August 2018 Cellar Reviews

2010 Bell’s Third Coast Ale
Batch 9970 - 10/16/2010 according to Bell’s Batch Finder
Murky leathery dark amber with some short-lived beige which leaves a rim of head and a few specks of lacing
A lot of burnt caramel, toffee, raisin, and fig on the nose with some cola aromas
Sticky plum, rum raisin, walnut, and toffee on the flavor, milk chocolate and mocha mid-palate with a bit of leafy tobacco in the finish. The maltiness is intense but enjoyable without being cloying.
Feel is active for almost 8 years in the cellar - silky with low-medium carbonation and a bit of stickyness/tackiness in the finish.
Third Coast Ale has not lost a step in going on 8 years. Still delicious and satisfying with a big malt presence but a delicious variety of aromas and flavors.

 

Bottled 12/04/14 but labeled as 2015. Stored in my cellar (which I mean a cardboard box on the basement cement floor of a dark corner. It works for me).

Drank at cellar temp.
Crimson body, looks like Autumn at 100%. Khaki head of about an 1” with good lacing.
Earthy, toffee, prunes, caramel, faint hop nose.
Dark fruited, prunes, caramel. earthiness, hops are more prevalent. Pine, dank and ultimately citrus finish. Smooth body.

 

2016 Mocha Wednesday - Bottled Dec 2015 so just over 2.5 years old.

Nose is absolutely amazing. Tons of dark fruit.
Tastes of plums, cinnamon, coffee, chocolate and bourbon. What's delightful is each of these flavors comes through very well after it warms. Served at 50F, which was too cold. Had to let it sit for a while.
Mouthfeel is very thin. Almost like drinking a barleywine. I'm partial to the thicker side for stouts, so -1.
Alcohol still present, both on the nose and on the tongue. I suppose that's no surprise at 19.4%.
Overall, 4.25/5. Would like to see what another few years will do to this.

 

2017 KBS

Poured into a DFH tulip I think the head was slightly smaller than when fresh. The barrel and booze smell is still prominent but is slightly more balanced in the taste along with the chocolate and malts. Still a very rewarding experience in the waning days of August. Still three left to consume and compare

 

Vintage Beers recommends 3-5 years as the optimum time for this so I hope you have some unconsumed ones.

 

2015 bottling. From my review today:

"750 ml caged and corked bottle. 2015.

It pours pitch black, fine head of tan foam, good lacing.

The smell...if that is any indicator of the taste, I'm in for a treat. Bourbon and Brandy gently caressing my nose buds, roasted malt, dark chocolate, vanilla, hint of coffee, dark pitted fruits, light on that but there. Sweet notes that are definitely not going to be cloying in the taste. A prediction.

Man the taste lives up to the smell and I was right aboot the sweet factor; mild and certainly NOT cloying.

Almost full bodied, lightly carbonated, the mouthfeel is a joy to experience.

Maybe my favourite new beer to me of the year. I'm so glad that this is in a large format bottle!!"

Could very well be my beer of the year .

 

Free Will Brown Beard dated March 2016, so almost 2.5 years old. Its a stronger version of their Coffee Oameal Brown ale then aged in rum barrels.

Pours a clear dark brown color , think cream colored head that fades to just a ring around the glass. Some lacing as I drink. Aroma is boozy rum, oak, vanilla, a bit of toffee. Similar flavor in the taste, but no alcohol heat. Thinner bodied. Overall good stuff

 

Now that Better Half has hit the shelves in Michigan I felt it was time to crack open my Curmudgeon aged 20 months to compare to it. I wasn't a fan of Better Half but wow Curmudgeon the original turned into a totally different beer 20 months later:

Fresh I remember It with a caramel scotch like appearance that also has a scotch aroma with hinting flavors of scotch, oaky vanilla chips, molasses, and caramel that pairs especially well with a good cigar.

Now 20 months later I pour it into a snifter at cellar temp:

Tons of carbonation is left in the bottle, half the glass is filled with bubbly foam that quickly dissipates to a froth. It no longer looks like caramel scotch but it more so resembles a barley wine with its murky brown appearance.

The aroma is brown sugar, molasses barley wine malt with really no presence of scotch or oak. Almost resembles an English barley wine vs American barley wine

Now the flavors is the real kicker, instead of caramel, scotch, oaky vanilla flavors I get now strawberry raspberry molasses dipped in chocolate with hints of maple and vanilla. The oaky scotch flavors have faded away as I can't taste oak at all. This has now turned into an almost dessert beer and no I would not recommend it with a cigar, but having it fresh it definitely pairs well with a cigar. Where did the strawberry and raspberry flavors come from? This was the most interesting find I ever gotten from an aged beer. It had truly evolved into a different beer. Almost reminded me of a J.W. Lee barley wine for its complexity.

 

I enjoy reading the reviews, so this isn't a knock at all. Everyone's palate's are different. That said, you get some pretty wild flavors sometimes. Strawberry Raspberry Molasses? Wow!

 

Yeah it was mind blowing. My wife and I both shared and she said same thing about strawberries and raspberries dipped in chocolate. Never would have suspected it. Crazy thing is I got zero oak, nothing like what I had back in January of '17. I also have to say I'll have to buy this at every release just to have one fresh and age another for that 20 month sweet spot.

 

Anyone have any idea if Curmudgeon's Better Half will be a good candidate to age? And if so, around how long?

 

I'm aging 3 as it was way too sweet fresh for my liking

 

2 years aged Founders Dirty Bastard:

Smells of raisins, prunes, dates, licorice, and rum

Dark Dr. Pepper chocolate quad look with massive foamy cream head

Tastes of prunes, dates, chocolate licorice, rum soaked raisins. So much better than one year aged and actually might be better than fresh. Every sip is delightful.

 

Batch 10,000
Seems like quite a few Bell's beers this month. Why not go out in glory...I hope.
Nice carbonation upon opening. Nice dense and creamy head. Nice creamy lacing too. Good looking head. Kinda' cloudy body in a dark liquid of brown and dark red.
Initial sweet malt followed by some oxidation leaning towards cardboard. This stayed once it appeared. Some richness to the malt background. Minimal hops.
Much less oxidation in the taste. Rich malt with a very nice nearly full creamy body.
Hints of cardboard and more hops here. Not bitter but a few light hits mixed with a herbal hop taste.
Mixed overall. Appearance and body are still quite nice. Fair amount of oxidation, more in aroma than taste, but both are not a pleasing type with more cardboard than sherry notes.
I think I have one left. I think I hit it sooner than later.

 

2015 Troegs BBA Flying Mouflan. This batch was amazing fresh, and it's still great. Very dark brown, tan head that fades. Huge wonderful aroma of vanilla, raisin, oak, toffee. Taste is similar rich malty and bourbon flavors, but not sweet. Medium bodied, lower carbonation.