New Holland Dragon's Milk Triple Mash. 4/23/2019 bottling. 2 second head retention and no lacing. Good amount of streaming carbonation on the glass. A brown pour into the glass. A bit of protein sediment. Aromas of big milk chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, toffee, bourbon, coconut, vanilla, toasted oak, and light booze. Taste follows with intense milk chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, toffee, bourbon, charred oak, and light vanilla/coconut. Light-medium herbal/woody bitterness and bourbon/oak tannin spiciness on the finish. Medium carbonation and medium-plus body; balanced bready/grainy malt and bourbon/oak tannins in the mouthfeel. Long lingering boozy tannin drying, with mild bourbon spirit astringency. Lingering warmth and booze of 17% after the finish. Very intense charred wood and bourbon character balanced by a similar stout on malt character/body as the base Dragon's Milk beer. My score is the same as when I had it fresh in 2016. 4.2/5 Cheers
Next 2020 selection is another Revolution selection. I'm cross checking notes and adding reviews to beers I've had recently, so got to add another four beer reviews, which will also help with future Cellar Review posts. Revolution Brewing Mixed Berry Ryeway (Canned 7/10/20 @ 8:11:24 PM) Original 10/4/20 Review 4.56/5 rDev +5.8% look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5 1/23/23 Cellar Review Refrigerated this entire time. Noted this was syrupy sweet, the rye dropped off, and I should have enjoyed earlier. Today Looks the same. Berry aroma still nice, bourbon still faint and rye gone just like for the 2023 Cellar review. Taste also consistent, more of a sweet fruit jam or cocktail. Drinks easier at first than the 12.4% ABV, but catches up quick. Bottom line, minimal change from 2023, still enjoying, but a shadow of itself cold, cool, and warmed by the lack of the sharp and excellent rye I enjoy with Ryeway to Heaven, which thankfully is returning this Fall without any changes.
2015 Founders Imperial Stout. One of my favorite imperial stouts of all time, fresh or cellared. Sad that Founders let this one go. More caramel and fudge as some roast has dropped away but still delicious even this far down the road. Cheers BA’s!
I held on to mine longer than I probably should have, but it was still sublime. I too mourn the loss of this excellent RIS.
I would always save a bottle of Anchor's "Christmas Ale" to have on 4th of july weekend with a loaded burger- It never failed to be a great pairing, a little Christmas in July if you will- I truly miss that beer
J.W. Lees Harvest Ale (2015) Appearance: Murky brown, no head despite a hard pour. Smell: Oxidized caramel, tootsie rolls, leather. Taste: Nice sweetness followed by mildly oxidized caramel or toffee with almost a bit of coffee/mocha. Medium-light body, especially for 11.5%. Finishes with sweetness and leather. Overall: Reviewing a 2015 in 2026, still very tasty. As sweet as this is after 11 years it must be crazily sweet fresh. Great to finally try this one!
It really is. I was wondering if the extra added time and slight oxidation might have tamed that a bit. Doesn't sound like it.
2013 Rose de Gambrinus from Cantillon. Bought when it was released. The cork has seen better days. I thought it might fall apart when I was pulling it. The nose on this is intense as hell. Intense raspberries for days. Sourness is quite evident. The taste is incredible. Not as sour as I was expecting from the nose. Raspberries, lemon, blackberries, some funk, slightly musty, biscuits, and an earthy note. Lovely.
I couldn’t find a former cellar review for this one. I didn’t like this fresh, with a well below reef rating my first go. However, I tried it again before Micah’s latest 3 Sheeps gathering in July 2024 enough to bring to share, which everyone seemed to like. Been refrigerated this entire time, so hoping for results similar to Summer 2024 over my Winter 2024 take. Revolution & Half Acre Collaboration On and On Part 3 (Canned 1/5/24 @ 6:58:33 AM ABV 16.6%) 3.21/5 rDev -25.2% look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3 Full OG fresh review from February 17, 2024 linked above. No formal review of the improved for me state around July 2024. Today I’m getting the same look, a much improved from fresh aroma of a blended bourbon barrels and nice roast malt base. Flavor consistent with aroma, barrel becomes strong as this warms, but the base is still really good with a mix of sweet and roasted malt, cherry (which wasn’t added), caramel, toffee and raisins. Really enjoying, and glad I have a can left. Don’t see it getting much better than this, so enjoy now for any other remaining holdout owners of this beer.
