14 & '15 in the cellar. I also have a '16 on the way. Though I don't know if I want to do a vertical.