Cellar Reviews (2021)

2017 Stone/ Baladin Collab.
In Bocca Al Lupo

It was good
. If yall passed on this you regret it. The best of ALL the disappointing Groundbreaking Collabs. Thanks to the folks at stone Padasena for these free pours

 

Continue to clear my unintentional cellar beers. This was one of the first "pastry stouts" I was exposed to. Really liked trying these for a period, but have moved on and appreciate the regular BA and non BA versions of stouts which live on their base more so than those drenched with syrup and other flavors.

Mikerphone Smells Like Bean Spirit



OG Review: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/39889/193888/?ba=ChicagoJ#review

This version was contract brewed by Octopi Brewing per the can label, canned 5/6/19, bought at room temperature and stored in the cellar until I pulled this for my refrigerator on 11/28/21.

The appearance and aroma (pure maple syrup backed by roast coffee) are consistent. The very sweet taste has only gotten worse over time, and the roast coffee which attempted to balance the very sweet syrup is no longer present. Not getting anything from the base either, this is as close to drinking maple syrup straight from the bottle as you may have attempted as a five year old. Slightly fizzed carbonation lingers, very rich and syrupy texture. The barrel aged version fresh is better as it provides a better balance, and even the heavier coffee version improves the overall experience.

I am not sure I'll finish all of it, as it is much too sweet and cloying, and I hope to preserve my teeth beyond 2021.

Wouldn't pick these up at this point based on the fact they are too sweet for my preference, definitely would drink these fresh to capture the coffee which was delicious while fresh.

Obligatory music outtake

 

2015 Weyerbacher Blithering Idiot
Bottled on 101415 on bottle neck.
Poured into a Duvel tulip.

Leathery brown hue with no head.

Plum, raisin and medium crystal malt with some sweet, rosy alcohol and light esters.

Flavor is a little deadened with some cola up front, soft medium caramel, rum raisin, and some woody herbal hop noted. Bitterness muted. Past its prime.

Low carbonation and medium bodied.

Past its expiration date unfortunately.

 

Could be my last one of 2021, but plenty of beer remains for the next two years in my cellar.

This is the oldest one I have in my refrigerator, and perhaps oldest overall. Purchased with 5 years on it at a going out of business sale, put this in my cellar upon purchase until June 20, refrigerated until I opened this morning. Not sure if this has been brewed in the past several years.

Brouwerij De Molen Hemel & Aarde



Bottle Notes: The bottom 40% of the date is not clear, but I believe this was bottled March 12, 2013. Brewed and bottled in Bodegraven, the Netherlands. 24 degrees Plato. EBC 342 IBU 108. Handcrafted. Unfiltered. Unpasteurized. Enjoy within 25 years. Keep cool and dark. Recommended drinking temperature 10 Celsius.

Ingredients: Water, Munich, cara, brown and peated barley malts, premiant and sladek (late hopping), yeast (top fermenting). 11.2 oz, Ale, 10% ALC/VOL. Imported by Shelton Brothers, Belchertown, MA.

Appearance: Single pour into a shaker pint glass. Near pitch black base, creamy generous tan head lingers for a few minutes before leaving a creamy full cover over the base. 4.25

Aroma: Strong and powerful smoky dried Polish Sausage, dark roasted malt, light milk chocolate. 4.25

Taste: Mostly smoky dark roast malt, the smoky sausage takes a back seat to both the lead and also a rich creamy milk chocolate. Tastes like downing a chocolate milk with sausage in your mouth. Somewhat weird at this stage of life, but it works and is brewed as advertised. Really amazing these intensive flavors held on so long. 4.5

Mouthfeel: Chocolate becomes more pronounced, sweetness somewhat balanced by the powerful smoky malt. Medium creamy body, drinking much lighter than the 10% ABV, slight smoky sweet aftertaste, with a bit of a chalky residue. 4.0

Overall: Definitely not a lawnmower or everyday beer, but this unique flavor profile works very well, held up superbly, and is a pleasure to drink. Not sure if I will ever come across another one, don't think any additional age would benefit this further. Very glad I opened today! 4.25

Cheers!

