Cellar Reviews (2019)

I personally prefer it at one year. But it's a fun beer to buy a sixer and have one every six months.

 

2014 The Lost Abbey Angel’s Share



I pulled the cork slowly to only a slight release of air. No pop.

Brown, large and very loosely packed bubbles, indicating low carbonation. They disappeared very quickly. Dark brown color. Translucent and slightly murky.

This beer has a huge nose. Bourbon, chocolate, toasted coconut, vanilla, oak. Tons of dark, dried fruit including raisins and prunes. Coffee. A hint of cinnamon. Some ABV coming Through.

Lots of chocolate. Notes of sweet and dark over the course of the glass. Chocolate covered, bourbon soaked raisins and cherries. Some cinnamon. Some oak.

A medium body with no carbonation. Pleasant warmth from the 12.5% ABV and a semi-sweet finish with some woody bitterness. Residual, sticky sweetness coats my lips.

I am really enjoying this beer. There is tons of chocolate and dark dried fruit that comes through as chocolate covered cherries and raisins. I pulled this from the basement at 55-60F and put it in the fridge for about 30 mins. This beer has held up beautifully. Has it improved? Based only on my ratings from 14 and 15 I am enjoying this MUCH more, but there are too many variables to say it has improved. Right here, right now, I think it’s excellent. There is definitely some heat, which I think works nicely.

 

2017 Jackie O's Bourbon Barrel Aged Dark Apparition

4.26/5 rDev -1.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

2017 12.7 ounce bottle pulled out of my cellar fridge (at first pulled out a 2018 I didn't know I had; nice cellar inventory control). When I popped the cap, a boozy barrel smell immediately was detected. Poured into a DFH tulip, there was almost no tan head topping an inky brown body.

Smell is just gorgeous with caramel and molasses over the previously mentioned pleasant aromas. At the first sip I got a brown sugar taste blast which quickly faded as the stout warmed up. Then I detected an unpleasant bitter alcohol taste which made me think WTF, but that too went away with the warming. Still I'm wondering if maybe I've sat on this too long and it's developed some off tastes; I'll try that discovered 2018 in the near future. With further warming I'm detecting some malt char which was buried earlier. Mouthfeel was a bit thinner than I was expecting; not bad but still thinner.

This was obviously a positive experience but I'm not sure that the barrel aging made that much of an improvement over the base stout, which I enjoy a great deal. Further testing required!

 

2018 Sucaba
I bought about a year ago, and has been in the cellar since.

I don't know if this will do justice, but here goes.
12oz bottle into Tulip
2018 vintage (cellared for 1 year)
Pours a darkish brown with amber hues, off white head
Caramel, toffee, dark fruit, oak, booze
Taste is bittersweet caramel toffee, coffee, heavy dark fruit, oak, leather, vanilla, slight hop bitterness, with a long and mellow finish
Feel is medium bodied average carbonation no alcohol fusels
Overall this is by far and away the best beer I've ever had, perfectly balanced, aroma that has depth, and a never ending finish.

 

2015 Anchor Christmas Ale

3 fingers of fluffy khaki colored head. Slowly disipates to about 1/2 finger of dense, creamy head with a substantial collar. Body is nearly opaque - slightly red-brown.

Nose is dominated by sweet dark fruit notes. Subtle notes of leather and chocolate. Touch metallic - like copper pennies.

Sweet dark fruits are not the dominate flavor. Starts with dark fruit and leather. Middle of the mouth is fleeting - a bit of dark fruit quickly shifts to earth and bitter chocolate. Finish is dry, bitter, and assertive - earth and extremely bitter coffee (like if you left french prrss steeping for way too long). Too bitter for my tastes. Fruit punches through the bitterness deep into the finish, but not enough to balance it out.

Fair amount of carbonation. Thin body. Dry and bitter finish.

Past its prime, but has some redeeming qualities. Near perfect for the style visually. Nose is deep and enticing. Unfortunately, this just way too bitter and unbalanced for my palate.

 

Jacks Abby - BBA Brewery Maker (2015)

This one's a gusher - not a great sign of things to come.

About one finger of fluffy white head. Dissipates quickly to a thin cap. No collar but great lacing. Body is muddy brown with visible floaties.

Nose brings toffee and cherry. Perceived tartness. Maybe a bit if chocolate underlying.

Flavor is tart cherry with a bit of leather underlying. Finish is tart with some underlying earthy bitterneee. It's bearable and balanced, but not what I expected. Maybe a bit of vanilla and wood lingering on the tongue.

Thin for the abv and style. High carbonation.

Definitely well past its prime. The flavor profile works but not what I was expecting from a BBA lager wine. Likely some kind of unwanted bug in play here. The tartness makes it deceptively drinkable for the abv and style.

