August 2017 Cellar Reviews

Deschutes Mirror Mirror 2009

Let's revisit a shitty year for Deschutes. The Abyss 2009 was thoroughly infected, & after the first couple of months I never had one that wasn't grossly grotesque (I still have one in the cellar, so hope springs eternal). Mirror Mirror's issues were more scattered, but still present. So let's have a go.

At eight years, this is not infected & definitely tasty. Caramel has taken over this beer; Werthers would be proud. Bourbon & wood are light, but they were light when this beer was young. Malt sweetness that's almost maple-like. And that's it. Little in the way of complexity, but this has settled into a great place. Better now than fresh.

 

For the bottle of Abyss in your cellar, have a hoppy IPA ready. You can mix em and have a pretty tasty brew. Prevents a drainpour, in my experience.

 

I know I am definitely a minority in that I am a fan of the infected Abyss- some bottles had too much smoke, but others were that right tart acidity that was the sweet spot for me. Must have had nearly 2 cases of that year and drank them all but a few smokey ones.

 

Opened up a bottle of Thomas Hardy's Ale vintage 1986! 31 year old beer is the oldest beer that I have ever drank and it was pretty good.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1533/578/?ba=4DAloveofSTOUT#review

 

Three year old Gulden Draak. Amazeballs. I really like this beer to start with, but the cellared version smooths out any boozy rough edges and enhances the raisin and toffee/caramel notes. Quite a treat. One left in the cellar to try at year 4, and I can't imagine it would fall off at all at that point yet.

 

2014 mother of all storms:




2014 vintage.

L - let warm up out of fridge for 20 minutes. Poured into a voodoo teku. Pours a very clear, deep mahogany hued reddish brown. Beautiful luscious head the color of carolina beach sand. Incredibly thick lacing, it runs like honey.

S - cherry and toffee. Subdued vanilla. Definitely smelling mild oxidation. Raisens and figs. Alcohol but not a lot. An almost acetone like presence. Some maple notes. Oakyness/woodsyness. An earthiness like ozone of spring rain.
The faint cardboard oxidation is more obvious as it warms.

T - Raisens and cherries. Toffee. Nuttiness. Warm alcohol. Again, very faint oxidation. Lots of woody oak, not so much distinguishable bourbon however. Carmelized sugar. Some sort of faint old world hop variety. I don't like the "leather" or "tobacco" descriptors but this beer needs them - it embodies both with a pleasant "musty" taste that I think these words describe well. The toffee begins to taste of brown sugar as it warms.

It's incredibly potent in flavor and remains on the palate for ages after the smallest sip.

F - Tremendous amount of alcohol warmth. Thick and chewy. Highly carbonated and creamy. Fairly dry.

O - I think most English barleywines are too sweet (and conversely tend to feel most American classifications are overly hopped). This, while yes still very sweet is a beautiful middle road. Not an absolute sugar bomb, but far, far from the "old ipa" taste I associate most American versions with.

A lot of the bittering presence is no doubt from the oxidation I'm tasting. Which makes me question if this would be a sugar bomb fresh? Either way, I'm happy with it as is 3 years old.

Value - It was a trade so not sure on the price or how hard it is to come by (I know not real easy). I would buy it again on the shelf for sure but have no intentions to seek out another via trade at this time.


*side note. BA needs to update the descriptions on many beers. The last release noted was 2011. To my knowledge this is an annual release so this page has been neglected for 5-6 years.

 

You can, I suppose, submit an update for notes.

 

Green Flash Cellar 3 Natura Morta Plum -
Bottled May 7, 2015, and been in my cellar almost since then. Surprisingly, it has held up nicely. Not really much change since I had it fresh. Plum, spices, & red wine barrel are all still noticeable. Perhaps the red wine barrel has faded slightly, but it wasn't prominent when fresh either.

Cheers!

 

2013 Sofie.
Everything seems dumbed down vs the fresh Sofie in town on draught. Develops up to 5 years? Not favourably to my palate. Ymmv.

 

Drinking a 2012 now and it's awesome!!! Tons of Brett vs fresh draft and bottles.

 

Yeah, some of the beers change character crazy from year to year. Enjoy!

 

This was my experience with a 2014 that I had a couple months back (in the cellar reviews). The fruit was gone and it seemed like only the Brett was left.

 

I'm sad Meph has been banished back to Hell. I hoard em when I see em.

 

2012 Pepe Nero

About two fingers of frothy khaki head. Body is opaque with a slight redish-brown hue when held to the light. Visible carbonation along the edge of the glass. Nose starts with sweet dark fruit, raisin is dominant. This is underlined by a sweet, but earthy, scent of leather. A bit of pepper and banana. Taste follows the nose, but with greater depth. Dark fruit with notes of leather, earth, and must underlying. Finishes slightly bitter and dry which helps to cuts through the sweetness. I'm also picking up on some notes of unsweetened chocolate.

This has aged incredibly well and is one of the rarer instances where the aged version is superior (in my opinion) than when I had this fresh or at younger ages. Wasn't expecting this to hold up this well....

 

I had a recently aged 2011 or 2012 Pepe Nero can't remember which one but anyway yes that baby ages well

 

Enjoying a 6 month old Shorts Goodnight Bodacious and wow what a difference to have 6 months later than fresh. This is a DIPA barleywine that actually gets hoppier aged, yeah no shit. Had it fresh and was super boozy with no pine flavor. 6 months later it is super piney with hints of coffee, chocolate, and vanilla. I went from a 2.95 rating to a 4.41. 6 months aged and this beer shines it's true flavors.