 

Reading that makes me enjoy the beer I'm having just a little less, nice review!

 

Cracked my last can of 2020 Ryeway to Heaven from Revolution Brewing last night at a solstice gathering.

Such an immaculate beer! The wonderful heat of the fresh beer has died down significantly and what was left was just a rich, smooth, rye brownie experience. It was an amazing sipper.

Definitely a beer that made an enjoyable lateral move with a yearish of age, but only because it was so intensely in my wheel house fresh. I imagine if it was a little hot and heavy with the liquor or the rye when fresh, then the year old offering would be much more enjoyable

 

Rev brews do not (generally) age as well as some of their counterparts. Style plays a role, of course. I don’t mind the heat on most at front, but you certainly are correct that it melds well as it sits over a year (and a year is WELL within the range of acceptable. 3 years is definitely no issue for rev beers, although I definitely prefer their stouts fresher.)

This style should be in my wheelhouse, but I just don’t really enjoy the ryewine the same that I do with Barleywines. This is in spite of living rye whiskey. I do not generally tend to enjoy rye BA as much as Bourbon BA, so I am surely that plays a role, too.

Very glad you were able to enjoy it. If you ever need additional, send me a message.

 

My experience hasn’t meshed with the statement “Revolution Beers do not age as well some of their counterparts”.

Absolutely loved a 4 1/2 year old bottle of Straight Jacket (12/15 opened 5/20), and their canned SJ versions (standard and VSOJ) are also excellent with age. Not sure if their Chicago counterparts intend to brew another standalone barleywine.

Revolution’s Ryeway to Heaven and special versions (VSOR, Apple Brandy Ryeway) have also held up excellent over time.

I would agree with the statement BCBS regular bottles do hold up well over time, and that bottles are the better vehicle for intentional aging across any style.

I prefer Deth’s Tar in the 0-1 year range, and BCBS in a 1-2 year range. To me Deth’s Tar is great fresh, whereas BCBS benefits at times from a year when it is too hot out of the chute.

My experience is both begin to slip (as nearly all styles beyond a few select exceptions - certain lambics, barleywines, a few quads) once you get beyond 2 years, though YMMV. Nearly all BCBS released beyond the standard version have come with a best within 2 years recommendation the past few years.

 

I generally agree with most of what you said. I think Rev stouts are best consumed fresher and SJ holds up well for much longer. I’m not a huge fan of DT after 3+ years. I think it is certainly best in the first 1-1.5 years.

 

Bottled 6/2017, Opened 12/2021 (bottle states enjoy within 5 years)

Brown to almost black with ruby edges and a two finger creamy khaki head. Nose is all funk with cherries, blackberries, hints of plum and horse blanket. Opens with deep black cherries, plum, and blackberry funk that folds into a smooth stone fruit pith/almond malt and a hint of vanilla cola on the end. Body is light to medium with medium carbonation. Ends dry with a lingering smooth oak tannin. Overall a wonderful beer that is very well balanced with hints of barrel.

Wish I had tried this fresh but its basically perfect right now

 

The gem of my cellar for nearly a decade, I’ve been waiting for the right occasion to pop this bottle, and now is the time. A dual celebration of my wedding just under 2 weeks ago, and Christmas Eve one of my favorite days of the year. A stupendous beer to drink as we finish decorating the tree. Cheers to celebrations!

