Cellar Reviews (2021)

Not that I’m glad to hear it, but it’s nice to confirm that my 2012 wasn’t an outlier.

 

Friend visited Portland last month and knows I live for barrel aged stouts. He said he walked in to about 6 breweries (Great Notion being one of them) and asked if they have BA Stouts in which they all replied with " we have IPAs "
When he walked into Deschutes and they said they do have BA Stouts he told them to give him their most expensive one . Heres to a great friend and a great brewery .
Didn't pick up overpowering licorice or heavy molasses, this thing was Damned good and my first from Deschutes. Just a great fuckin beer

 

Chocolate,vanilla and coffee greatness. No off flavors at all.
Speakeasy has been one of our top breweries ever since we visited them about 7 years ago in SF after hitting 21st Amendment.
This blew me and the wife away. A perfect blend and have seen #1 and #2 at our bottle shops which we may buy, but this is greatness.

 

2014 Eclipse with honey
Found 3 of these and bought them all.
Off top was chocolate,oakynes, and a faint alcohol heat followed by honey up the wazoo. Surprised that they were just sitting there. Throughly enjoyed all 3

 

Cant edit my Deschutes post but its 2013 Abyss. Bought at Deschutes in Portland so i trust it was cellared in the most proper way

 

Doggie Claws vertical done over the last three days, otherwise this would have been a Doggie Claws horizontal. My recent package from Hair of the Dog included 3 vintages of Doggie Claws. I started with 2013.



Massive, rocky head with plenty of lace. Slightly hazy dark coppery amber body. Surprisingly similar to my recollection of the 2018 bottle I opened last month. Less pine, but it's hanging in there as a biting tingle at the finish. Caramel and honey sweetness throughout with hints of cherry. Robust carbonation gives this a satisfyingly full mouthfeel. Damn good after all this time. Call this a 4.25, I preferred the 2018 version slightly.



2010 vintage opened in July 2021. Looks just like the 2013 bottle. Similarities end there, hard to believe this is the same beer. Various stone fruits soaked in honey and gentle booze. Traces of chocolate and marzipan at the edges. No pine and scant bitterness remains. Magnificent, call it a 4.75.



2008 vintage opened in July 2021. I had this vintage way back in 2009 and apparently did not enjoy it all that much. I said it was too sweet and gave it a 3.5. This a touch hazier than the other vintages. Very faint carbonation and LOTS of sludge left in the bottom of the bottle. What little foam there was had staying power. It never faded completely and left a bit of lace behind. I left a little liquid in the bottle to ensure no sediment in the glass. I drank that last swallow separately and it was intensely, unpleasantly bitter. What I enjoyed in the glass had almost no bitterness, so I'm very glad I left the sludge behind. This isn't as complex as the 2010, but it's satisfyingly good for a teenage beer. Loads of sweet caramel dominate the flavor, it also asserts itself magnificently in the aroma. In addition, I found hints of honey, peach, and vanilla. The gentle, almost non-existent carbonation works fine with this type of beer to me. Call it a 4.25.

I thoroughly enjoyed this process and was pleasantly surprised but how different all three vintages were. Hair of the Dog is a unique brewery that had been off my radar for too long. I am now halfway through the 12 pack I ordered and I am very pleased with the quality thus far. 2019 Matt and 2010 Doggie Claws are the standouts for now. Looking forward to the second half of this order and to the next order...

 

Bell’s 30th Anniversary Ale

Still very good, smooth and silky, cocoa, 11% has mellowed out, just as good if not better as earlier tastings

bottled 08-27-2015

 

Firestone never disappoints. Had this on the 4th.
A damned good STRONG BODIED barleywine
2016 Sucaba that I got for 10 dollars at a liqour store

 

Just got a massive order from them. The 2010 doggie claws getting opened tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it.

 

2016 World Wide Stout

Chocolate Syrup, very smooth, can’t taste the 15+%

 

A bottle of Westvleteren 12 that I brought back from Belgium in 2018. About at the 2.5 year mark, cap is stamped with a best by date in November 2021.

Poured from cellar temperature its got a lively head. Wonderful aroma of complex dried fruit, rum, and tobacco. Similar flavors, fairly dry. The only thing keeping this from being a perfect 5 is the mouthfeel is a little thin feeling. By comparison, I find that St Bernardus Abt 12 tends to have a creamier feel.

 

Haven't been dipping into the cellar much recently. Not a lot there to be honest. However, tonight I enjoyed a 2020 Willetized and a 2020 Unkindness (rum ba stout celebrating a local breweries 25th anniversary). Both are probably around 8-9 months old and thus hardly "cellared". Hell, half the reason I opened my last unkindness is because I know I can grab more from a local store.

However, both were wonderful beers that remind me of the real reason I keep a beer cellar. So I can pull out delicious beer that isn't just sitting on the shelves and enjoy it at my leisure. Cheers to the adequate beer supply! And cheers to you intrepid agers! I've got some older stuff that ill crack as the weather cools

 

Today’s Sunday Funday beer is a 2020 BCB Anniversary Stout. Aged 2 years in 12 year Weller barrels. I wasn’t intending to cellar this and cellaring is probably not an accurate term as it’s been in the fridge since obtaining which wasn’t really that long ago, but based on the bottling dates it’s over a year old so what the hell will include it here.

