November Cellar Reviews

2008 Deschuttes Dissident
Fantastic!!!! The light sourness when fresh is still there, but the funk has set in and balances perfectly for my tastes. Some cherry pie flavors, subtle pineapple, and all those weird funky flavors I have trouble describing were there.

The best sour/wild ale I have ever had. Truly impressive. Last one unfortunately.

 

2010 Dark Horse Double Crooked Tree

Other than the hop oil nip, no hop aroma to speak of. Much more of a strong ale quality that I suggested in my original review. Actually very much like barleywine. Still a small but persistent head. Slightly cloudy amber/gold/red body. Drinks like a barleywine too. Alcohol is blended well considering how damn high it is (13.6%) but it zings the frontal lobe pretty quick. Smoothed out some, but still kinda' harsh and biting. Probably could use a few years, but I think this might be my last one. Not terrible, but nothing to write home about.

 

2010 Smuttynose Imperial Stout (Early 2010 release). Aroma of herbal and citrus hops, caramel, and licorice. Citrus, licorice, caramel, and chocolate are the main players in its taste. Honestly, this beer has not changed much in the nearly 3 years since release. The 2010 release of this beer was not the hoppiest vintage (although VERY hoppy for a stout), but still retains the hoppiness like an aged DIPA or hoppy barleywine. Very smooth. Quite good, but this could go much longer if you're looking for big changes.

 

Great beer to age.

I always thought that Smutty Imperial Stout was a great substitute for those who don't trade & want to try Surly Darkness. The taste profiles are similar. Man, I haven't had this in a while, I'm going to have to watch for the next release!

 

2008 HotD Fred From the Wood

I don't recall who I got this bottle from, but it had a very nice red wax job which was easy to open up. Went in with no expectations - I hadn't had this fresh, and I have not had any regular Fred that was aged to any extent. Bottle opened with a hiss, and after a rough pour into a Duvel tulip a bright orange body was capped by a nice 1" head of creamy tan foam. Smell was fantastic - vanilla, caramel, oak, earthiness, figs. Taste was surprisingly sweet - brown sugar, toffee, leather, slightly spicy, lightly fruity. Mouthfeel was medium-thick and very creamy, with a fair bit of prickly carbonation. Overall, I was very impressed with this beer and happy to have drunk it. I would rate it right up there with the recent batch of Adam From the Wood.

 

In honor of the birth of Claaark13's daughter, I decided to open a late 90's De Dolle Stille Nacht. Thanks for giving me an excuse!

jedwards could probably provide better provinance, but this is a bottle of import SN that came in some time (I believe) in the late 90's. World Wide Imports is the distributor listed on label, no other date info. Bowtie neck label, returnable info sticker on back.



Found at a store a while back, this particular bottle had been sitting in mini fridge in basement for some time now. After the initial hiss subsequent to cracking the bottle open, I was greeted with the most interesting sounds coming from inside the bottle neck - something akin to Pop Rocks slowly crackling on your tongue. It was hypnotic and distracted me for a bit, but I had work to do. Before pouring I sniffed a whiff straight out of the neck of the bottle (I don't know about others, but that's the way I like getting my initial read on aroma of a beer) and, straight up, it smelled like Juicy Fruit gum. Yeah yeah, I know it's a trope to go with the whole 'bubblegum' aroma on Belgian beers but man, this really smelled like actual Juicy Fruit. On to the pour: for the second night in a row I went with my tried and true Duvel tulip. I gently poured the beer in, since there was some serious sediment menacing around in the bottom of the bottle. Despite the light touch, a veritable mushroom cloud of angry foam erupted right up above the brim of the glass.


It didn't stick around long, just enough to say 'thanks for letting me out of the bottle'. After a couple minutes it had completely faded into a pencil-thin ring around the edge of a milky-amber body of beer. I took a few pre-sips (couldn't wait!), but decided I oughta let this warm up some to open up more fully. While waiting, I spent some time checking out that thick neckline of dried De Dolle magic/crud that was around the neck - the Belgian equivilant of having 'Thug Life' tatooed under your chin.


So aroma: I covered the name-brand bubblegum, but it also had a vinous element; grapeskin, tartness, slightly herbal. Ten minutes passed, and I got tired of waiting for optimum temperature and dove right in. SN is such a unique tasting beer. It just confuses the heck out of my palette, in a great way. It's a rollercoaster ride of flavors - light lemon zest, clove, candi sugar, wood, dark fruits, earthy stuff, pear, caramel ... pretty much all delicious stuff. The yeast flavor profile of this beer is really not like anything I've had before; really adds an awesome facet to the overall taste. On the front end of the tongue this beer is is really fruity and tangy, but when it finishes it's *almost* old/aged English barleywine-esque. Even the occasional burps that were coming up later were tasty. Very, very little alcohol components to the flavor profile. Body was pillow-soft, with medium fell and a good amount of carbonation. Final verdict: delicious. Mr. & Mrs. Clark: you're daughter is going to absolutely enjoy cracking those beers open with you down the road. Noroc!

