Cellar Reviews (2020)

The moment you realized you’re a degenerate. Ordering Denny’s Moons Over My Hammy from Doordash at 9pm on a Monday night. Cracking open a 2018 Founders Breakfast Stout to celebrate rock bottom.


Pour is midnight black with a huge tan head that has great retention. Aroma is huge coffee, huge chocolate, a lactose like sweetness, and roasted malt. Just a great nose. Taste follows, with huge chocolate, coffee, and sweet heavy cream. Bitterness has mellowed which I love. Mouthfeel is silky smooth with exceptional drinkability. I’ve had this beer everywhere from fresh to over 5 years and for me, the 1-2ish years is really the sweet spot. Allows the bitterness to fade but all the other flavors to remain prominent. Fantastic.

4.5/4.5/4.5/4.75/4.5)
(Original/fresh review:4/4.5/4.5/4/4.5; of note original review was before BA had 0.25 intervals)

 

Breaking into a 2019 Napa Parabola this evening. I absolutely loved this thing fresh, much to my surprise. I only grabbed one and was only able to score a second some months later as I passed through Paso Robles and consider it a sign of immense restraint that I held onto this one until now. My original review is from July of '19 and there's no packaging date so I'm guessing we're looking at a beer that is 18-20 months in the bottle.



Nose is way heavier chocolate, almost fudgy, with dark berry and black cherry hiding in the background.
The taste has that red wine, cherry/oak/prune thing going strong. Almost none of the normal dark malty depth of parabola, instead a very vinous depth of character here with cigar and notes of a leather shop cutting the sweetness. The impression of red wine grows as the beer warms, the aftertaste especially is.becoming very much that of red wine.
Mouth feel is that familiar full parabola body with some enhanced focus put on the build up by that growing red wine vibe.

Overall this is one of my more interesting cellaring experiences. Fresh I got just a blush of extra berry and plum flavors that gave a little shine to regular parabola. Now the presence of the red wine is prominent, especially compared to the relative mellowing I usually see in parabola as it ages. If I see this again I'd love to try it even older just out of curiosity, but at this point in time I'd take regular parabola

 

Tonight’s beer is a 2017 BCB Prop. First time trying this one, not gonna lie this is one of the variants I’ve been most excited to try.

Pours black with a decent dark tan head. Aroma starts with the typical BCB roastiness and wonderful barrel notes. Banana definitely remains on the nose, which i was a bit nervous about due to the age. Cinnamon is also fairly prominent, nutty characters are present but subtle. Banana is definitely the most prominent adjunct aroma. Taste is incredibly sweet but not cloying and incredibly good. Rich chocolate and a molasses like sugary sweetness up front. Roasted malt and big bourbony vanilla and charred oak on the finish. The banana characters also come out on the finish and add really great notes to this beer. Cinnamon remains quite prominent, and in the taste is the most prominent adjunct; it’s huge actually. I get a bit of almond, but like the nose it’s def the most subtle of the 3 listed adjuncts. Just phenomenal. Mouthfeel is smooth, full bodied but not unnecessarily thick, with dangerous drinkability. Overall, just a truly stellar beer. I wish I would have tried one fresh as I’m guessing the banana would have been even more prominent. Regardless this is still exceptional and is one of my favorite Props to date (I have now had them all except 2019). Worth seeking out.

4.25/4.5/4.75/4.75/4.75
(Original/Fresh review: n/a)





2.99 breakfast

 

Vintage beer loving brethren, I ask, is there a better series of barrel aged stouts to cellar than Bourbon County?

Spinning off my own recent post, but it’s so impressive how these beers hold up. As I’ve seen @unlikelyspiderperson and others mention, many BA stouts do not necessarily get better with time as those barrel characters tend to fade, but the BCBS series seems to just hold up so well. I do need to expand my cellar horizons, so to speak, as I don’t want to pigeon hole myself into limited options in the future. So does anyone have any options or opinions on great BA stouts (or BA barleywines/old ales) that tend to hold up very well with time? I have a lot of good options for non-BA IS’s, but would like to start seeking out some BA variants that age well, other than the BCB series.

 

Hmm the only thing I can think of is FW, both parabola and sucaba seem to age well. I've not had either older than maybe 3 years but I think parabola improves with at least a little age. Beyond that I just don't know of any practically obtainable BA programs that come.close to aging like BCS. I also have very little experience with anything out east so I'm likely missing somebody.

Out here though, besides Firestone there's the strong ale stuff from hair of the dog, and I've.heard great.things about Fremont BA stuff.but nothing about them aging especially well

 

I agree that BCBS is a stellar option due to availability and how well it holds up. One of the few beers that in my preference no doubt improves with more age.

Runner up to it would hands down be north coast old stock ale. For the price and availability you have very little to lose. And this one, in my experience has been one that improves during the long haul. I dont think it will ever become jw lees, but with a lot of age on it there are striking similarities.

