July Cellar Reviews

2008 Aventinus Eisbock. Weizenstarkbier glass. Yeah, what's up. 53 degrees, bitches.

Pours with slight carb that lingers with old beer lacing. I personally love it. Smells like someone shove a prune soaked in vodka square in my nose. A complex and sweet, dark fruit aroma. Tastes are similar, but with more sweet malt. The intense dark fruit really lingers in the palate, small amounts of booze evident. The flavor is more complex than I'm describing. So impressive.

Watch out Indiana L Stores, here comes Clark to buy your Eisbock. This bottle was great right now, but I bought it in 2009 and know how it was stored. If you're controlling the conditions, it can last a couple years with favorable flavors. If you're uncertain of storage conditions, drink that shit.

 

It's been years since I've had Aventinus Eisbock but I remember being shocked at how little different it tasted from a typical German wheat beer. Had all the classic yeast flavors and no 12% alcohol flavor. Would you say it is more malt-forward now and less driven by yeast esters?

Not that I mind the yeast flavors at all, of course.

 

I was pretty gone when I typed that up, but I don't remember much at all from the yeast coming through (nothing like what comes through in the regular version).

 

2008 Lost Abbey Cuvee De Tomme.

This has held up nicely. Still near no carbonation, hehe, the sour cherries and vanilla still kick arse, as does the woody character from the Oak. My second to last bottle of a LA brew from my old Sinners Club daze.

 

2010 Dark Lord

Still a great looking beer with no carbonation issues, smell and taste right up my alley. Lots of chocolate, toffee, sweet maltiness that some seem to abhor, but not me. Vanilla and a touch of fruitiness is there. I'm digging it.

 

Bell's Batch 10,000

Rich fruity aroma and still pours with a full head and nice clingy drippy lacing. Hints of oxidation, but not too distracting at this time. No real sense of hops. Still nicely complex. Holding grain flavors with intermingling fruitiness and hints of sherry. The later flavor increase towards the end of the glass. Firm hop bitterness, but it does fade out and leaves a very slight drying and a mixed grain and hop rather long finish. Still a shot of warmth in the gut. Slightly thinning out body, but still holding up well enough.
This is drinking nicely. Probably a little past peak, but still enjoyable and having a way to go before it would poop out. Oxidation, that is distracting, is in the aroma only. And that still isn't very bad.

 

On Monday night I opened a Deschutes Jubel 2010, after seeing a thread about it from a few months ago. I was looking at my review from April 2010 while drinking it, and feel like it definitely lost a bit of the dark fruit and vanilla it had, and had gained a lot more caramel than it originally had. It was only slightly oxidized, and I still found it enjoyable, though it has definitely fallen off from what it once was. Overall I'd say it is past its prime as I enjoyed the nose better fresh, and the nose is now muted, but the taste is still pretty good, almost like a barleywine now, and it went down easy. Don't think it will improve anymore at all, but still worth drinking and certainly not a drain pour.

Last night I opened a SN 30th Anniversary - Fritz And Ken's Ale (the stout). Again I looked at my review from April 2010 while drinking it, and it still had lots of chocolate, dark fruits, and roasted malts, and I'd say a little bit less vanilla. No heat and smooth going down. Overall I found it to still be a very good normal double stout, though I wouldn't say age has done much to it at all. Might have liked it a little bit better fresh as I think it had a tiny bit more vanilla then, but still a good stout. Again, I don't see more time really improving this one but it is still a good beer.

 

2008 Cantillon Monk's Cafe Cuvee Gueuze - Drinking wonderfully. Not as tart as I'd have imagined, but still very tasty. Not much of a notable difference between this beer and their Classic Gueuze, which makes me wonder why people are so obsessed with the idea of acquiring this beer (I guess because it's a WaLe). It's worthy to mention that I had this on draft.

Consecration b4 (2010) - Red wine notes very prevalent. Less alcohol harshness compared to fresh consecration, but the wine is a tad bit overbearing. I think it needs 1-2 more years.

 

Without seeing your review, I just opened one and hopped into this thread to offer this advice:

Bell's Batch 10k. Add Woodford Reserve. Equals better beer.

 

97 Sam Adams Triple Bock-

The beast, the legend, the nectar of black holes. Completely still, smells of raisins and red man tobacco, soy, slight brandy alcohol. Tastes similar to the nose, real juicy, the still melding of bright flavors coats the mouth like motor oil from a big-block in the desert that is two years over due for a change. Taste is almost salty to a point. It is almost like a prune cordial with espresso Grenache. Decadent.

 

It is a rare thing indeed to see someone praise the 1997 release. I myself have been working on-and-off for over a year in order to make sure my review of it---in which I compare it to, among other things, the aroma of a placenta---is the greatest Triple Bock review ever. Or equal to the current greatest.

 

Drank a 2012 (June) 375 bottle of Cantillon Kriek. This is the epitome of a kriek, I believe. The perfect timing for a bottle. at one year, the cherries are still bright and vibrant, but the funk has really set in. Still nice and acidic, but really funky, with an earthy mushroomy thing going on. One of the better Cantillon bottles ive had this year.

 

...and I hate Yeungling. Different strokes for different folks.

 

had a aged couple beers last weekend:

2012 Founders Breakfast Stout - Very nice, still get the chocolate and coffee. The alcohol has tonned down and the beer is more smooth.

2011 Founders Breakfast Stout - Past it's prime. Can taste oxidation. Lots of dark fruits.

2010 Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout - I think this is past it's prime too, though still decent. Lots of dark fruit, not much chocolate

2009 Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout - Very oxidized. Slight musty cardboard taste. Even still, not bad, just not as good as fresher. Wish I had drank these sooner, but I had forgotten/lost track of them in my beer/cellar fridge (kept at 50 degrees)

2009 Jolly Pumpkin La Roja - Very happy with this one. Very dry and tart. The nose smells sweeter than the taste. I feel like it is not as funky/bretty as a fresh bottle. I really liked this one, I will have to get some more to hold onto for a while.

 

3/6/10 Goose Island Night Stalker

This is actually my first go with this one as early reviews noted the sharpness of the malt so I decided to cellar mine. It hurt the aroma, but not the taste which was still notably rich and certainty flavorful. Really quite enjoyable.
Here is my review.
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1549/47692/?ba=garymuchow

 

I have a '95 which I just don't have the guts to open. It leaks on occasion so it just may empty itself if I keep it long enough. I give you credit for giving it a go.

 

First- put it upright if it is on its side. Those corks were just for show and not meant to be soaked (the cork is too soft). Second, 95 is tootsie roll and chocolate orgasm- that is a good year, bud. Tell ya what, ill trade you a 97 for that 95 . You could drink that bad boy now, or hold on to it, no wrong answer there

 

Oh, it's upright alright.

 

Southampton Imperial Russian Stout 2009, bottle #12 of 450.

Great looking brew, 1" head of tan foam, lacing is superb, so the carbonation is still on.

Everything about this brew is still on the intense side. Big roasted malt and dark chocolate, a hint or 2, every once in a while of coffee, big warming going on. Second pour, a bit more vigorous, and there's close to a finger's worth of foam.

I reckoned that this would do well over the years and man am I glad that I reckoned right.

For folks holding bottles in their cellars right now, I do NOT know if it has reached its peak yet but if you have multiple bottles, I say try one now.

A big thanks to BA Nutbrown for the last bottle in my cellar that I got in a trade with him. I hope Alan is doing well.