November 2016 Cellar reviews

Points Unknown, bottle dated 4/29/15 into a Duvel tulip at fridge temp, allowed to warm.

Look: slightly hazy bronze/burnt-orange. (4.25)

Smell: very much like candied pineapple. I've never smelled anything so pineapple-y that didn't include pineapple. I almost can't get over it. (4.5)

Taste: very pineapple-y. Something smokey. Green apple too, maybe. Super interesting. Honey, vanilla. (4.75)

Feel: medium, silky, hint of dryness at end. (4.5)

Overall: honestly, this was possibly the most pleasantly surprising beer of the year for me, and one of the best beers of the year irrespective of expectations. I really wish I had more. (4.5)

 

On Friday, I decided to crack open my bottle of Modern Times Monster's Park aged in Nicaraguan rum barrels. This is the original May 2015 batch, one of only 140 bottles, so I was curious to know what rare tastes like.

The pour looks like any other aged Monster's Park variant, of which their are many--deep brown and relatively viscous, with a thin sliver of head that leaves a slight bit of lacing behind. Smells strong and rich, with blackstrap molasses, barrel oak, dark fudge, and a hint of black cherry. A flavor bomb on the palate, with big roasted grains, chocolate, barrel character, and enough sweetness from the rum to balance out the roasted bitterness of the base stout. Modern Times goes all in on their vanilla variants, but if this was from another brewery, I could easily be convinced that it was aged with vanilla added.

At 13%, there is a fair amount of heat in the rum notes, along with an impression of some spice from the moderately-high carbonation. For those still hoarding your bottle, I did not detect any noticeable signs of oxidation, so this appears to be ageing well and should last for the years to come. That said, I do not regret for one second popping mine open on a random Friday evening and drinking it at its current age; this is phenomenal stuff.

 

2013 Deschuttes Abyss

Pours a vigorous head that lingers khaiki and thick, obsidian body that has no highlights. Smell is molasses and roast coffee, some blackberry-type aromas. Taste is bright, molasses-forward with coffee bitters to balance the intense sweet; slight smoke and burnt sugar linger in the mouth. Mouthfeel is heavy, stark contrasts of charred bitter and molasses sweetness carry the flavors quite a while. This is an intense brew.

 

glad to hear 2013 is doing well. Abyss needs at least a year imo

 

Firestone Walker XIII (part of a multi-day Anniversary vertical; reviews for XX and XIX here and here respectively).

Look: dark brown with a hint of red (a shade lighter than XX or XIX). Light tan head.

Smell: that same almost grape jam I got from XIX, molasses, raisin, metallic.

Taste: brandy, fudge, cherry, smoke, chocolate, coffee, vanilla bean.

Feel: medium, with a lot of carbonation, and a very dry finish.

Overall: this, like XIX, surprises me with how jammy it is. Lots of brandy/raisin aspect. However, I prefer this to XIX thanks to its lower bitterness and fusel aspects. Not quite as good as XX, which had a lot more fudge brownie.

 

Can I just say that I am terribly embarrassed to have written "their" rather than "there" in my review? I blame the 13% abv.

 

Firestone Walker XVII (culmination of my multi-day vertical). Here's what I thought when I had XVII roughly a year ago. Bomber into a Duvel tulip at cellar temp.

Look: definitely lighter than its younger siblings. Light-tan head is more persistent, too.

Smell: bourbon, vanilla, oak, cinnamon. Reminds me a lot of Velvet Merkin.

Taste: brown sugar, honey, tobacco, vanilla, oak, bourbon, piney hops. Very little in the way of char, chocolate, black coffee. The hoppy element certainly makes this one feel a bit more complex and aggressive than the last two years' versions that eschewed any hoppy component beers.

Feel: maybe it's just the Merkin-esque vibe I'm getting from this one generally, but this seems a little chewier, like a milk stout, than the others. Great all around feel, with a barely-dry finish.

Overall: I have a real weak spot for beers in this mold—melding hops and barrel—so I think this is probably my second favorite of the four that made up my mini-vertical, behind XX (which wasn't hoppy at all, but was crazy delicious). Not really picking up any trace of oxidation, and there's nothing to make me think this couldn't go another couple years easily. I'd probably give this a 4.55 or so.

 

Mentioned in last month's thread that I would do a side-by-side with 2016 and 2015 Backwoods Bastard. Poured a half bottle in each glass - in low light they looked basically the same: garnet body with an extremely thin head. The aroma is where the two beers diverted. The 2016 was more streamlined with prominent notes of oak, whiskey and some dark fruit. The 2015 was so complex - dark fruit, oak, leather, tobacco and less whiskey overall.

2016 tasted of oak, whiskey, malt, butterscotch and vanilla. 2015 had more dark fruit, malt, a little less whiskey and lighter vanilla. Both were smooth as silk although 2015 had more warmth than heat from the booze.