I guess when there’s a collab between two great breweries like those … it … just … gets … better … with … time (!)
To me, which is probably among the minority viewpoint in this thread, is that possibly beyond bottled lambics and wild ales, the beers I see “improve” are those either too hot, additives too overwhelming or ones I just don’t like at release. They sometimes mellow out over time which is what I believe happened with this selection. Most beers including cellar eligible beers are best fresh if brewed and barrel aged correctly. I’ve really narrowed the breweries I purchase these type of beers down to Revolution, Spiteful, Firestone Walker, Central Waters and 3 Sheeps; plus occasionally Goose Island on clearance and a couple local one offs.. I prefer 12 oz or smaller vs.16.9 oz bottles for double digit ABV. Same for the 19.2 oz Rev cans, which I pass on ($30-$40, plus size too large for me unless sharing).
10/12/2017 Founders Backwoods bastard. Amazing as usual. Perfect balance of rich caramel, brown sugar, toffee malts and vanilla/bourbon barrel complexity; with lighter notes of tobacco, leather, smoke, chocolate, pepper, dark fruit, and coconut. Minimal oxidation. Super smooth, mild warmth and booze of 11.2%. Top tier scotch ale. Need to buy a 6 pack of dirty bastard soon. Total wine has a ton of Founders beers to buy. 4.4/5 Cheers
This is one of the remaining bottles I have properly basement cellared until transferring to my refrigerator about a year ago, and also the last of this vintage I own. Original review linked in the beer title, two Cellaruary Reviews linked separately here (Cellaruary 2/20/2025 & Cellaruary 2/9/2026) Bell's Brewery - Eccentric Café & General Store 35th Anniversary Expedition Stout Reserve (Bottled 9/3/20) 3.97/5 rDev -11% look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4 Appearance is the same from 2026 Cellaruary, aroma switched from cinnamon to cardboard stale. Getting a much better barrel and roast malt / caramel taste than the 3 or less I rated taste in February, so definitely happy for this change which I can't explain other than perhaps I'm drinking this colder this morning, not waiting the 15-20 minutes I typically do to allow BA beers to warm. So perhaps drink these colder than normal is my advise if any BA happens to have any of these left in their cellar. A sad day as this is the last Bell's I have in my possession. After the jump to Kirin and Blue House Reyes Distributing, we don't get much variety like we used to of their special beers, and don't really need Two Hearted and their variants of it. I miss you and they brewery you created Larry Bell!
2013 Bell's Expedition Stout I just realized a minute ago, I had opened this same vintage of Expo about a month ago in this thread. D'oh! Poor planning on my part but any opportunity to open one is a good plan in the end imo. Slight hiss when lifting the cap. Having this at just about ambient temperature. I'm calling this vintage currently as the Chocolate Express. Just loads and loads of baker's chocolate. Aroma? Decadent chocolate. Flavor? Yes. More chocolate. You like? All the bitterness one might get from the hops in the beer has withered away. Even the roastiness one might get from this beer at certain times has faded into the ether. Fantastic stuff at this point in time. I feel the urge to scrounge around for any other 2013 bottles I might have and ready them for consumption. So yeah, April, May....hoping June, too. I'll use this opportunity to join @ChicagoJ in his appreciation for Mr Bell. You are indeed missed, sir.
Fortunately for you, there is a guy who hoards Bell’s beer just across Lake Michigan. Just let me know what you want.
But I came here to post a cellar pull, one that that might be better (for me) than it was fresh. Seriously good. Cheers!
Did this see widespread distribution? I don't recall ever seeing it out West. We've gotten all the kbs variants otherwise out here.
