June 2019 Cellar Reviews

11/21/11 Palo Santo Marron

Last of my 2011's. Had a feeling this one wouldn't do any better than last time I opened one, about two years ago, and it didn't. Now I/we know. It's why we do this, ayy?

Aroma has diminished even more, and contains sherry notes it didn't have last time opened. No cardboard or papery notes. Dark fruit has faded to a background aroma, and a peachy sweetness that was little noticed in the past has appeared, and gets more delicious and prominent as it warms. There were always nutty, brown bread, rich, doughy, full of thick fruit kind of complex notes, and some roasty and hoppy notes that balanced well the outright fruity sweetness it had. Those elements are here in varying degrees of diminished proportion, with the bitterness of both roast and hop barely present, so it has more of an overwhelming sweet than it used to have. While this review is hardly a good one the fact is this always was a sweet beer, and strongly alcohol present beer, and along the way it developed strong fruit notes that came evident as the strong alcohol of its original form reduced wonderfully, and the more sharp notes gradually mellowed with time. I always considered this was a beer designed for aging, and I believe it is, but for fewer than the 7 years this one has slept. This is less and different than it was, but enjoyable for sure.

tl;dr We are left with a beer that once had strong date bread, fig, plum, and lighter cherry and dark caramel, strong alcohol, and a bit of earthy bitterness. Now it has almost no roast or hop notes to balance what is a less bitter, some sherry to it, still sweet but with peach flavors and much lighter cake, plum and cherry notes

 

Weyerbacher Thirteen Belgian Imperial Stout

This is ten years old now and sadly this 13.6% abv beast is past its prime. The carbonation is all but gone. Most of the roasty chocolate I noted in my original review is barely discernible. The plums and raisins are stronger and showing some oxidation. There is an acidic, lingering cherry note at the finish. This is still pretty enjoyable, especially as I move to the second half of the glass. That might be the 13.6 talking.

 

That beer was my favorite of the Anniversary Series (so far). The Sixteen (Dark Braggot) was a close second though.

 

Both versions of Fourteen were amazing, as was Twelve. Weyerbacher had a fantastic run of anniversary beers for several years.

Still hanging on to one Twelve & one Thirteen from my original stash. Might be about time.

 

My favorite as well, by far. Too bad they had tinker with Tiny. It's very good but comes up a bit short.

 

I've had my last 12 around 2 years ago and thought that it held up extremely well. Very viscous sweet and satisfying.

 

2015 Ballast Point Indra Kunindra

3.74/5 rDev +1.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

22 ounce bottle was a gift from a friend moving away dated 12/13/2015. Poured into a pint bottle produced a full dark tan head over a dark brown body. Smell was of an oddly spiced cola aroma, not unpleasant. I'd like to taste this fresh because I think, other than the cayenne, the spices have faded. There's definitely a cayenne burn and I can probably taste the cumin and faded coconut, but I wish it was more distinctive.

It's not bad by any means but probably better fresh.

 

Allagash Farm to Face (July 16, 2015 bottles on date)

1/2 finger of dense white head. Dissipates to a thin white film and large collar within one minute of pouring. Light orange, crystal clear body with very active, visible carbonation.

Pungent nose of white wine, musty basement, sweet vinegar, and stone fruit.

Taste starts funky and slightly tart. Wet horse blanket, oaky white wine, and lemon. Middle of the mouth bring peach and oaky vanilla. Finish is tart lemon and more funk with some white vinegar. Very clean finish. Medium bodied.

This has aged well for a fruited beer. More funky white wine notes even though some of the peach as faded. Still outstanding.

 

Yup, i held onto a 2013 Celebration in cellar conditions (mostly). I had heard this turned into a barley wine-lite and can confirm that around 2 years thats true. At almost 5, its starting to fall apart. Aroma is wet cardboard with a hint of lime. Up front theres somehow some classic sierra nevada hop profile that opens to a brief hint of malt and ends with a slight roast. Body is a medium to thin

I have a 2014 as well and might hold onto it for longer because why not?

 

2014 BCBS: basically everything at this point has melded together but with the barrel being the strongest. I had wished that the barrel had fallen out more with more dark malty chocolate coming forwards but o well. Not sure if this was just in a weird spot for me and more time would help but im willing to see it out till it falls apart. Got some 13's in "cellar" for the long haul

 

I wish i had drank this fresh. What made KBS so perfect for me fresh was that every piece of the puzzle shined and worked in perfect harmony. However at a year for me, not surprisingly that distinction had faded. It faded faster than i thought it would and blended into a muddy swirl. I think for some people this would have been really enjoyable but what made KBS perfect for me was lost. Glad i did it, and learned a lot.

 

I might review a 2018 founders better half for this thread when the time comes...

 

2017 - Cigar City Marshal Zhukov - 22 oz bottle dated 7/13/17 so almost a year. Had this beer previously fresh on draft and thought it was excellent so didn't want to go too long. I had moved to the fridge from the cellar recently, so let it sit out and warm up a bit before pouring.

jet black, pours like used motor oil, with extremely dark brown head. decent head retention. aroma is bitter chocolate and a touch of dark fruit - like a little red wine or black cherry. taste is moderately dry and roasty, with again mostly dark chocolate flavors, rich espresso. full bodied, thick and smooth mouthfeel. overall a very good imperial stout.

 

Totally forgot that I still had a bottle.

Reasonable hiss when I popped the cap, the black liquid sits under aboot an inch of tan foam.

Loads of sweet caramel malt on the nose first and foremost. Reminds me bigtime of an aged English Barleywine with a smidgen of hop bitterness. Coffee is pretty much gone.(some of the light bitterness *could* be attributed to it, I guess)

The taste? Well, as long as you go in realizing that a near 4 year old Imperial Stout that had coffee as its main point when fresh would probably play a lesser or even no role, you can probably appreciate what this has morphed in to.

Caramel malt with some of the "good" oxidation going on here. Bit of port, cardboard, dark fruit. Smooth as hell, one sip demands that another follows.

Creamy mouthfeel that I find outstanding. Better than fresh? I don't know; 2 completely different beasts that have characteristics that I can revel in, hook line and sinker.

Would I be as impressed with another year or 2 on it? Hard to say but I will guess no. I *may* have caught it just after its peak* but that, again, is another guess on my part .

*carbonation is very light now.

Prost my fellow beer cellar aficionados!

 

2015 Stickee Monkee
Didn't take the time to snap a nice pic of this, I had people over that night.
Pours cloudy dark burgundy with ruby highlights, half Moon of head.
Smells of brown sugar, buttered popcorn, trace of dark fruit in the back end, maybe port or bourbon.
Taste is caramel popcorn, pastries, vanilla frosting, smooth wood notes, long soft finish.
Mouthfeel is thick, somewhat prickly.
Overall this is a super tasty beer, though is not quite the one that I fell in love with when it was fresh. It feels more muddy, muted in some aspects. I think I have a 2016 around which I would love to open soon for comparison.

 

I had a few 2016s and I thought that they were excellent. Not exactly fresh excellent but...
The regular Breakfast Stout is one that I would and did cellar more of and that turned out to be gooder than any KBS I have cellared in the past.

 

For me i prefer both KBS and FBS fresh. I can see why you appreciate FBS and KBS with some age especially after reading your review. I did a vertical of FBS with fresh, 1, and 2 years and did not really enjoy the results. I guess i couldnt get over what had been lost but youre absolutely right, if you go in with that in mind you can appreciate how its changed. I would absolutely agree that its 2 different beast, even at 1 year! Glad i could compare notes with you, cheers!