 

That's a great idea, think I may do the same tonight! Though that particular bottle may not be "late" 90s... I'm now reasonably sure those are '94/'95 -- De Dolle began using the bowties in '94, and by '96 the US imports were using the now-standard bowtie-replacement redemption label.

Sounds incredible. Those old Stille Nacht bottles are magic.

 

Couple weekends ago I popped open a three-year vertical of Hunahpu's with a few fellow Huna lovers. Huge love goes out to moose3285 for enabling my Cigar City addiction over the years:

'10 was tame. Still with that trademark thick-as-syrup feel, but the spices & chiles were well in the background. Still very good, but it's lost most of what makes it unique.
'11 was the near-unanimous winner, which surprised everyone. Spiciness was gorgeous, with way more chocolate than the other two, & the vanilla still hanging on strong. Two of us who love Hunahpu's believed it peaked at 6-9 months, now I've done a reassessment of that belief. Borderline perfect. Perhaps this was just the best of the batch in the first place?
'12 was marvelous & would have stood out...except the '11 was present. Everything the '11 had was here, but the chiles, even after 9 months, are still drowning out the other components to a degree. I think this needs at least another 6 months before reaching the peak of the '11. But still a top-shelf beer.

I know the '10 Hunahpu's was lighter on the chiles than the last two years, which may have contributed to the more mellow taste, but don't believe that you have to drink this instantly to get the best bang - this is an astoundingly good beer after a year-and-a-half, & better than it was fresh in my opinion.

If you love chiles, drink it fresh, but age allows the other componets to breathe & make the beer really shine.

 

2011 Sierra Nevada Clebration Ale

I love short term aging of these small beers!

Pours golden amber, ample head. Smells like a barleywine, malty, faint pine, toffee, turbinado sugar. Tastes of toffee, tea, brown sugar, an odd astringency. Mouthfeel is thin, carbonation high. Overall not bad, I'll have this years fresh next to compare.

 

Last night my wife and I did a mini vertical of Anchor OSA from 2008 to 2012. Bottles were stored in an opaque plastic storage bin in a dark closet of a rarely used room in our house.

Left to right: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012.




2008
Pours a murky brown with a foamy khaki head that settles to a film on top of the beer. Small dots of lace form around the glass on the drink down. Smell is slightly oxidized with malt, dark fruits, and a variety of spices. Taste is much the same with a slight soy sauce flavor. There is a mild spice bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a good level of carbonation with a crisp mouthfeel. Overall, this is a good beer that has held up well even with a slight amount of oxidation.

2009
Pours a murky orange-brown with a foamy orange-khaki head that settles to a film on top of the beer. Small streaks of lace form around the glass on the drink down. Smell is of malt, spices, herbs, and a mild cardboard aroma. Taste is much the same with a spice and herb flavor on the finish. There is a mild spice bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a good level of carbonation with a crisp mouthfeel. Overall, this is a pretty good beer with some somewhat intense spice and herbal aromas and flavors that have held up for 4 years now.

2010
Pours a clear dark orange-brown with a foamy khaki head that settles to a film on top of the beer. Small dots of lace form around the glass on the drink down. Smell is of malt, spices, herbs, and a distinct cedar-like aroma. Taste is much the same with a spice finish. There is a mild spice bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a good level of carbonation with a crisp but medium bodied mouthfeel. Overall, this is a good beer that tastes much fresher than the 2008 and 2009 bottles.

2011
Pours a clear orange-brown with a foamy khaki head that settles to an oily film on top of the beer. Foamy streaks of lace form around the glass on the drink down. Smell is of malt, spices, herbs, and a woody aroma. Taste is much the same with an earthy and slight cocoa flavor on the finish. There is a mild spice bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a lower level of carbonation with a slightly crisp and medium bodied mouthfeel. Overall, this is a good beer that has a better flavor than smell in my opinion.

2012
Pours a clear dark copper with a foamy khaki head that settles to an oily film on top of the beer. Foamy streaks of lace form around the glass on the drink down. Smell is of malt, citrus zest, herbs, and some mild spice aromas. Taste is much the same with a slight medicinal flavor on the finish. There is a mild spice bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a lower level of carbonation with a slightly crisp and medium bodied mouthfeel. Overall, this is a good beer that has a different set of aromas and flavors than other OSA beers from the recent past.

Overall, my preference was 2012>2008>2011>2009>2010 and my wife was 2008>2012>2011>2009>2010.

Good times.

