September Cellar Reviews

2010 Deschutes Jubel (Once a Decade Ale) Best after 01/29/2011. I got married in 2010, and bought three of these to opened on my 2nd, 5th, and 10th anniversaries, and have kept them at 53 degrees since then. I missed drinking on my anniversary earlier this summer, but it is my birthday today so that serves as reason enough to pop it late. Enjoyed with my wife (who is growing to like old beer I never tried this fresh, but at 2 years it was astoundingly superb.

Smells like fig jam, under-baked raisin bread, a hint of leather chair, stewed plums, and sherry. Wowie... reminds me of Thomas Hardy's Ale.

Tastes remarkable. More of the sherry and stewed plums in the flavor, with less fig and raisin. Moderate sweetness balanced by substantial bitterness, almost like bitter dark chocolate. The bitterness gets a little out of control in the aftertaste and does detract from the overall experience.

My big question at 2 years was: Will this age like the best English Barleywines? It sure reminded me of them at that age. Now I see that it probably won't last like Thomas Hardy's does, as it is starting to show signs of decline. It is however very good and well worth waiting this long to find out. The mouthfeel is still lush and thick, and the carbonation is nearly what it was at 2 years. It could go longer, but I doubt it will get better after 5 years. I bet 2-3 years is optimal for my personal preference, but it is pretty damn unique at this age too.

 

Did a side by side of the September 2011 bottle and the September 18th, 2014 bottle of Allagash Ghoulship.

both bottles have a pretty hefty pop as the cork leaves the bottle neck.

approximately 6oz of each vintage poured into unbranded wine stem.

Appearance:

2011-deep orange body with white head that pours to a thick cap.

2014-yellow body with 2 white head that pours to almost 2 full fingers of head.

Smell:

2011- this one smells of moderate vinegar and has a hefty dose of Allagash signature funk. Hint of molasses. Not getting much pumpkin in this vintage.

2014- molasses and vegital pumpkin. Toasted sweetness and light sourness with light allagash funk. Smells bright, vibrant, and clean. Hint of citrusy character as well.


Taste:

2011-not at all like the nose. This one starts off sweet and without much sourness on the front end as the nose would suggest, but the beer has a nice sour kick on the back end of each taste that is less than moderate sourness. definitely more complex flavor, but I would have liked more sourness.

2014-much like the nose. molasses and vegital pumpkin. Light toasted malt sweetness and light sourness with light allagash funk. Maybe even a light salinity or salt character underneath the layers. Slight earthy presence as well.

Mouthfeel:

2011- medium light body with low carbonation levels. creamy and soft carbonation just a little bit less than the 2014 carbonation level. 2011 is slightly drier than 2014 vintage, but I think that the 2014 still has more overall sourness.

2014-light bodied beer with low carbonation levels. Carbonation is extremely well executed. Tiny bubbles that are creamy and soft. semidry finish. Outstanding mouthfeel.

Overall: The 2014 vintage is my preference of the two vintages. Even though the 2011 is much more complex, layered, and nuanced in the flavor profile. The 2011 has aged quite well and will probably continue to develop under proper cellar conditions. The mouthfeel is outstanding on both vintages. Interesting how this beer ages. My first experience with Ghoulship and only the 2nd or 3rd pumpkin sour beer that I have tried.

*Pictures to follow at some point in the near future!

 

Finally got around to my w00tstout vertical (seriously, I've had this on deck since 2.0 was released).



Reviews of each here, here, and here. The numerical ratings don't really capture how superior I think 3.0 is to the other two. Also, because I was doing this vertical solo, I corked 2.0 (yes, using the tampons I keep in my purse, for all you manly men who'd've downed 256ml of ethanol in one sitting ), and have to say that it was vastly improved with ~24hrs of oxidation. The bitterness was tempered, the bourbon was a bit more pronounced but rounder, and the flavors were overall better-integrated. In the end, 3.0 was the runaway winner (and, as I've said elsewhere, was better in my book than Fundamental Observation), with 2.0 and original fairly close, and just a rung below.

