Cellar Reviews (2020)

Ah yes welcome to the new year indeed. We're doing a little side by side of the 2018 and 2019 Grandfather Raven from Black Raven (released in December of each year as best as I can tell).
Black Raven claims to put easy to read date codes, but that does not bear out on these bottles. Still, I think I figured them out: The one I had in the 'cellar' reads: 1801091348, which I take to mean 2018, December 14th (348th day of the year). Not sure what the ...01091... is about though. The 2019 bottle that I bought this evening reads: 1905101319, which I take to be November 14th 2019. Whose knows.



They're both beautiful once again. My original review from 2015 noted the large satin head, and those are true again here. The younger one looks a little lacier/billowier while the 2018 looks a little more subdued, but that could be imagination or simple pour variation or whatever.

The newer one has an aroma of dried cocoa/dusty chocolate powder, some roasty character and coffee. The year old one though... super rich. Markedly more luxuriant feeling... fudge vs cocoa powder. Original review mentioned both of those directions.

Bitter chocolate and coffee and again a drier sharper profile on the fresher bottle. The aged one is more blended and mellowed and perhaps even a little shaved off? Duller. The bitter finish of black coffee and bakers chocolate stands out more on the 2018, as the 2019 flavours are still a little more vibrant and pronounced each on their own.

The fresher one definitely strikes me as more oily/sticky while the 2018 has a little drier thing going on.



These are both really tasty, but I think I actually like this fresher on the flavour, even if the aroma on the 2018 was preferable. Either one is still quite good, though.

 

Thank you for the timely review; I was wondering if I should check how mine turned out as the first time I had it (last March?) it was almost exactly as you describe above. I'll put a little note on it not to open until 2021 at the earliest. Very odd as Larry Bell generally knows what the heck he's doing.

 

Ya this was a weird one for me, really enjoyed it fresh and then it fell apart soooo quickly even though Bell's typically on point guidelines for consumption list it as unlimited shelf life. Be interested to see your thoughts after another year

 

I reckon that it is a wee bit past it's prime. Some astringent/sharpness to it. Still not close to being a drain pour. Bought off a shelf today.

 

I've had Abyss up to 8 years old that was still very good. I wonder if it was light-struck sitting on the shelf all that time; but I also haven't aged any vintages after 2013.

 

2018 North Coast Brewing Old Rasputin

1/25/2018 12 ounce bottle. Large tan head over a dark brown body. Rich chocolate infused malty smell. Taste is much creamier and mellow with the hop bite lessened from fresh with complex dark fruit flavors making their presence known. Not boozy per se but you know you're drinking something with heft, the type of brew that Catherine the Great wanted transported large distances for her enjoyment on the long Russian nights.

Someone here said the sweet spot for this was two years. I still have three of these left and I suspect at least two of these will be consumed by the end of spring. This is very good.

 

Was this the BBA or WBA? I enjoy them both very much but find my palate enjoying the BBA more than the Rye Whiskey aged variety. Either way, thanks for the heads up on the expiration date, I’ll have to cycle mine.

 

Enjoying a 2014 edition of Mad River Brewing Company's John Barleycorn barley wine. Quite excellent indeed. Full review can be found here.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/266/20500/?ba=neenerzig#navigation

Eric

 

So I've got a vertical of Anchor Our Special Ale going back to like... 2005? Missing one or two years but for the most part. Anyway. I'm getting ready to move, and as such have been doing some organizing/packing. As a part of this the GF and I went through my 'celllar' to chart and organize. I commented on how I was surprised that I hadn't come across this years vintage yet, which surprised me since it's usually everywhere. Well, she took it upon herself and decided dammit, we were going to find it tonight. Calling around the city I think we literally found the last six pack in Seattle.
So of course after that we had to crack into one tonight when we got home. And naturally, I was going to pull one of them out of the cellar to compare. 2014 is the lucky year.



The current edition is creamy and sweet. I don't know if I am anywhere close to on base, but the impression I have is corn and melanoidin malts and some earthy german hops.



The 2014 has really transformed. Reading back at my 'new' review (which I drank at about a year), I got a lot of interesting spices and some berry sweetness. I described it as being, "somewhere between a fruitcake and a rumcake." with the flavour leaning towards the fruitcake, with doughy fruity spicy notes.
Now here some five years later it has leaned way into that rumcake. The doughy fruit character has all but faded into a silky smoothe body, and the flavour is overwhelmingly mild rum and Dr. Pepper. At least to me. One of the more interesting transformations I've experienced in this series of experiments, even if I liked it better fresh

 

Happened upon one of these a local hole-in-the-wall shop recently and picked it up. I was also blown away by how insanely smooth and delicious it was. I drank a bunch of these fresh and now it's drinking perhaps better than ever. Would love to find a couple more.

 

Curiosity question for those who have gone before-
When you do a vertical (I am fortunate to have KBS 2015 on up, will have a special "Stout Appreciation Night" next week with some friends), do you start with the fresh and go towards the old? Or the converse?
My inclination is to go with the new to old* but am open to reasons to go the other way.
*My palate has learned that, for me, KBS is harsh when fresh and mellows wonderfully after a year, but my palate is not yours and I see many prefer the fresh. So just looking for what works for those who have gone before. Not necessarily KBS, could be anything.
Anyway, thanks for any ideas or input, I'm learning!

