April 2012 Cellar Reviews

Today we went with a 2008 Blue Moon. The blueberry notes have faded a touch with time, although the wheat body has truly grown and developed a character all of it's own. We were also aging the orange slices for 4 years, and they have developed a nice funk and earthiness in the rind.

 

2010 Trappiste Rochefort 10

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/207/645/?ba=muletrane

 

2011 Arctic Devil, bottled the first week of Feb 2011.

Lots of malty goodness, dark fruits, vanilla, very light bitterness, and a ton of Whiskey flavour and alcohol burn.
I don't remember tasting Whiskey in the original bottle I had in 06. Still, there's a ton of potential for cellaring for quite a few years, me thinks.

 

Kuhnhenn Extraneous Ale, purchased at Winter Solstice 2010.

I remember trying this fresh and thinking it was way, way too hot. A vigorous pour yielded just a thin film of foam which dissipated quickly. Smell was great - the booze was still there, but beneath that were rich layers that you would expect from a well-aged English barleywine (to that point, this doesn't seem at all like an American barleywine). Lots of toffee, caramel, leather. Taste was good, but the alcohol is still a bit too overpowering. I expect this to get better with more time, and will revisit it again in a year or so.

 

Stone Old Guardian Barleywine 2004 - 2012

I don't typically review beers, but I figured I'd post a few comments from my (unrefined) palate about a recent vertical tasting I did with 9 years of Old Guardian this past weekend. Skipped the Belgo Guardian from last year, as I didn't really care for it and thought it would have been a different beast than the others. The beers mostly fell into 4 categories:

1) 2012. Newest year, and you could tell. Still considerable hop bite, little hot, but good. Could still smell the hops.
2) 2011. Great with just one year on it. Smoothed out a lot, warm but not hot.
3) 2010/2009. Not so great. Tasted a bit off, with the 2010 being a bit worse than the 2009. I don't think it was infection, as I would have expected it to be worse after 2-3 years in the bottle. Bad care? Not sure. I don't think I treated them much different than any other bottles. A friend recently opened a 2009 and thought it was great, so no idea what happened there. I have one more bottle of 2009 that I'm gonna hold on to and hope it's fine.
4) 2008-2004. All delicious. The older bottles were drinking very smooth. Still decent carbonation on all of them, with a thin head that stuck around through most of the sipping. For me, I really couldn't see/taste many big differences between some of the older vintages, though I felt that 2008 didn't have a whole lot of backbone to it. Sweet booziness, but not much holding it up. 04-07 were all really great, smooth, hop bite almost entirely gone, faded into a creamy warm treat.

In my opinion, aside from the 2 oddballs in the middle, I couldn't see any signs of the older bottles fading. It was great to be able to enjoy such a tasting, and I definitely got to show some family beer novices the joys of cellaring beer. Cheers.

 

Decided to open a Bruery Rugbrod that I purchased in Feb 2010. I opened it straight out of the fridge but stored at 55. Poured with about 2 to 3 fingers head. Smell was great, like a malty brown ale that might have had some time in oak although it had some alcohol in smell and taste, more than expected. Smells of dark fruit, malt, alcohol, minerals. Tastes are very similar to smells but the carbonation was much higher than fresh, almost if it was infected but there were no other signs other than high carbonation. As the carbontion died the beer became all that I expected. I think the beer could have lasted longer than the 2 years the label suggested as the max. I will be buying another to age for another 2 yrs.

 

February 2009 Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA.

Sweet. Very sweet. And not in the "friggin' awesome" way. It was decent.

 

Batch 5 sanctification.

Super bretty, super dry. It's amazing how similar this is to Orval.it's about a year and a half old at this point it tastes just like a year and a half old Orval as far as Brett progression. I very much love this beer, but considering it's rarity and cost, I don't have any convincing reason to buy this over Orval.

And if you're not doing it already, put some Orval in your cellar. Cheapest, most accessible funky beer out there, you just have to cellar it a year.

 

Great Divide - Hibernation Ale: 2006-11
Didn't take notes, so this isn't very specific. But I will say the '06 actually tasted great! I really didn't expect it to. I'd say it was one of the best, if not the best. Still carbonated and flavorful, though more muted and melded compared to the '11. Each year was a slight difference from the last, but the only exception--and has been the past few times I've had it--was the '08. It's just not aging well at all. Maybe it's my six-pack or maybe it's actually that year's vintage. Either way, it was the only one we didn't particularly care for. Otherwise, it was a worthwhile endeavor cellaring this beer. In fact, the '06 was the very first beer I cellared, so it was especially gratifying to open AND enjoy it! Would love to show a picture of the lineup.

 

1999 JW Lees

Bottle opens and indicates ample carbonation within, pours a hazy ruddy brown with garnet flashes, off white one finger head lasts quite a bit and leaves a slender ring of lacing around the inside of the glass. Smells like toffee, raisins, prunes and molasses, and as it warms it smells more like Redman tobacco. Tastes initially of juicy raisins, toffee, and slight chocolate on the back end; an odd astringency is in the back, with slight alcohol warming. Very smooth and easy drinking, I'm surprised it is still so well carbonated after 13 years. I am curious to see how long this one can go, as it is far from peaking!

 

2011 Bigfoot

The hops are still there, but the buttery toffee flavors are starting to take over. Yummy.

 

Black Butte XXI

Smells of chocolate candy and tootsie rolls, slight bell pepper, some oaky wood, really mellow. Taste is similar, seems as though a bell pepper character has made itself more prominent, chocolate and coffee, slight berry flavor (black berry or acai?) Mouthfeel is medium-heavy, good carbonation, real smooth.

 

2006 Imperial Stout Trooper

Pours as inky as ever, with a skim of a head, which is about what I remember for fresh also. Aroma has a slight sour tinge. Body seems to have taken a hit, almost thin now, but with depth of dark malts, coupled with tannins, alcohol, and the wisp of cherry tart. Smooth and drinkable, looking forward to it's twin still awaiting the light of day.

 

2001 Rogue XS stout

Pours thick, with a very slight brown head. strong aroma of chocolate, black cherries and ink. taste has a lot of medicinal, inky flavors which comes from the acidic roasted malts sitting too long. Mouth feel is still surprisingly full considering it's age. still, this beer is a ways past it's peak. Only about half the tasting group finished their 2 Oz pour.

 

I just opened Sanctification batch 5 myself. I really liked it, http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/863/20518/?ba=quirkzoo

 

If you have not tried Green Flash's Rayon Vert, you should. This might be a bargain basement alternative to either Sanctification or Orval. I am excited to see how it ages. I heard that GF hanged its bottle design specifically for Rayon Vert even though it came before its release. That is some tasty stuff.

 

Couldn't say it better myself! I have a four pack of batch 1 in my cellar. Planning on doing a 4 batch vertical upon availability. I have been super excited to see how this one does as well.

 

I was shocked at how good this one is fresh. The Brett presence comes out quicker than in Orval, and the hops are all American. I have a four pack put away already to see how this one does. It has become a staple in my fridge already.

 

I opened a Firestone Walker XII the other night. The sherry notes from oxidation were a little too prominent, but the beer was still drinking very nicely.