 

2013 Unibroue Trois Pistoles. Haven't had this one fresh for quite some time so I don't have anything to compare it to. The bottle says a Best Buy of 2016 but their website recommends aging up to 5-9 years.

Incredibly smooth. Notes of dried and candied fruits, anywhere from cherries to figs and raisins. Soft honey-like taste. The backend has a hint of roasted malts and cuts the sweetness and leaves behind a perfect aftertaste.

I don't think think the taste on this could have changed drastically from being fresh, but this is drinking great right now. The silky smooth mouth feel couldn't be better. I can easily seeing this passing the best buy and soaring nicely into their recommended 5-9 year age range. This one still is holding off any oxidation and any signs of falling off. Glad I have 3 more for drinking in the 5-9 range and along side some fresh stuff for comparison.

 

Deschutes Abyss 2011

My first sip of this beer almost laid me out. Background: I am one of those grumpy bastards who figure the discussion at Deschutes went something like this in 2011: "Hey, we have a world-class stout. Let's fuck it up by pouring cherry bark & fruit & quit putting most of it in bourbon barrels. Yeah, good idea, Hank!" So this beer to me was the downfall of the things I loved about Abyss.

However...four years on, this beer is excellent. Not an elite beer like the 2010 & pre-Abyss, but damn good. The 'cherry bark' is just about gone, the wine barrels are nearly invisible, there's just a nice touch of vanilla & bourbon & enough malts to drown a small donkey, plus a nice woodiness. Lovely.

 

This is probably the most fantastically specific beer descriptor I have ever read. Bravo.

 

2014 Double DBA

Have had poor experiences as of late with aged FW beers, so I wanted to get into this before it went downhill. At 16 months this is doing very well - delicious subtle barrel saturated ale. Very smooth, tons of coconut and oak.


2011 Black Tuesday

Very, very sweet - almost like it got sweeter. This coming from someone who has thoroughly enjoyed the BT series and other big barrel aged sweet bruery offerings. The sweetness was covering up some of the nuances making it more of a simple flavor. All this being said it really hasn't changed that much, just a sweeter version of the regular. For being 4 years old I was hoping for more flavor development. May just be the vintage or when I had it, but not blown away.

 

Did a FW Anniversary mini-vert with some friends the other night. I brought 14, 15, 16 and 18 and a friend had a 17.

14 - perfectly oxidized, barely carbonated, wonderfully old and complex, mellow with big sherry and cocoa notes.

15 - thin, prickly carbonation, black malts, light bitterness - the least favorite of the group, by far.

16 - moderate carbonation for the style, relatively complex with a big focus on Bourbon and booze. Not bad but not wow.

17 - amazingly complex, perfectly integrated, light-medium carbonation, oak, Bourbon, butter, vanilla, cocoa - this one shows the promise to be better than 14 in a few years if you prefer a well aged beer. This and 14 were the standouts of the night.

18 - seemed over-oaked and just not very "wow." All we could get was barrel - not even Bourbon but just barrel.

I'm sure each of these (even the not-so-great ones) would be fun on their own and probably pretty well received but putting them together was a really fun experience (there were some new craft beer drinkers there as well, who really enjoyed it) and eye-opening to the differences in these blends.

Cheers!

 

2013 Founders Backwoods Bastard- Amazing example of what time can do to a BA beer. Bourbon soaked raisins, vanilla, coconut, zero alc heat. GREAT beer. Went from 4 to 5+ stars.

 

1999 Bigfoot Barleywine courtesy of Jdiddy - definitely on the decline - hops presence has pretty much faded. Still some caramel and dark fruits; however, getting a bit cardboardy.

 

Clown Shoes Ride the Lion (dated 6/19/14; 15 months old) into a Teku at fridge temp. Caveat emptor, I tend not to love Scotch ales. Look recalls a caramel apple: reddish brown, thick and opaque. Smell is caramel, musty old books, and (as it warms) a bright almost citrusy note, which I'll call kumquat. Taste is much the same: caramel, earth, kumquat, with toffee, vanilla, and tobacco joining the fray as it warms. Feel is damn nice, just a great balance of chewiness and drinkability. Overall, this continues to be one of the better BA wee heavies I've had (Backwoods Bastard included). Improves as it warms, from a 4.26 near fridge temp to 4.42 closer to room temp. Definitely slightly improved from fresh. Hard to see more age doing much, as there's no heat and little bourbon presence even now.

