Cellar Reviews (2020)

Worked all weekend, which means vintage cellar beer tonight. 2016 Westbrook Bourbon Barrel Aged 5th Anniversary. IS with raspberries, cocoa nibs, and vanilla beans.

Pours opaque, jet black, very dark mocha head. Aroma is surprisingly still strong with the adjuncts: raspberry, chocolate, and most surprisingly lots of vanilla. The bourbon barrel notes have faded and are now quite subtle. Base beer characters include decently strong roast and subtle leather. Taste is big raspberry, paired with semisweet dark cocoa on the finish. Some raw oak, faint bitterness, nice roastiness. Like the nose the bourbon characters have faded pretty substantially. Overall, the beer is very very tasty, but i do wish there was more residual barrel notes.

4.25/4.5/4.25/4.25/4.25
(Original/fresh review: 4.5/4.75/4.25/4.25/4.25)

 

Tonight’s beer is a 2015 Wicked Weed Tequila Dark Arts. I was really blown away by this beer, and it’s espresso counterpart, when fresh. I have generally really loved this series although the last one I had (Scotch BA variant) was a bit disappointing. The tequila variants have been my favorite though. I thought when fresh the Brett characters were very mild, which was a plus, so I am a bit concerned about how it has developed in 5 years. I’ve been saving this one for a special occasion, but I didn’t really have one and wanted to drink it tonight, so figured a Monday was special enough.

Pour is jet black, light tan head. Aroma is huge leather and tobacco. Some roastiness, subtle fusel alcohol, and very faint tequila notes. Not a ton going on in the nose. Taste remains super rich. Big chocolate, huge maple syrup like sweetness, coffee, candied sugar, fudge. There are some Brett notes, they seem a bit more prominent than fresh although that’s based off notes not memory; not sure how much it contributes to what I like about the flavor profile (probably not much) but it doesn’t detract. I get essentially no tequila notes. Don’t really care though, cause this is phenomenal. Mouthfeel is super smooth, ABV is remarkably restrained, dangerous drinkability for this 15% ABV’er. Overall, just a fantastic beer.

4.5/4/4.75/4.75/4.75
(Original/fresh review:4.25/4.25/4.5/4.5/4.5)




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I love this beer fresh. I actually just put one into the fridge to drink soon. I hope the maple syrup notes didn’t fade too much. but judging from your review sounds like it did.

 

I've never had a fresh version of BCBCS, so I don't have the comparison. But I've had BCBS, and I figure coffee should be an easy enough flavour to pick out, yeah? 2017 bottle that I am pretty sure was sent my way by @FlintB during one of the absolute blasts known as the NBS BIF.

Nose right off is strong and rich. Chocolate and boozy raisins and some faintly bitter tobacco. Not much coffee, at least not on the nose, and at least not tat this age.

Flavour is, again, rich and bold. It's less 'hot' and boozy than the nose, but it definitely packs a punch. Sweet toffee and condensed milk and sure enough there's the coffee. Vanilla and bourbon spice as well.

It's very smoothe and, again, while definitely double digits ABV, it's approachable.
I've got my feelings about GI and all that, but there's no denying that this is really well made and definitely tasty.

 

I've got tons of that stuff in my cellar, I think ranging back to '09. It's a killer value, great beer, and it ages beautifully. I've never caught any metallic flavor in there, no matter how old. I opened a '13 not long ago, and while I don't review or take notes usually on my beers, It was as good as any I'd had.
I usually pick up a half-dozen or more bottles every year.

 

I recently opened a CW Ardea Insignis. It was excellent! Just a good ol fashioned BA stout. Great barrel presence huge chocolate notes and the mouthfeel was viscous, but not overly thick and chewy as most BA stouts are now. Reminded me of old school Bourbco but a little more character. First time trying it so not sure how it tasted when released.

 

Nice! It was super hot fresh and took 2-3 years to mellow out. Glad you enjoyed it.

 

Last post on here was Oct 6th. 10 days without beer makes one weak! So back at it tonight, with this 2016 Westbrook Grand Mere; a cognac barrel aged old ale with oranges. I’m assume you can guess what it was brewed to resemble. When drinking fresh I thoroughly enjoyed but thought the orange characters were a bit too prominent. Four and a half years later I am guessing they have faded but let’s see.


Whoa. This ones a pure gusher. Undrinkable. Undoubtedly infected. Damn, what a disappointment. I can’t even count the number of Westbrook beers I’ve had, tons of them have been BA, and I’ve never once had an infected one from them. Well this ones going to be a drain pour. I have one more Grand Mere, Ill save that for another day, while anticipating the worst but hoping for the best.


(Original/fresh review: 4.25/4.5/4.25/4/4.25)

 

Having never been one to be weighed down by negativity I decided to dive deeper into the cellar. Fuck that Grand Mere, going for a real beer this time. 2013 Mother of All Storms. No introduction needed.


Pour yields a nice dark tan head, no signs of carbonation issues after 7 years. Aroma is burnt cinnamon toast, big candied sugar, tons of dark fruits. There are some lingering oaky bourbon notes still hanging around. Some bakers cocoa and a bit of fusel ethanol to round it out. Taste is dark fruits, more bitterness than I anticipated, some molasse type sweetness. Hints of oxidation appear to be creeping in which detracts a bit but it’s still very enjoyable. Not really any barrel characters left to speak of. All in all, enjoyed as always but I think it’s safe to say it’s past it’s prime. Actually, if being honest, I think I prefer fresh MoAS above it with any amount of age on it. That being said it’s always enjoyable and this was no exception.


4.5/4.5/4.25/4.25/4.25
(Original/fresh review: 4/4.5/4.5/4.5/4.5; of note this review was before BA had 0.25 intervals and I admit it’s an underrating as this beer is world class)




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Glad you liked it, hope you weren’t disappointed

 

It was great!

 

This is such a nostalgic beer for me. Have liked Fruet a bit more. Glad to here it was tasting nice Ive found these to be getting a little overboard with the sugars now prob bottle to bottle variation.

Popped a 2015 Black Tuesday the other day drinking real nice right now. Heat is gone.

 

Nothing too crazy or old tonight, but a classic. 2018 BCBS.


Jet black, dense tan head. Aromas of huge roastiness, leather, cinnamon, tobacco, subtle chocolate, and charred oak. Taste has dark fruits up front, then huge char and roastiness on the back end. Some molasses like sweetness balances things out. Barrel notes are prominent and very nice. As dangerously drinkable as always.


I love Bourbon County Brand Stout at all ages. I am not sure what my personal sweet(est) spot is, but I do think it’s a bit older than this. I guess I will have to keep drinking vintages of these until I find that perfect age!

 

Some friends recently moved out of their house but had a pretty large stash of leftover beers. They invited me to take a bunch of them, so I did. Most were 1-3 years old in styles that should not be aged.
Then I noticed this Founders Dirty Bastard:

Apparently an eight year old Dirty Bastard, not your typical cellar beer, but also not a pale ale/lager like most of their old stuff.



Appearance: Murky brown, fizzy head that disappears within 30 seconds.

Smell: Cardboard, then earthy chocolate.

Taste: Surprisingly not bad. Dark chocolate mostly, earthy finish. A little chalky and dry.

Most of the roasted sweetness I get when this is fresh is gone but the beer is more chocolate-y in this aged state. An interesting surprise from a totally unintended experiment.

 

I love ultra high ABV beers, I also respect the fact that they went with the 16oz can. 12oz of a 17% ABV beer is just not enough!

 

I’m drinking a non-vintage beer tonight. It feels weird, like I’m cheating or something.....