Cellar Reviews (2020)

OK, this will sound harsh (perhaps), but when I had a VSOJ shortly after the release, my take was something like, "This is great, BUT this is really just what a great BA BW is supposed to taste like. It's not earth-shattering, but it is everything a great BA BW should be." IMO, it's very similar to the 13/14 BCBBW, and to Veil Circle of Wolves (Bourbon BA version). In my opinion, Jackie Os Cellar Cuvee 11 is also similar, but that's different. Again, this is great, and I'd give it north of a 4.5, but at least the one that I had (the only one i've had) wasn't an earth-shattering experience the way that some other BA BWs have just blown my socks off. To be even more redundant, it is certainly world class, I just don't think it's earth shattering.

IMO, you wouldn't necessarily know it's a 2-yr BA, but you definitely recognize that it is BA.

What's different about Rev is that they barrel multiple different recipes - some sweeter, some drier, etc. They then blend these (after all the BAing is done) to make the final blend that is canned. VSOJ is on the sweeter side compared to some of the SJ that have been released the last 3 years.

 

It doesn't make it to the shelf per se but there's a store here which get's it periodically, posts on social media and then it's usually gone the same day. They got Mamouche and Fou back in March of this year. Of course I was out of town that day.

 

Agree on FF. That is one beer in my opinion best to drink fresh. It gets too tart/acidic for my tastes over time. Others like Spuyten can loose all of their fruit (cranberry) notes with age. That said, there are several fruit based lambics that do very well with some age. Popped an 07 LPK the other day and it was one of the best beers I have ever tried. Others like St. Lam, older boos, pinot d, and especially Soleil balance well over time with some added funk playing off the fruit.

 

Tonight’s cellar beer is a 2017 Marshal Zhukov. Probably my all time favorite, non-BA, non-adjunct Imperial Stout. Always ages well too.

Pours motor oil thick and black as can be imagined. Dense super dark head. Aroma is very roasty, very chocolatey, more subtle leather notes. Taste is super intense. Huge roast, huge leather and tobacco, very big herbaceous oak like characters and unsweetened dark cocoa on the finish. Other characters are coffee and subtle dark fruits. Pretty big bitterness to balance the roast. Mouthfeel is full bodied and thick. Overall, just fantastic. This hits all the notes a great RIS should hit. IMO, it’s the epitome of the style. Even with all that praise, it only gets better with age and I would say it still hasnt even peaked at 3 years.

4.75/4.25/4.75/4.5/4.75
(Original/Fresh rating: 5/4.5/4.5/4.5/4.5, of note original rating was before BA had .25 intervals)



post image online

 

After you piqued my interest about this a while back I went to their website. First of all, and this isn't the main thrust of this comment, too many breweries have terrible websites in terms of finding complete release schedules. But I found nothing there about Brown Shugga. Anyone with alternative sources of info, or more adept at navigating their site, know if this is still on for later this year?

 

Without looking up exactly details or finding a release schedule, if my memory serves me right it’s usually released in the fall, so I would suspect it in the next 4-6 weeks or so.

It’s also not something that exactly flies off the shelves, so depending on how the beer stores are in OH I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s available nearly year round (I think the big box beer/liquor stores by me have it almost year round).

 

Reached into the basement on this holiday weekend.
The 1997. Version is medium in body, lots of fruit expression. Think dark cherry, with hints of raisins, plum and dark chocolate dusted on the plate.
Carbonation is excellent, cleaning up the edges. Feel is just short of slick, which is a nod to the brewer.
Only a few of these left, drinking really well
Do good
Be well

 

https://imgur.com/gallery/TstDu4o


2016 BCBS

Finally opened my last one. As always tastes better once is warms. Barely any barrel mostly a chocolate flavor. Quality of these beers are always great. I never aged one to see how it held up but it’s great. I believe this was the “infected year”
And it was fantastic. Worth waiting on this one. Happy Labor Day all and hopefully I uploaded photo correctly

 

don't let the Rose de Gambrinus go too long. I picked up two bottles when we visited the brewery in Belgium a couple years ago. Drank one at 6 months, the other at 18 months. Was better fresh, as they recommend.

 

2018 Free Will Erma Xtra - Foudre Aged Saison

375 corked and capped bottle. 2018 vintage, so about 2 years old

pours a fairly clear orange golden color, until the yeast clouds things up a bit. thick head, great head retention. complex aroma of wildflower honey, dried apricots, oak, and a bit of funk. similar taste, starts a little sweet and finished mildly tart. great depth of flavor. medium bodied, lively carbonation of nice tiny bubbles

 

Tonight’s vintage beer is a 2018 Dark Arts (Scotch Barrel Aged). This beer is not new to me, but this vintage is. They rotate different types of barrels each year, and I beleive this is my first experience with the scotch barrel variant. I typically love this series, let’s see how this one is drinking.


Very dark brown on the pour, black in the glass. 1 fingers width light tan head, decent retention. Aroma is huge roast, huge malty characters, moderate to mild scotch barrel notes. It actually smells more like a well aged Old Ale than a huge ABV imperial stout. I get essentially zero wild/brett characters. Aroma is very nice though. Taste is much more stout like. Prominent roasted malt, semisweet cocoa, some oaky notes on the finish. Scotch notes are very subtle which i actually appreciate as I don’t love scotch bomb beers. The brett notes are definitely present and are, odd. It’s actually hard for me to say if they add or detract from the beer, but I’m leaning the latter. Not sure the funk is really needed or necessary. Its an interesting flavor profile, not my favorite but good. Mouthfeel is on the thinner side, it has an elevated carbonation, probably development from 2 years in the bottle with the wild strains. ABV is exceptionally well masked, but it’s just too thin. Overall, this is not a bad beer but it was pretty disappointing. I’ve had several years vintages of Dark Arts and have loved them all (the tequila barrel ones in particular were just absolutely fantastically good), but this one just sort of fell flat.


4.5/4.25/4/3.5/4

(Original/fresh: n/a)

 

I'm totally down on the "candy" description, and I've wanted to use it before to describe a note I was getting in Whiskey. All that said, "candy" is pretty ambiguous, and I'm curious what you mean specifically by this flavor note for this beer.