Anyone cellar Dark Horse Scotty Karate?

I've got one from last year that I plan on opening alongside a fresh one in the next couple of weeks. I'll let you know how that goes.

 

I plan on doing the same thing and if I remember I will also let you know how it goes.

 

i bought some a year ago and didnt care for it, so i put it away and had one about a month ago and thought it was much better.

 

What makes you think it will get better with age? No, not stirring at alll, just curious to know your rationale. And if it makes sense I might just do the same thing.

 

i will also be putting one away in the next few days, likely for a year or so.

 

I can speak to why I put one away for a year: When I had it fresh for the first time last autumn, I thought its smokey flavor was a bit too strong. In that sense, it reminded me of my first homebrewed scotch ale, which I wasn't terribly satisfied with. I also thought that it tasted pretty boozy, which is understandable for its ABV, but did a bit of a disservice to the complex malty flavors that really make a scotch ale great. I thought, or hoped at least, that these two strong flavors - smoke and alcohol - would fade a bit and give way to a sweeter, more balanced brew.

 

I'm sold. And away my bottle goes until next Christmas.

 

Okay, so a year later, I finally got around to doing this: 2011 v. 2013 Scotty Karate. Turns out I preferred the aged bottle for three reasons. First (and this was the most noticeable change), the straight-up alcohol flavor blended into more of a whisky flavor that I much preferred. Second, I actually got a bit more chocolate malt, which some of the reviews have noted, but that I thought was hidden by the strong toffee flavors when fresh. Third, the carbonation faded just a touch to almost exactly where I wanted it - I think I prefer my beers less fizzy than others do.

For the record, I did the side-by-side blind, so I didn't know for sure which one I was picking over the other. However, the lighter carbonation gave me a decent clue. I would say the difference between the two was significant, but not huge. I actually wouldn't be surprised if it could go a bit longer in the cellar.

 

I love that beer no matter what the age......I have a 4 pack saved each year for last 3 years. Time to do a vertical.