I love the 2016 version as is and even though I enjoyed it more than the 2015, both were fantastic and different enough that this is a worthy exercise worth repeating. Cheers!

 

Nice review - thanks for sharing!

 

I dont know if every vintage is as good as this one or if all of them hold up as well as this one has but it was fantastic and im surprised this brew doesnt come up more frequently in discussion. Maybe I liked it so much because I only paid like $3 for it ~8ish years ago.

Anyway, very minimal oxidative character to be found. Frankly, I had to seek it out to even notice it. The rest of this brew's profile was all about the bready/biscuit/toasted malts, caramel and vanilla supported by layers of fruited alcohol. I drank this at cellar temp and would highly recommend it.

 

I don't know if it's intentional, myself, but I have noticed some fair variation in Fuller's over the years. Don't recall if I've had a 2005, but I do feel like some are better than others.

 

Thomas Hardy's Ale 1994 vintage, 350ml bottle.

A nice post 3-mile Turkey Trot treat for me!

Pours translucent mahogany with deep red hues around the edges of the glass, crystal clear, I can see the individual bricks of my fireplace through the glass, no head or perceptible carbonation. Smells of fudge molasses, slight coffee; chocolate is real dominant with vibrant molasses notes. Taste is muddled chocolate coffee, beets, with a slightly bitter coffee finish; coffee notes become stronger as I drink on. Mouthfeel is thick and smooth, supporting the sugar, bitter tannins, and a barely there alcohol heat that I can only detect as a warming from deep within my chest. This is a decadent treat, and a tasty 22 year old gal at that.

 

Clown Shoes - Flight of the Angry Beast, 2015. Starting to work my way through the stouts in the cellar. After a decent amount of experimenting I'm finding I enjoy stouts, BBA or non-BBA, after 6-12 months of rest. This is a hybrid BBA barleywine/stout so I'm curious how it'll go. Bottled on 10/2015. Pours a rich, earthy dark brown with a minimal head. Aroma is huge, both in depth and breadth - whiskey, roasted malt, dark fruit. Even after a year the whiskey-heat is strong. Taste vacillates between stout and barleywine with the powerful booziness being the bridge that connects the two. Different profile each sip almost. Roasted malt, burnt sugar, raisins, prunes, leather, vanilla and bitter hops. It's a huge, unpredictable and borderline pig of a beer. Must be wild fresh.

 

I'm a bit of a Clown Shoes fanboy, and a fan of stout/barleywine blending experiments besides, so Flight of the Angry Beast has long been one of my favorites of theirs. It was indeed a really enjoyable hot mess when it was first released, and it hasn't calmed down much since then.

By coincidence, I'm also having a cellared Clown Shoes release: one of their state-limited releases, The Ballad of Minnie Quay.

From February 2015, it pours on the ruby side of copper, with half a finger of head that leaves a light ring around the rim of my swagtastic Clown Shoes snifter. There's a bit of oxidation on the nose, in the form of blood orange, plum, tannins, and fruitcake. Lots of classic old ale notes here, on the acidic end of the range, thanks to the port barrel tannins and age--strong malt on the finish, preceded by black cherry, dark plums, and suggestions of orange and clove, reminiscent of a hot spiced cider.

The port takes center stage; I'm not getting much whiskey at all. That said, there isn't a ton of barrel character in any case. The mouthfeel is full and smooth. I didn't have an opportunity to try this when it was fresh, but in comparison to Clown Shoes' typical adventures in Boozy Barrel Land, this must have either spent less time in the whiskey barrels than usual or it's calmed down considerably in the bottle.

I'd say the current level of oxidation has been quite complimentary. It might continue to improve for another year or so, but probably not much beyond that before some of the fruitcake starts to evolve into orange gumdrops and paper pulp.

 

New Holland Pilgrams Dole
Bottled 9 16 15

In my limited experience of 4 years cellaring beer, this is the only beer that I feel has improved with time.

This one is still fairly young and coming along nicely. It drinks like a classic barley wine, yet the wheat base and barrel aging make it's own beast

The sweetness meshes with the Bourbon barrel aging better than any other BA barley wine that I have had and only gets smoother with time.

I have only been able to push previous vintages three years, I have 3 2015s left, hopefully I can push them a bit farther.

 

I love this beer also, not a bad price either, sits on shelves for a long time, I've got a few going back to '12

 

2008 Capital Autumnal Fire
Surprisingly low in oxidation, and the amount that is there tends to blend nicely. Minimal cardboard and more richness and sherry notes. Still holds a nice feel with a full, nearly syrupy low carbonation feel. Also the fruit notes remain prominent and pleasing.
A worthwhile experiment.

 

I have one bottle in my cellar marked labelled "Vintage 2014". In small print on the bottle neck it has:
L014
12:24
Is this a 12/24/14 bottle date?