 

I typically go new to old in order to see how older vintages change with age. If including a variant (ex: bourbon barrel aged) I read the room and open it at the same time of the corresponding year or separately at the end.

 

Thanks for the feedback, that's kind of my thought too. This will be my first so wanted to ask if there was something I was overlooking.
Follow up question though: You open variants along side? I find if we change (especially something like BBA) that it resets our palates (sp?) and the non-BBA stuff tastes less. Just less.
Now this is quite likely something we as rank amateurs find true, so I was wondering how you allowed for the swing in flavors and mouth feel. Maybe it's something we can learn as well.
Thanks again!

 

A local watering hole had a Bell's Expedition Stout vertical of four years that I went newest to oldest. The fresh tasted great and I was wondering how it could be improved on but with each year going backwards the hops faded and the chocolate changed from slightly bitter to smoother and creamier, like dark chocolate to milk chocolate.

 

Interesting - thank you for your thoughts on this. I guess it really is down to your palate - I personally don't like an over hopped imperial stout and as hops are one of the things that fade over time I can see how hop tending palate tastes would like the newer over the older.
Thanks again, it really is helpful understanding some wildly differing reviews of some beers here.

 

If you’re analyzing each vertical and taking notes then you won’t want to open variants alongside each bottle for the reasons you mentioned. You’ll probably want one sip of each (like judging) and save the rest for the end. For me it’s about opening good beer with friends with light commentary. And if we have the variants we’ll open them.

With enough glassware, you could pour everyone’s sample for each vintage (including variants) and let the drinker decide their approach.

Or, someone could pour and keep track of all vintages, serve them and drinkers can guess which vintage is which.

Whichever way you choose, remember to have fun!

 

I'll definitely pile on the whole idea that the fun of a vertical is all in seeing how a beer changes with age so going fresh to older makes sense to me, but I also love blending beer so I am always into the plan of pouring all the beers at once and then tasting in any order and blending as the user sees fit

 

So continuing to attempt to shrink the cellar, there's going to be a lot of options from the 2013-2014 era, as that's when I first really started to get into the idea of aging beer.
Tonight I'm digging into a pair of Burton Baton I'd stashed away around this time, one bottle dated 06/08/12, the other from 03/04/14. I chose BB because I have a written review of a 'fresh' bottle already recorded so can refer back to see how my impression differs with the age. I don't expect ~8 years to be that different from ~6 years, but I imagine both will be pretty different from my impression fresh (which dates from 2012). This was one of the first 100 or so beers I ever reviewed on this site, and I was blown away. At the time I had it rated as the third best beer I'd ever reviewed (the top two at the time of writing for BB were 60 Minute and Pike XXXXX Stout, for reference... man that feels like a long time ago), though by the end of that year it would barely be in the top ten.



Initial impression is that the 'crystal clear amber' with good lacing that I experienced 8 years ago has muddled into a murky rust coloured liquid with a nice little cap of off white head that settles in but leaves no lacing. Mildly interesting, but it was between these two vintages that DFH went from having a paper label band upon the neck to no upper label, but having the DFH logo embossed directly in the glass of the bottle itself.



Instead of 'muted hops with a little bit of wood and sweet malts underneath' the two aged bottles start to diverge, and somewhat surprisingly to me. The 2014 is a little more muted than the 2012 featuring some light oak, a touch of leather and a high note that's kind of herbal kind of sweet. The 2012 however jumps deep into the rich caramel and tobacco, definitely some leather and a bit of milk chocolate.

Flavour of the 2012 is smoothe and has that same comfortable rich old ale-esque flavours of leather and tobacco and faint caramel, but again a cocoa/chocolate that I didn't expect at all. It's really good. The 2014 in contrast is just less... worn in and complementary. The edges are a little more jarring. More green, and more narrow. It's got the spice from the tobacco of the 2012, and the thinning element of the oak. It almost reminds me of the astringency that smoked malts can add to certain beers, though obviously not all the way into the smoked realm. 2014 is easily my least favourite of the three vintages, it turns out. It's not BAD per se, but fresh, and at 8 years it's incredible (albeit in different ways). I got a lot of big pine and resin of hops in the fresh version, but that's all gone here in the aged ones.



All around I was surprised at how different the 2012 and 2014 drank, and at the order of my preference. It's possible, given that my 'fresh' review was in 2012 that there was some annual variation that is at play here, but I have no evidence to support that other than preferring the 2012 aged, as well as the fresh bottle that I drank in 2012 (whatever year it was originally).
This overdue examination certainly upholds Sam Calagione's assertion on the label that Burton Baton 'ages with the best of 'em'.

 

That's the plan, having the best time we can while sampling (and discussing the tastes and opinions) and I do actually have sufficient glassware, so I will take up that idea - thanks!
And thanks for the feedback!