 

2010 DFH Burton Baton

Murky medium brown color, not much head. Sweet malty aroma - raisins, black cherry, tobacco. Taste has similar flavored, but is a bit oxidized. Some aged hop flavor as well. Slick mouthfeel, coats the tongue.

This was the oldest of my aged experiments with this beer. It's gone downhill at this point.

 

Stone BA Arrogant Bastard, bottled 3/31/15. Cellar temp into a Teku. Have a bunch of these, and tried a ~1yr aged bomber not too long ago, so this is a step "backwards", but what the hell... it's for science. At ~6mos, this one has a nice hop kick, no hint of oxidation, mild bourbon/tobacco notes. I just really love this beer—it's everything that's good about Double Bastard, but subtler and (in many ways) better.

 

2014 Avery Rumpkin, bottled 9/22/14, into a snifter at cellar temp. (Previous review here.) Pours a clear reddish-orange, with a foamy head quickly dissipating after the vigorous pour. Smell is pumpkin pie spice, pumpkin, alcohol, and molasses. Taste is sweet, pumpkin pie spice, pumpkin, alcohol. Feel is surprisingly light, and fairly dry. Overall, the sweetness is still the defining element of this beer, to its detriment. Much better than Pump[KY]n, nonetheless (review here). 4.15/5.

 

Just opened a 6 year vertical of Zyweic Porter from 2009-2014. Being a 9.5% ABV lager (Baltic Porter) I wasn't sure what was going to happen. The consensus from the whole group was that the 2009 was the best! It had developed nice port characteristics, and had a rounded and mellow chocolate flavor. Intense nose as well. I was quite surprised. The least favorite was 2013, and nobody thought it was as good fresh as with 4-6 years of age. For less than $4 per bottle, it is one that is might be worth stashing away for 5 years.

 

2012 Dogfish Head 120 Minute: Having this beer at 3+ years old has solidified my intention of buying two every year with the intention of trying it fresh (because its still amazing fresh) and saving one for years to come. I've saved one every year since I graduated school in '11 and plan to do the same for a long while.

Sweetness is still there but how can it not be at 15%+ and only 3 years old, almost tastes similar to a Port Wine/crossed with a barleywine/ crossed with a nice bourbon.

 

2013 Founders Old Curmudgeon.

Almost no head after the pour. Still sticky sweet but the alcohol burn is tempered a bunch. Still some oak that comes through. Figs and prunes almost as part of flavor profile, has become very smooth and enjoyable. To me better than fresh. Maybe peaking...? Overall very nice. Not sure time will make it better but I like it much better with two plus years on it. Cheers

 

This was corked with a best by September 2012. I dont know how far out they put their dating to know for sure how many years old this was. It was very easy drinking. Cider, vinegar and cherry with tartness that wanted to creep into acedic territory but didnt. Very mild oak, vanilla, caramel and a sweetness that was very out of place. I can see why people claim this is pasteurized and/or contains artificial sweetness. Thin, poundable but not something id do again.

 

Been digging into my cellar a bit the last few days; just posted reviews of a mini-vert of Orval, and a review of 2014 Southern Charred (which I had when fresh but didn't like quite as much). Lastly, having a Bastard in the Rye now (reviewed when fresh here):

500ml c&c bottle into a Duvel tulip at fridge temp, allowed to warm. Opened without any hiss/pop.

Look: beautiful reddish-brown, with just a tiny bit of carbonation. (4.5)

Smell: cherries, caramel, tobacco, vanilla. (4.75)

Taste: rye spice, hops, molasses, whisky, oak. (4.25)

Feel: medium body, very drinkable, just slightly dry. (4.5)

Overall: fresh, I preferred BitR to Southern Charred, but now that's flipped. This drinks very much like a slightly-bigger version of BA Arrogant Bastard (unsurprisingly). Still great, and a fantastic example of what I've decided is clearly my favorite style (BA Hoppy American Strongs). (4.5)