May 2014 Cellar Reviews

2013 Bourbon County Barleywine- My last one and didn't want to wait too much longer to crack it. Glad I did. It definitely got much sweeter over the past few months, which it was almost bordering overly sweet for me fresh. Still great flavors though, almost like a liquid raisinet.

 

I feel like I have been blowing up this thread, but alas another post. I am currently drinking a Bell's Batch 9000, bottled 1/27/2010, so a little over 4 months old.

This thing was all over the place when it was fresh - just a really assertive, hot, sticky and messy. It's cooled off quite a bit and has formed a more unified beer. Opens with some sweet, bitter licorice that moves into a candy sweetness malt backbone; almost sugary. Finishes with a lingering sweetness and an ever so subtle roasted character. This beer almost seems syrupy to me, which I can't tell is really good or just too much. This one doesn't have any issues going longer...in fact, it might help mellow out the sweetness.

 

2010 GI Nightstalker.

I really disliked this beer fresh, it was way too hoppy for me and it just seemed out of place for a big stout. Like something Sierra Nevada would do,to a stout, and I hate that.

Now 4 years later I enjoy this, the hops are still there but have faded to a tolerable level. What's left is some booze, lots of dark chocolate, dark fruit and roastiness.

Much more balanced to me, and more enjoyable

 

2012 hennepin

2 years has done wonderful things to this beer. The flavors have all melded together beautifully. Extremely easy to drink. The citrus flavors have died down a bit as has the yeasty flavor but I like it better dialed down a bit. Still has a good amount of funkiness and maybe a bit more tart than fresh. Scary Drinkable and still highly carbonated.

 

Deschutes Black Butte Porter XXI. Best after Oct 17, 2010. You bet your sweet bippy!

Big caramel malt, chocolate is still kicking arse, the bourbon adds that extra umph, light oxidation that by most peeps standards say it is a Good thing. Plenty of carbonation resulting in a glorious head of foam. Hell, I still detect some coffee. ~4 1/2 years of cellaring this puppy and the rewards are spectacular!

 

Had this recently as well and I have to agree.

 

2012 Bigfoot

Most Delicious.

 

Enough said.

 

Hey guys, I'm doing my first ever vert testing tonight and it is of Abacus through Sucaba 14(11-14) I will be posting the results here, but I am looking for some advice on how to set it up.
Should my group drink each one separately then compare, or should all be poured and compared at the same time (leaning more towards this idea, obviously cleansing palate between switching)?
Any thoughts comments and ideas are greatly appreciated! Cheers!

 

This. Much more fun to be able to sip them one after another & compare directly, rather than doing year-by-year & then trying to remember how the '11 was different from the '14. Love verticals, always a blast!

 

2011 Abacus, 2012 Sucaba, 2013 Sucaba, 2014 Sucaba.

Abacus: Very smooth, smoothest of the lot, lots of chocolate, good broken down hop character, , light toffee, light caramel, very light alcohol presence and warmth, loads of barrel presence, hints of dark fruits,and a tiny hint of coffee, almost like a stout barley wine mix, this beer is drinking superbly

Sucaba 12: A little more broken down hop character than abacus, more toffee and bourbon than Abacus, a little more dark fruits, bitterness and alcohol than Abacus as well, caramel, chocolate, and coffee aren’t present in this one, still very smooth, but Abacus edges this one out

Sucaba 13: Even more booze than 12, more broken down hops, incredibly similar to 12, 12 was smoother so it barely edged out over this year

Sucaba 14: Definitely the booziest of the 4, a lot more toffee and caramel than the others, definite alcohol presence at first, but after a few sips it gets smoother and smoother, still very good but my least favorite of the 4

Blend: After tasting and reviewing we noticed that each beer had a characteristic that made it stand out from the other years, and we wished certain ones had those characteristics from the other beers, so we decided to blend all 4, and what we got was actually quite amazing! The background beer is also a blend!

The blend had a ton of barrel, dark fruits, and caramel to the flavor than any of the years, the abacus provided smoothness and just a hint of stout like characteristics to the blend, 12 provided loads of smooth bourbon characteristics and dark fruit, 13 brought the broken down hop characteristics, and 14 brought the booze, but it was tame in the blend, and the blend became everyone’s favorite for the night!

We had a blind taste tester and their favorites in order were: 13, 12, Abacus, 14
The other’s favorites in order were: 12, Abacus, 13, 14
My Favorites in order were: Abacus, 12, 13, 14

That being said all beers were still incredibly good, but our consensus was that these beers need at least two years before they hit their prime drinking states, All of us agreed that Abacus was by far the smoothest and had the most character of the lot. It was a great time with great friends and with great beers! Cheers every one!

 

Great post! Thanks for the update.

 

Thanks! No problem!

 

Cool vertical! It seems that you liked the 2011 the best? That surprised me a little bit, but glad to hear that!

 

Early 2010 two brothers northwind imperial stout. Dark fruit overpowering the roast malt in the smell. I'm not really a wine drinker but it kind of smells like red wine with a bit of roast/dark malts. Same goes for the taste. Slight roast malt flavor at first overtaken by a dark fruit twang. aftertaste is of roast and grapes. Unpleasant.

 

bottle of 2009 Brooklyn Black Ops was very tasty. nice soft bourbon flavors are still there and well integrated, very smooth. thick body and good mouthfeel still.

 

2012 BBPt5.

Appearance: dark black bodied beer with thin medium almost dark brown cap that is composed of tiny bubbles. Cap quickly drops down to a thin ring around the glass quickly. This beer has some alcohol legs noted as well.

Smell: big roasty malts balanced with alot of sweetness. Lots of tannic oakiness, brown sugar, and graham crackers. I am smelling some oxidation in the form of cardboard.

Taste: Nose is much better than the taste; the flavor profile is starting to show this beers age. Moderate bitterness from bakers cocoa and black licorice; both are fairly prominent. Ashen roastiness and tannic oak. Mild sweetness thats mostly bourbon and hints of vanilla extract. Some cardboard notes are present as well. A hint of cinnamon in found in the beer as well. Lingering ashen biterness in the finish.

Mouthfeel: the mouthfeel on this beer is still quite nice. still thick, rich, and palate coating. Not boozey at all. 2012 vintages mouthfeel is better than 2013's mouthfeel.

Overall: Drink your 2012 BBPT5 immediately; further cellaring will only dissapoint you when you open your next bottle. it might even dissapoint you now. I know that this bottle was properly cellared as well. It surprised me that the mouthfeel on this 2012 BBPT5 is still a better mouthfeel that the 2013 BBPT5. 2012 was my favorite vintage of BBPt5. Sad to report it, but 2012 BBPT5 is officially over the hill.

 

I opened and reviewed a bottle of Bruery's Papier, their original anniversary beer from 2009, last night, I had heard it was a crazy booze bomb when fresh, so sat on it for ~5 years.

I found it still very boozy, with more fruit and less caramel than the later versions. Couldn't believe how hot it was after 5 years in the cellar...it is hotter than the fresher vintages by far.

If you have a bottle I'd say you might as well keep sitting on it. If you were thinking of seeking one out, I'd recommend just buying a bottle of Cuir/Bois/Sucre. I loved Fruet, Cuir, and Bois a lot, but this one was too tough to drink more than 6 oz's of.