September 2018 Cellar Reviews

I recently had my first. It was a top 5 beer for me. My wife enjoyed it and she never enjoys BWs. My first thought was to determine how to obtain more.

FWIW.

 

I
prefer it on the fresher side, but yes - well worth the wait.

 

Great to hear! I started buying a sixer each year to cellar and drink a mini vert each year until I can do six at a time to see how they age. This year will be 18/17/16.

 

2010 Great Divide Old Ruffian
Bottled on Nov 23 2010 on corner of front label
Cellared at 65F out of light
2-finger beige head on mildly murky garnet body with some lacing. Amount of head makes me wonder about infection.
Toffee, dark caramel, nougat, and caramel frosting in the aroma with the undercurrent of tobacco
Flavor is not quite as decadent as the aroma with caramel and hop tannins, not much depth of maltiness, some newspaper and fudge in the finish
Feel is also thin but tacky.
I think some wild yeast or other has had some effect on this brew unfortunately. Has definitely lost a few steps on othe cellared bottles I have had.

 

Bell’s Third Coast Old Ale - Packaged 4/6/2012 Batch 10942

Split three ways into small snifters. Head quickly dissipated, clear brown color. Sweet and an excellent bitter notes (think esb bitterness level). Not as molassessy as I would've expected for being six years old. Overall super good!

 

2017 Jackie O's Wood Ya Honey

4.22/5 rDev +0.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

2017 12.7 oz bottle @ 13%

Have been waiting for a crisp night for this. Happy Autumn!

Poured into a DFH tulip. Dark brown body with a small light tan head. Smell of booze, barrel and vanilla; very pleasingly intense. Taste is nicely boozy sweet but not a honey like sweet. Also I'm not getting a malt or charred blast like I do in a stout, by design I'm sure, but it's refreshingly puzzling to my palate; maybe these Wheatwine Ales merit further exploration. Mouthfeel was pleasantly light and clean.

Wasn't really aging this by design but it just happened that way. These bad boys are too expensive to buy in large quantities for cellaring, at least for me, but this tasted fairly balanced at a year or so. Not sure what further aging of this style would do but it's a moot point to me unless something highly unusual happens.

 

2010 Straffe Hendrik Bruges Quadrupel Anno 1856
Cellared at 65F out of light.
Murky brown with short lived beige head and no lacing in a Chimay chalice.
Aroma heavy with fig, date, and raisin. Surprisingly not much yeast character.
Flavor is delicious with date, plum, rum raisin and light chocolate notes. Jammy berry flavors though the mid-palate and finish. Finish is also very malty with a bit of mineral. Alcohol is well hidden. Low bitterness.
Feel is stellar with medium body with low-medium carbonation. Super smooth and drinkable.
A very good quad although not very distinctive. Enjoyed it all the same.

 

2013 Bourbon County Barleywine
17SEP13 on back label
Murky chestnut with a small rim of beige head, some definite legs, and no lacing.
Aroma is a bit muted with bourbon and barrel character, mainly vanilla, with some raisin and plummy dark maltiness layered on medium and burnt caramel.
Flavor is decidedly not muted and carries big dark and burnt caramel without the sweet burn, raisin, fig, and date pop through all on the backdrop of mellow vanilla and sweet bourbon character. This beer has lost intensity from the fresh version, but that’s for the better as the fresh was hot and very sweet. There is a touch of tobacco and tannins in the finish.
Feel is sumptuous with low carbonation and full body for sure. Very silky and easy to drink.
A masterful BA barleywine with a dialed back intensity but dialed in flavor complexity after 5 years. Stellar.

 

2013 Founders Imperial Stout
12/smudge/13 on bottle neck
Pours black with short cap of brown head with some dots of lacing
Strong coffee and dark chocolate aromas mixed with prune and medium caramel
Like a liquid brownie with roast bite in the finish. Coffee is prominent, especially in the finish. Dark chocolate and dark fruit flavors along with satisfying toasty bite. Drinking extremely well — mellow but flavorful.
Very smooth and full bodied without being syrupy.
I’m not going to be sitting on these much longer - absolutely delicious and enjoyable.

 

I took your comments into consideration and popped open a 2016 release. I too have not had this fresh. Similar appearance to what you described. Coffee flavor is more prevalent that what you described. Coffee and chocolate meld together for a fantastic flavor. Not much ash. Very smooth to drink with little effervescence.

 

2014 Goose Island BCBBW. Bottled 9/18/2014. Celebrating back to back fantasy baseball championships with this one.

Murky dark brown in color with deep ruby highlights. Zero head on the pour. Complex aroma of figs, raisins, port, vanilla and bourbon. Sweet flavor without being cloying or syrupy. Full bodied and warming. No sign of oxidation. The closest thing I've had to a port wine in beer form. Delicious.