 

2010 Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale

Still has great appearance with full rich head and deep reds. Still nicely carbonated. Full and ample lacing throughout.
Aroma is aged malt character with a slight cardboard quality, but that could also be some of the oak as well.
Taste is a blend of soft alcohol, a softening malt and wood. Less of the oxidation. Still retains a hop character with a growing bitterness on the very long finish.
This has aged only okay. The changes haven't really enhanced the experience. It is still drinkable, but I'm not inclined to be in a hurry to age again.

 

2009 Great Divide BA Old Ruffian

Acquired in a trade a couple years ago. Said, "Self: let's drink something good tonight for Thanksgiving!". Chilled it a bit, then peeled the foil and popped the cap. First bad sign: cap seemed to come off way too easy. Second bad sign: no hiss. I then gave it a desperate, vigorous, angry pour into a big tulip ... no head at all. So I had a pretty good idea what I was in for at that point. Color was dark brown like old apple cider and cloudy. The smell was pretty decent - woody, butterscotchy sweetness, a bit musty, a little boozy, some whiskey. Taste was a let down. It was similar to the nose, but with a general unpleasantness generated by not-well-integrated alcolhol flavor. The residual bitterness from the hops didn't play well with the underlying whiskey flavor. And the flatness was damned distracting. My tongue was giving me 'WTF's!' on every sip. Fortunately, I'm a pro beer drinker so I managed to polish the bottle off. I am glad I didn't roll into some swanky beer tasting with this and try to wow folks - this was not a very good beer.

 

I don't know what year it is. There's 2 sets of numbers, 0-9; 1 is notched on the left set, 0 on the right.

It's a great looker as you can see.

The smell has a Port and fruity nose. No coffee so I'm thinking this is an older bottle.

It taste very malty with Port like flavours, dark fruits, light bitterness in the finish that yeah, is what's left of the coffee that's up there when fresh.

The body is solid and still bordering on full and it has a perfect level of carbonation for a big brew...lightish.

Whatever the age of this bottle, it drink great. I'm sad that it's gone now.

 

Brought home a mini Eclipse tasting for Thanksgiving and shared with my brother and brother-in-law with the wives and girlfriends popping in for tastes.

The line up consisted of 10' Four Roses, 10' Heaven Hill, 10' Evan Williams, and the 12 and 18 Elijah Craig from 2011.

To my surprise, the Four Roses was the favorite by a wide margin. The honey was most noticeable and the bourbon was softer and sweeter than the others. Heaven Hill was my second favorite. The spiciness of the rye added a nice dimension. The Elijah Craigs were next, with the 12 being oddly hot, and the 18 rather disjointed. The Evan Williams was the unanimous least favorite. The finish was all cheap and ashy, actually unpleasant.

Overall it was nice to try these side by side and then drink them blind and try to match them. While I enjoyed the experience, I appreciated the time with family discussing and drinking beer more than the Eclipse series itself. Not sure I'd go out of way for the price point on any of these bottles, but it was nice while it lasted.

 

2010 Kuhnhenn Bourbon Barrel Barleywine

As far as BBB's go, this has always been a favorite of mine. The carbonation is still very much alive and the pour was a dark caramel color. The hotness of the 15% ABV has faded just enough and the sweetness really balances things out nicely. It was incredibly easy to drink for something with so much alchohol in it and even when I was done I felt like I could handle another 6 ounces, which is rare for me with such a big beer.

If you are sitting on some of this, crack one on a cold night and enjoy, it's tasting great right now.

 

2008 Old Guardian-

Lots of toffee in the nose, slight pine, caramel, milk chocolate. Taste is toffee forward, honey, raisins, prunes, slight butterscotch, with black tea and coffee ever so slight in the back. Mouthfeel is medium heavy, with a residual sweetness that still carries the tea and coffee like tannic characters well, carbonation is medium as it is fresh almost. Overall damn fine barleywine!

 

Had a 2006 JW Lees Calvados cask a couple nights ago. Not good. Totally flat, super cardboardy and that was about it for taste in this one. No idea the storage conditions...

A few months back I had a 2009 JW Lees Harvest and it was phenomenal. Sweet, dark fruit notes, great balance. So, I'm not sure if the barrel aging combined with six years of age on the Calvados I had was a bad mix, or what. I have a 2010 Port and 2010 Sherry version too, I might try them sooner than later.

Also had an 18-month old DFH Black and Blue. It was very nice, nothing mind blowing, but still good fruits and a nice belgian golden ale thing going on. I'd drink this again, never had it fresh to compare, but it's certainly capable of putting some time on it.

 

2011 Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout

Thought I'd pull one out even though it's only 1 year old.
It tastes very nice. Taken on a vinous quality with more apparent alcohol, but with no heat. Fruitiness still there, but less chocolate, yet plenty of roast. Still opened with a pfft.
I'm pleased.

 

Had a 2005 calvados not long ago and felt the same way about it. Flat, cardboard and no sign of the calvados. Now 2010 calvados, that was amazing. Would consider 2-3 years it's prime on that jw lees version.