Cellar Reviews (2019)

Mad Elf vertical!



Tasting notes:

2018: The Mad Elf we all know and love.
2017: More mellow then the 2018, no spice, still pretty sweet, touch of honey.
2016: A touch more mild than the 2017, especially on the finish. Still sweet.
2015: Gradual progression is becoming obvious over the years. A little less sweet, a little more malty each time.
2014: Not sweet, maltiness, pretty smooth, good! Only a trace of Elf, more traditional Belgian notes prominent.

I like the 2018 as a fresh Mad Elf, and the 2014 is showing the change into something different.

 

Starting 2019 off with a bottle of 2013 (I believe) Old Jubilation. I swear I've had Old Jubilation before, fresh, but I didn't write about it here nor anywhere else so I don't have a personal reference point for it.

Pour is a murky brown, but decent visibility through it. Minimal off tan head. Doesn't stick around. A lot of floaties. Decent lacing.

Nose is sweeter with some bright spices to it. Best part of the brew. Candied fruits and dark sweet bread and candied spices, but all more dull than that descriptor suggests.

Flavour is clearly past its prime. There's still some of those peaks of candied sweetness and spice, but it's a bit oxidized and just kind of falls flat otherwise. Everything is just too tamped down past having mellowed and blended together, and to the stage of just kind of being a jumble without much definition or really much interesting in general.
Brightly effervescent still.



Overall this is a pretty big disappointment. Not that I had particularly high hopes, but just that this was not particularly enjoyable (not gross, but not good). I've got one more of the '13 vintage, as well as a bottle each of the '10 and '11. They're probably going to end up as ingredients (chili? bread? brats? anyone got any good recipes that could make use of beer?).
Oh well, they're not all gonna be winners!
I'm debating popping into the 2010 just for science sake since hanging onto them isn't likely to help anything.

Alright, well further impressions from the 2010



Nose actually has more flavour to it and the body less goobers. Still past its prime and pretty dull and muddled. Less sharp spikes of sweetness and spice, and more mulled, but still not as oxidized and dull of flavour. I still think I'll commit the 2011 and other 2013 to the pot, but this 2010 is a pleasant surprise following a disappointing one from the 2013.

 

2017 Rye Whiskey Dosvidanya

Appearance: black body with 2 fingers tall medium brown head that falls to a thin cap.

Smell: Lots of chocolate. Figs. Spicy rye & whiskey. Deep mature dry oak notes.

Taste: Mix of cocoa and milk chocolate with lots of rye notes which are really well balanced in the stout. Barrel notes are well integrated. Very smooth whiskey flavor with dry, earthy, complex oak notes. Hint of vanilla sweetness and a hint of dark fruits. Hint of leather and tobacco which rounds things out nicely. slight amount of cardboard also showing up, so it is starting to oxidize a little bit.

Mouthfeel: medium bodied stout. low and adequate carbonation levels. Very smooth for 12.5%. Not a hint of the stout's abv.

Overall: This beer has come together nicely and melded well. The rye is so flavorful without outdoing everything else that is going on with this stout. The same can be said with whiskey notes. Without being an overly hefty stout, the flavor it packs makes it seem more hefty than it actually is. No booze burn, easy to drink. Its a cellar treat for sure.

The beer is starting to show a little oxidation in the form of the cardboard flavor profile, but its very faint at this point.

I usually like to grab two bottles of Rye Dosvidanya every year. One fresh and one to age a full year. The beer seems to hit the sweet spot between 10 to 12 months. This bottle is closer to 15 months old or a little older than that. I wanted to wait a little longer to see what this beer would do with the extra time. Next year I will be drinking the 2018 at 12 months and no later to stay away from the oxidizing flavor of cardboard.

 

Finally was able to have 3 year old Bigfoot again. My goto beer store closed a few years ago and it took me a while to find a new one so I had a drought for a while.

 

it's been years since I tried to post a picture and I seem to have forgotten how. Oh well.

Orval close to 12 years old. Last of a case purchased 11 years ago. That's kind of how it had to be done in PA back then.

I never did have a very good vocabulary for beer like this, so I'm not doing this any sort of justice. This is mellow overall but immensely satisfying. Musty apricots, a touch of candy peach rings, and a fairly strong clove bite at the end. Lots more going on here but I am able to describe. No doubt about it, this beer has legs. It might be a bit past its peak, but not by an awful lot. The last one I had was over a year ago so my memories are a bit vague but I think it was pretty similar to when I'm tasting now.