2013 Cantillon Blabaer

Pours crystal clear, dark ruby with almost purple hues. 2 fingers of dense pink tinged head builds and hangs around forever. An essentially perfect appearing beer. Aroma has a huge minerality, only mild lactic tartness, subtle pungent funk, not much fruit. Taste is burnt plastic like funk, some bitterness, moderate tart sourness, blueberries are subtle. I poured the sedimentation in a separate mini glass, it has huge blueberry aromas and was much sweeter and richer, a blueberry cobbler character almost. The taste was a little more tart and a little more blueberry forward but still not a ton. Ok back to the main pour. As it warms it opens up a bit like a good wine. Fruit comes out a bit, and lactic acidity builds but still never reaches the mouth puckering tartness of most Cantillons. It’s very clean, crispy even, with a high but appropriate carbonation and very good drinkability. Overall, a very nice beer. Is it worth the hype/hoops one needs to jump through to obtain it? The short answer is probably no, but hell it was fun anyways.

Merry Christmas Cellar Dwellers!

5/4.25/4.25/4.75/4.25





Side note: this is beer #99 of the former BA top 100 I set out to complete about a decade ago (Pliny the Younger pending). I tackled the first 50 almost immediately, the next 40 or so took a few years and the last 10 have taken probably half a decade (although admittedly I stopped chasing years ago). Still will be fun to complete once I have that Pliny!


Cheers!

 

The last of my 2017 Sierra Nevada Narwhal:

• 8/7/17 packaged date
• bought the fall of 2017 (November?)
• stored in the bottom of my fridge since then

I pulled one of these from the fridge this summer and found it beginning to pass its prime. Same thing today. The aroma starts off with a meaty red wine note then moves into dark chocolate then into a malted chocolate ball with bits of licorice or anise in it. It settles into a floral coffee bean aroma. The flavor is dominated by a 90%+ cacao dark chocolate or baking chocolate flavor. For some reason it makes me think of cacao powder, if such a thing exists. It has a dusty quality. There's dark coffee/espresso and a lingering light earth/wood flavor that builds up over time and hangs on in the aftertaste.

It's still a drinkable big stout with no major flaws. It has, however, lost the milk chocolate flavor it shows from about 6 months to 2 years old. Me and my sweet tooth miss that milk chocolate flavor, but even if I gave this a score of 3.75 or so, I'd still give Sierra Nevada a 5.0 for making such a reliably sturdy and flavorful RIS that's affordable and available. I'll be sure to drink future Narwhal inside that 2-year window.

Cheers and Merry Christmas, cellar dwellers!

 

Every year I drink a bottle of Samichlaus on Christmas Eve - various vintages of the Classic, Helles, and Schwarzes version. This year its a bottle of 2009 Classic, that year I bought a whole case and I still have about 5 bottles left.
Still has a little carbonation left, forms a thin head on pouring but quicky fades. The aroma and flavor now heavily lean to raisin, fig, black cherry. A little leather. Moderatley sweet, and really not boozy at all anymore for a 14% abv beer, drinks pretty smooth

 

Congratulations @zac16125 on hitting the second to last beer in your Top 100 quest!

I've only had 16 of the current Top 100 (in the Top 250 list), but Pliny The Younger is one of the 16. I had it last year at San Diego Tap Room on draft, was very good, but like Pliny The Elder a bit more if given the option, and both over Blind Pig.

You can do this Zac!!!

Hope someone hooks you up with one a can if you're not able to make out to the West Coast in February.

 

Merry Christmas all! Beer Advocates #1 beer from 2008, this 2017 version was firing on all cylinders. As you can see still a huge creamy head, roasty on the nose, the flavor follows the nose but the finish has slight touches of black licorice and blackstrap molasses. Very chewy mouth. I wish I had more in the cellar.

 

A few pulls from the cellar the past couple of nights.

First up was a 2013-14 Black Chocolate Stout, held up really well in my cold cellar. Maybe a little on the mellow side, but still very enjoyable IMO.



Then a Propeller Revolution RIS from December 2012 or 2013. Only 8% but this one also held up remarkably well. Creamy, roasty. Still have one left that I will drink around this time next year.

 

I planned to start stocking up on Samichlaus yearly, but my local stores didn’t seem to get any 2021 this year, still have 2020 on the shelves. Wonder if this is a me problem specific to my locale or if others have also missed this years vintage.