Pours opaque blank. Small sliver of dark tan head dissipates quickly; no lacing but some slight alcohol legs. Aroma is wonderful complex bourbon notes; nutty, charred oak, fairly prominent caramel notes, lots of booze. Barrel characters definitely dominant on the nose, only really base beer characters I get are roasted malt. Taste is lovely, bourbon bomb. Boozy, char, earthy. Some dark fruits characters which I wasn’t anticipating. Caramel, bitterness on the back end. Fair amount of fusel alcohol, perhaps a touch too much honestly. Dark chocolate lingers on the finish. Mouthfeel seems thinner than most BCBS, which I can’t really explain, not sure if/why extra time in the barrel would do that. ABV is certainly noticeable but isn’t problematic, and it is a huge ABV clocking in over 15%. Drinkability is pretty good. Overall, this is excellent although I am a bit disappointed as expectations were through the roof and it didn’t quite live up to some of the my favorite BCBS variants including some of the other special barrel non-adjunct variants like both Rares, Reserve 2017. Regardless, it was great and I would drink it everyday if I could but not sure it’s THAT much better than regular BCBS to justify the difficulty in obtaining.

4.25/4.5/4.5/4.25/4.5

 

Cracked 2011 brandy old stock.

It’s the perfect BA Old Ale. 10 years old and shows no signs of its age. One of the guys I shared this bottle with took a sip & said “it’s barrel aged candy” (he meant this as a high compliment for the beer as he rated it a 4.75 out of 5).

Anyways, this beer is a caramel & toffee bomb with a nice smooth brandy & oak note. No oxidation & no off flavors. Smooth as can be without any detected alcohol. Still has nice carbonation levels present.

I knew this was going to be a great bottle, but it even surprised me & blew away my expectations! I think this vintage of brandy old stock can go another 5 maybe even 10 years! Sadly this was my last bottle so I won’t know...

Brandy Old Stock at 10 years old proving that it’s a great cellar staple to impress anyone who is an Old Ale or English BW fan. Such a stable cellar beer that ages perfectly over time. I’ll be honest I think it hasn’t lost much from how that bottle tasted fresh, it’s just gotten smoother to drink with no alcohol burn. Cellar win!

 

These R&D Golden Ales have Brett in them & cellar nicely!

 

Almost 90°, kids are running in the sprinkler and the 2017 Goose Island Matilda is tasting perfect.
Cheers all

 

2018 Don from Hair of the Dog, a double barleywine aged for 18 months in Port, Madeira, Calvados, bourbon and rum barrels. 15.2% ABV.

500ml swing top bottle, I've had 5 oz each day for the last 3 days. For some reason each has been better than the last. I didn't particularly care for it day one but I'm really kinda digging it right now.


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More sweet and less heat today. Here is yesterday's review. I gave it a 3.57 then, might up it a bit now.

I had never heard of this beer until I saw it on the HotD website for sale. I was very excited to try it. Intriguing aroma, more cocktail than beer. Orange, honey, and booze, booze, booze. What kinds of booze? Maybe...all of them? The spirits from fruit seem more prominent. Big, brassy, and exciting.

Flavor falls short of the aroma unfortunately. The sweet elements are all but overwhelmed by alcohol. I could discern some fruit, orange apple, and some darker fruits. The alcohol notes are all over the map. At one moment almost sweet and decadent, the next moment floral, bitter, and unpleasant. Again, more cocktail than beer. And it kind of works. As promised, it was absolutely flat and that did not bother me. I had this at refrigerator temp and at cellar temp. I strongly preferred it cold. The alcohol bite became too intense as it warmed.

From the website- This Beer is meant for sipping and comes in a resealable bottle. Following this directive, I opened this yesterday, had 4-5 oz then resealed the bottle. Love these pseudo growler 500ml bottles. I had very strong negative feelings then but I'm enjoying my 5 oz much more today. Today's pour was muddier. Typically I try very hard to leave the sediment in the bottle, but I wonder if what I got in the glass today helped? I think I'll save the last 5 oz for tomorrow. Probably have even more sediment then.

Hard to recommend this at $35 a bottle. It's unique for sure and I guess I don't regret the purchase.

 

First dip into the cellar in a good long while. A 2012 Harvest Ale matured in sherry casks. I was a little worried about this one getting overly sweet, but that was just foolishness. This is a dessert beer made by true masters of the art. The nose is rich with toffee, vanilla, fresh leather, and golden raisins. Like a lovely christmas kitchen. So inviting.

The taste, as I've sipped through 6 of these 9 ozs over the course of an hour, has a been a wonderful ride through dark, dried fruits, a light and high tannic notes, and a rich velvety booziness that reminds me of the flavor of a dark liquor extracted from the ethanol. Absolutely wonderful ride. A true sipper. Perhaps my favorite example of the Harvest Ale that I've ever had. The sherry seems to work so well with it. I need to get some more bottles of this as it seems like it has many good years left on it.

Cheers cellar dwellars!