 

Moving soon, so cleaning out the beer fridge some. More reviews to come the next few weeks.

Beer one - Exhibit A Sunday Paper, canned 1/27/17. Did not purposely age this and when I found it the other week was curious about how it developed. It has been in the fridge (except in my car as I drove across country a 1.5 years ago). I was expecting a muddled mess that would be a drain pour. Boy was I wrong! I got strong coffee on the nose and the taste was the same. Only thing that was not as strong as fresh was the mouth feel. The coffee in this held up better than a 2017 BCBCS I popped on NYE.

Beer two - Gulden Draak – Not 100% but assuming the bottle date (code on bottle 27FM) is June 27th, 2013 or 2014. This is according to a post by @threeviews in What beer are you drinking now? #1798. The beer pours a dark amber like color with a one finger cream head that dissipates into thin lacing with decent retention. No legs present on the glass. The yeast esters have aged nicely – leading to a dark (plum, raisins) candied fruit profile, with toffee, vanilla, and baked bread. The taste follows the smell. Candied fruit flavors, toffee, caramel, and bread like. I cannot tell this is a 10.5% beer. It dances on the tongue and a fairly light mouth feel. The effervescent mouth feel plays very nicely with the rich and complex aroma and taste. Have two more and looking forward to drinking them in the next couple years. I think I found a beer I need to start to cellar more.

 

didnt take any pictures or notes, but last night i enjoyed the hell out of a 2014 Bells Third Coast Old Ale. such a great beer as it gets older! super smooth with all of that raisiny/figgy/caramel goodness, backed up with a tasty booze quality. got two more left in the cellar.

 

Better crack open my 13.

 

Cracked open a 2013 Oak Smoked version of Stone's Old Guardian last night. It was excellent. Review here https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/147/90189/?ba=neenerzig#review

Eric

 

2012 Heavy Seas Below Decks Bourbon Barrel Aged Barleywine - Dark ruby color, little to no head, little carbonation. Smooth tasting, nice bourbon flavor, with subtle sweetness. This held up really well.
.

 

I don't think I would have aged this intentionally, but I found on clearance on a couple of months ago.
Heavy Seas 21st Anniversary
A Barrel Aged Imperial ESB
22oz 22oz bottle into Tulip
2016 vintage (16251)
Pours a murky brown with tan head
Caramel, oak, booze, bourbon, sherry
Taste is first dry and bitter and then opens up to a spicy rye boozy finish
Feel is light-to-medium and dry, 10.5% well hidden
Overall this is a real solid beer, that is obviously very unique in that It imperializes a session beer and then barrel ages it, but it was pulled off, great job Heavy Seas!

 

Here's a good one for you guys: last night I opened a Founder's All Day IPA from 2014. Stored at presumably room temp in the back room of a shop until a couple weeks ago when it snuck into my home as part of a giant discount clearance box.

You know that old beer trope about hoppy beers turning into barleywine once they malt out and the hops fade? Kind of like that but with melted plastic stirred into it. I've had plenty of old IPAs before, but nothing on this level of nastiness. 2 sips was stomach turning. Not sure where a plastic flavor would come from in an old IPA like that. Any ideas? It was exactly as horrendous as I was expecting it to be, so...cellar win?

 

2017 Southern Tier Barrel Works Series Sapsquatch

4.35/5 rDev +1.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Poured from a 4/17 1 pint 6 ounce bottle into a DFH tulip. Dark ruby mahogany color with a small head which quickly fades to just an outer ring. Etched fish at the bottom of the glass throws up a small circle of persistent bubbles, otherwise not much carbonation. Smell of sweet boozy dark fruit and maple. Taste reflects the smell but unlike other maple ales or stouts, the maple really comes forward as well as the slightly bitter aftertaste you get with pure maple syrup. I've often complained about Southern Tier cranking the sweetness to diabetic coma levels but for me they get this right. I don't know if the aging had anything to do with it but there is almost no hop presence compared to other American Barleywines and that is 100% not a complaint from me; much more like a British Barleywine. The booze is there but not overpowering at 14.9%. Mouthfeel isn't as oily as a British Barleywine but still a nicely thick minimally carbonated (but not flat and syrupy) retention of flavor.

I was very intrigued by this when it came out and it was too pricey for me to buy more, but now I wish I was cellaring more. Life isn't fair.