Cellar Reviews (2020)

Never tried Sierra Nevada's RIS's. Nothing wrong with Sierra Nevada, they are good but just not the greatest. I figured their RIS fell into the same category.

Things can be deceiving. I picked up several boomers of a grocery store brand label RIS. They were cheap. Opened one and but 3 in the basement. It was terrible. Not a drain pour but I struggled to make it threw the bottle. I kept pushing them to the back of the cellar for about 3 years. They were taking up to much space so I opened a second one. It was amazing. It was everything you look for in an RIS. I opened another one about 6 months later with the same great results. I still have one. It came from Big Y and I think it was made by Berkshire Brewery.

 

Although I love SN I don’t particularly like Narhwal fresh, but I had a 2016 earlier this year and thought it was very good, undoubtedly better than fresh for my palate. I’ve never had any older than that so I don’t know if there’s even more of a sweet spot with more time, but I can say that at four years it was drinking great.

 

For me it's one year. Others say differently, but I've had several different years fresh at 1, 2, and 3 years old and to me the cholcolatey goodness that I love so much begins to fall at 2 years. 1 year gives hops time to fade a bit. If you like more of the cherry aged stout flavor, probably 3 years.

 

I love hoppy stouts. Fresh Narwhal for me!

 

So far narwhal has been most up my alley fresh. Although I am optimistic that there will be another peak sometime around the 3-4 year mark and I have one 18 left to try. If it's a dud at 3 years though I'm gonna stick with fresh

 

On to cellar review news;

My first ever Samuel Smith Yorkshire Stingo. This is another selection from.the dusty cooler shelves of a weirdly well stocked local liquor store. I believe the date code reads "SI17S1" which I believe means August 17, 2019.

This beer was not at all what I expected.

Right when I popped the cap I was hit with a wave of bright fruity esters, big pear and yellow apple predominantly.
The pour yielded a deep amber liquid that took an impressive head of foam from a careless pour and had great retention and lacing. The rich almost cidery aromas continued to vex me. Though more of a candied, malty, slightly caramel base note has come through as it has warmed and breathed.
The taste followed with big hits of apple juice (not cider but that bright filtered apple juice flavor) to balance the rich, bready malt base for a surprisingly bright and fresh tasting beer.
Mouthfeel was heavy but not as heavy as I expected.

I suspect that I am just not at all familiar with English ales and had a sort of combination of an English barleywine and a Belgian quad in my head as the image of this beer. Instead I found a full bodied beer that reminds me of something like an old school american amber ale combined with fortified apple cider?

I'm not really sure what to make of this and may need to pick up another bottle just to get a second opinion from this really smart guy I known named future me.

Anyone have any experience aging this one? I feel like I've heard that it ages well but that may just be the vibe I get from the label.

 

I drank a much younger bottle (2018) on Christmas Eve. Didn't take detailed notes but I noted it was still fairly boozy, flavors of mild caramel and rum soaked fruit.

 

Not too much of a cellaring, but wanted to note that I think Troeg's Mad Elf is much better with a year of age on it- tones down with sweetness of the cherry.

Drank a 2019 can on Christmas Day

 

That was a 2018. I missed out on the 2019 release, honestly not even sure they did the 2020 at least not the way they have in past years, because I was checking in periodically for months and never saw anything about this years release.

 

Your review again makes me wish I could order beers online.

 

Tried one dated 10/24/2019 and it was a completely different animal... in the absolute best ways possible. Felt like a special treat... much more complimentary melding of flavors; hops still kinda there, semi sweet chocolate, and nicely balanced dark fruit character.

 

Greetings Cellar Dwellars! 2020 is almost over, that can’t be a terrible thing right? Not my first beer of the night but my first cellar dive is this 2014 BCBBW. No additional introduction needed.

Pours very dark brown with some ruby hues on the edges when held to light. Head is a small sliver of dark tan. Aroma is just massive boozy dark fruits. Huge port notes and cognac. Fig, dates, raisin, black cherry. I also get cocoa, oak, and bourbony booze. Wonderful. Taste is wonderful port wine prominent. It’s actually drinking like a spirit right now, super rich and lower in carbonation. Like the nose it’s dark fruits galore, perhaps a touch more of the bakers chocolate, less barrel notes than the nose but they are still present. A bit of bitterness finishes it off. Mouthfeel is still really good even at 6 years, about as drinkable as always. Overall just a stellar beer that has aged wonderfully.

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







Happy New Year!

 

Nice! i was tossing up whether to drink a ‘13 or a ‘14 tonight , ended up going with the 14. Woulda def done the ‘13 had I seen you post, coulda been a virtual 2 man tasting!

 

NYE cellar beer #2 is a 2015 Bourbon Barrel Aged Mexican Cake. I never intended to age this one 5 years but here we are! This was probably least favorite of the 2015 MC variants when drank fresh, the only one I’ve had with age on it was the cognac variant which I thought was excellent but had understandably faded some. Let’s see how this bourbon variant is drinking.

Pours opaque black with greater than 1 fingers width of dense head that has good retention. Aroma is huge coconut which is interest since out of all the adjunct coconut is not one of them, and also big cinnamon (which actually is one of the adjuncts). Next is chocolate and vanilla, a bit of cardboard which may be showing some of its age. Barrel characters are present but mild, mostly charred oaky vanilla. Wow taste remains excellent. Really surprised by how well this has held up. Explosion of flavors on the first sip including chocolate, huge cimmamon, and shockingly prominent peppery heat. Roasted malt, charred oak, bit of cardboard (actually in a pleasant way, which sounds weird; I sometimes get this character with fresh beers too, COAST regular and BA Blackbeerd is one that I often used to get these pleasant cardboard like notes). Pretty prominent dark fruits and a bit of brown sugar round it out. Like the nose barrel characters are not particularly strong but are definitely still present. I can’t believe how much capsaicin peppery heat is still here, it’s almost too much even at 5 plus years from bottling. Mouthfeel is full bodied, no carb issues at all, a bit limited drinkability due to the pepper characters. Overall, really great. I’m shocked how well this has held up, kinda disappointed I don’t have another to take out even longer.

Cheers BA’s, this will be my last posting on this thread, but looking forward to Cellar Reviews 2021. Huge thanks to @Beersnake1 for introducing me to this thread, and honestky reigniting my passion for craft beer in the process!

Happy New Year!

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



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