January 2017 Cellar Reviews

Good info here. Been sitting on some from 14 and 15, looks like they're coming out.

 

That green pepper/vegetable note is a common developing off flavor in coffee beers. I've yet to have a good experience with aging KBS.

 

I've tested TenFidy at a few different ages and your results don't dispute mine. I've found it best at 1 year old and then drastically worse at 2 years old. There may be a short window between fresh and 2 years old where you might find you like it most.

1 yr old > Fresh >>> 2 years and older

 

Here's the thing - the Breakfast stout I drank this same week was dated 9/15 and the KBS was 3/16. Why did the KBS go to hell so much faster? Must be something about the coffees used in each one? The Breakfast Stout was chocolatey and delicious now the same way KBS tasted this summer at 2-3 months of age. You'd think the 'bigger' beer would hold on a little better. Guess I just found my personal sweet spots. Will be interesting to see how the regular Breakfast Stout is this time next year.

 

This has been my experience with short term aging as well; I haven't had any 3yr+ old Ten Fidy

 

You know I'm honestly not sure. It is a live beverage; some degrade faster for whatever reason.

 

black butte xvii, best after 7/20/16

porters are not my favorite style. however this is amazing. sweet bourbon, faint hints of apricot and fruit sweetness. dark toasty malts and chocolate. very chocolatey, in fact. just a touch of char/smoke. overall really, really nice. i'll be picking up a couple of these every year.

 

had a 2011 last night and it is my favorite so far, sweet and boozy

 

Bruery Saison Rue May 2014

I was expecting it to gush, but it was fine. smell was really tart at first, green apple peel, but a few minutes in the Belgian saison phenolic notes come out. taste is kind of muted. faint banana puree. not really any Brett funk. some rye spice on the finish. I think it's past its prime. not sure i'll finish the bottle. maybe go for a Xocoveza with some tacos later

 

Terrapin Wake 'n' Bake - winter seasonal 2010 - so just over 6 years old.

Stored in a a fridge around 40F, I was not expecting this to turn out well.

However, it still smells like coffee and tastes like bitter chocolate and dark roast with just a hint of oxidation and malty sweetness. Very creamy and the carbonation level is perfect - definitely a "chewy" stout. Good experiment! Makes me wonder if the 2011 bottles I have from a non-fridge cellar are doing as well...

 

Squatter's Outer Darkness best before Jan 29 2017. 1 year old.

bittersweet chocolate. not as chewy as I remember it being fresh. it has that toasty near-burnt sweet finish like Old Rasputin. definitely more oak-y, I had no idea it was even 'aged with oak' (i'm guessing chips) from the fresh one I had near a year before, but it has come out more in that year. and the licorice has subsided as well, barely peeking out from the finish. basically, to me, fresh Outer Darkness tasted like an imperial version of Obsidian, licorice standing out. while a year-old bottle tastes like old rasputin and oak yeti had a love beer together.

this would be interesting to follow progression on every six months.

 

Tyranena Brewers Gone Wild series "The Kissers." Double oatmeal stout aged in bourbon barrels. Bottle from early 2016. When I drank this fresh I remember the flavor doing this crazy thing where the bourbony vanilla notes were leading the charge until it warmed up to room temp then all of a sudden it flipped over into a cherry-chocolate bomb. Whatever barrels they used lent a nice smooth booze flavor that was indulgent paired with the velvet mouthfeel. It was one of my favorite BA stouts I drank all year, but this last bottle at just shy of a year old doesn’t hold a candle to the fresh ones. All of the nuance is just gone leaving an indistinct, generic BA stout. A bit of barrel, a bit of booze, a bit of bitter chocolate - just nothing special and faded to all hell. I really hope they release this again this year as it is wonderful fresh and worth hunting for, but I will not be stashing any away.

Avery Vanilla Bean BB Stout - first release from this time last year. Despite people criticizing this beer for not being Vanilla Rye (eye roll), I loved it and went through about 6 bottles with this one from my stash box being the last one. The vanilla has faded back but keeps all the hot and bitter elements in check. It drinks very smooth and the booze only becomes evident once it is hand-warmed beyond room temp (73° in my home). Vanilla is only evident in your breath after the sip. Smooth drinker I will enjoy to the last drop, but better fresh or minimally aged with that nice wafer-like vanilla ruling the day.

 

I really liked this beer when I had my first bottles at around 14 months. I thought it would keep getting better but didn't like it nearly as much at 18 months. When I contacted the brewery, they said the consensus there was 10-14 mo. was their sweet spot for aging. I plan to stay in that range of around a year.

 

I had a North Coast Barrel-Aged Old Rasputin XV (from 2013 I think) a week ago. The bourbon is still there and all nice elements of coffee, vanilla etc. but the body has become pretty thin. No off flavours but it might not improve with any further cellaring. Probably best between fresh and a couple of years old, but might vary with vintage as they are different ABV.

 

2015 Spectral Evidence, Mystic Brewery

Black, initially sets up a fairly creamy head which lasts about as long as can be expected. Enters soft, creamy, slightly sweet, big dark fruit (dried cherries) development into a long dark chocolate finish. Fantastic stuff, big flavors and excellent structure. Pretty much everything I'm looking for in an impy stout.

I've had fresh Spectral Evidence before but not the 2015 vintage, and honestly this so far exceeds my baseline that the 2015 must have just been better from the start. In any event, it's tasting amazing at one year, and could probably go much longer. If you're lucky enough to be in the distribution territory for Mystic, this beer is excellent and built to last. I'll definitely be stashing several bottles of this year's edition.