 

Anyone think it is reviewing a '17 Sunday Morning Stout?

 

If you mean to say "is it worth reviewing" then yes I think so. It think almost any aged beer is worth reviewing whether good or bad results expected.

 

My question was more along the lines of should I drink it now or age it more? It's a coffee stout with 3 years on it, I know coffee doesn't tend to age well.

Bottle has a 2 year best by date if that means annything.

 

Ohhhh, sorry for the misunderstanding.

 

Any reason you'd hold onto it? Might as well crack it now

 

I have yet to have a fresh SMS. Had one at 1.5 and 1 yr and was not impressed.

 

No reason at all not to drink it after the day I had. Agree with the folks above no reason to sit on this one.

 

Report back! Also sounds like we may get some good ramblings in your ramble thread. Lol

 

Tonight’s beer is a vintage Pumpking, no bottling dates but I believe this is a 2015, one of the earlier-perhaps first, years it was packaged in 12oz format. I’ve never had one with this much age on it so let’s see how it has developed.

Pour is a murky dark copper, with a pretty large tan head. Aromas of pumpkin, cinnamon, and pie crust remain huge. This doesn’t seem to have faded at all on the nose. Actually, it’s probably better than fresh. Really great aroma. Unfortunately taste has faded substantially. It had a bit of pumpkin, not much else, some non-descriptive bitterness, faint metallic notes likely from early oxidation. Overall, this is a pretty big miss. Not that I think most people are aging Pumpking for 5 years, but if you are considering it I would recommend voiding that plan.

3.75/4.5/3/3.25/3.25

 

Tonight’s second beer is a vintage Birthday Bomb. Bottling stamp is visible but doesn’t seem to contain dates. I am not sure but I believe this is a 2016 vintage.

Pour is jet blank with just a partial sliver of fizzy dark mocha head that dissipates immediately. Aroma is hugely massive black coffee. Coffee bomb even with the years on it. Aside from coffee I also get a good amount of dark fruits, subtle bakers chocolate, roasted malt and some capsaicin peppery notes. Taste is sweeter than the nose implied, and it’s very complex and well balanced. Big sweetness up front with chocolate, molasses and pretty big vanilla surprisingly. Next is roastiness and nice black coffee bitterness which balance the sweetness perfectly. Faint peppery heat notes on the finish to round this out. Really, really, great. ABV is well restrained, drinkability is very good. Overall, really great. Surprisingly, when comparing to my notes from fresh, it hasn’t developed all the much.


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

what temp for betta fish water

 

@zac16125 you took the words right outta my mouth with the bomb! Prairie is a barrel program I'd expect to age well.

Also, Bell's I haven't personally aged but I'd expect BA expedition or black note to age well.

 

Another one that I don't have enough personal experience with but that seems like it has potential is Jackie o's. That thick body seems like its.central to ba stouts that age well

 

I'm interested in the Prairie experiences because every one of the Bombs I've had fresh taste so balanced that I didn't think you could improve on it. But that's why we do the experiments.

I've attended an Expedition Stout vertical tasting and it ages wonderfully. A fellow sot I usually agree with complains about soy tastes but I don't get that at all. Mainly as the hops fade the chocolate goes from dark chocolate to milk chocolate. Maybe there's a maximum point of aging but at five years it still tastes great. Likewise Bell's Third Coast Old Ale for an American style barleywine. Black Note ages well on the rare occasion I can get my hands on it

Stouts that Patrick Dawson in Vintage Beer recommends aging are

Expedition Stout
Brooklyn Brewery Black Chocolate Stout
Deschutes The Abyss
Founders Imperial Stout
BCBS
Midnight Sun Berserker
Stone Imperial Russian Stout
Three Floyds Dark Lord

I'm not sure why he doesn't include Old Rasputin because he's a big fan of North Coast Old Stock Ale but that's why we're here to fill in the blanks.

 

Today’s NFL Sunday Funday brunch beer is a 2018 Founders CBS. An elite beer fresh, in my experience it has actually held up surprisingly well considering it’s adjunct nature. Let’s see how it’s drinking now.

Pours jet black, large and very dense tan head with great retention and lacing. Aroma is big chocolate, fairly big coffee, maple syrup notes are def still present but had faded some on the nose. Pretty substantial bourbon notes including oaky vanilla. Very good aroma profile but overall they are somewhat muted. Taste remains excellent, very sweet with lots of maple syrup characters remaining. I get both milk and dark chocolate, not much coffee just a bit of bitterness on the back end. Roastiness to balance, bourbon characters are present but quite mild which is interesting considering the maple syrup remains very prominent. Mouthfeel is silky smooth and this is incredibly drinkable considering the ABV. Overall this is a fantastic beer. I do think it’s better fresh but IMO it actually holds up very well

5/4.25/4.5/4.75/4.5
(Original/fresh review: 4:4/5/4.5/5; of note original review was before BA had 0.25 intervals)

food on sawmill