 

Drie Fonteinen Oude Geuze with 9 1/2 years of bottle age.

In May of 2011 I walked into a beer store in a town I was visiting in Virginia and found two bottles of Drie Fonteinen Oude Geuze sitting on a shelf. Naturally I bought them both and basically paid a total of $20 for both. That decision turned out to be a good one since I’ve never seen this beer on the shelves in the US since then. In December of 2011 I popped the cork on one of the beers and did a review. The second bottle has been sitting quietly in the basement since then. Tonight I opened that second bottle to try and figure how the beer may have changed.

At the time of my review the first bottle had 2 years of bottle age and according to the brewer had a 10 year best by period. So the beer I’m having right now is about 9 1/2 years old since bottling.


Here is my initial review from Dec 2011.
“A 375 ml bottle filled on 10 Dec., 09 with a 10 year best by period. Poured into a Duvel tulip glass.

Appearance: As poured the beer is an actively carbonated almost clear golden color with a ¾” white head that slowly recedes to 1/8” layer of foam but leaving no lacing. Sipping leaves scattered legs and small patches of lacing clinging to the glass. The layer of foam continues to thin but a ring and island of foam persist throughout the entire beer.
Smell: The bottle opens with a satisfying “pop” and the aroma is detectable even before starting the pour. There is lots of damp leather here woven in with strands of tart lemon and a pleasant musty aroma that almost seems to have some traces of green apple but which clearly reveals some time in the oak.
Taste: The flavor includes some tart lemon along with leather and oak, all of which ride along on top of sour green apple blended with some mustiness and slight bitterness. A complex set of flavors here.
Mouthfeel: The mouth feel is on the full bodied side of medium and quite smooth, almost creamy, with the gentle and quite persistent carbonation. The finish is long and ends with some dry oak
Drinkability and Overall Impression: This is a pleasure to drink and one sip follows another quite easily as one tries to sort out the complex components of the flavor. Its also quite nice to just pick up the glass and take a sniff or two of the aroma to try and sort it out as well. An appropriate combination of two words to describe this beer is “complex subtlety.” My overall impression of this beer is that this is clearly among the best. I’m certainly glad I’ve already had several other first rate guezes as I don’t think what I have learned from them helps me better appreciate the outstanding qualities of this beer.”


Tonight’s impressions when comparing this beer to the original review.

The pour into a Duvel glass produces much the same results except that this time I’d use “lightly hazed dark golden amber color.”

The aromas are again noticeable as soon as the “pop” of the cork occurs and are basically the same as described 7 1/2 years ago. The balance and relative strength of the different aromas seem to fit the description too.

The flavors are surprisingly similar to what is described 7 1/2 years ago but the lemony tartness and sour green apple seem more forward than the mustiness and oak. The bitterness, if any, seems much lighter and much more in the background than described 7 1/2 years ago. Perhaps it is more in my imagination.

The mouthfeel seems unchanged. The carbonation is still gentle and persistent.

My overall impression is that at this age (9 1/2 years) the beer is just as enjoyable as it was 7 1/2 years ago. While the lemony tartness and green apple flavors seem more forward the mustiness and the oak which are still there.

While I wouldn’t say the beer at this age is better than it was 7 1/2 years ago it is still enjoyable.

 

2018 Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Wheatwine

4.28/5 rDev +0.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

8/11/2018 bottle poured into a DFH tulip. Brownish mahogany body over a very small head. Smell is just boozy complex sweetness with hints of vanilla, brown sugar and caramel permeating everything. Taste reflects the smell but with a bitterness on the back end, maybe from the hops. Mouthfeel was a bit thinner than the stouts, surely by design. Not unpleasant by any means.

I wish I'd bought a few more of these to age further to find out what happens. I hope this wasn't just a one off.

 

This thing held up well!
The licorice is dominant but in a great way. Super fudgy on the front with great bitterness on the back. The barrel is present but in an afterthought type of way. Nice and smooth hiding the 11.2%.

Yum.

 

2013 Abyss.

Tons of chalky bittersweet chocolate.
Woody smell, licorice definitely there.
Awsome cellar.

 

Ive still got a few bottles of the 2011 in my cellar, I’ll have to pop one soon to report back.

 

2017 Deschutes The Abyss

The Wine Spot had cellared this keg until now. Fluffy dark tan head over dark brown body, dissipated slowly leaving abundant lacing on the side of the tulip. Smell hits you with boozy molasses barrel scents over malt presence. Taste hits you with sweet barrel flavors with understated booze but everything gets overpowered by a bitter char aftertaste. At first the char was borderline unpleasant but as it warmed it was easier to take. Mouthfeel was fine considering this is a big stout best enjoyed in small sips. All in all I don't think aging has served this well.

 

Here's a bunch of older beers I've had over the past few weeks:



Bourbon County Brand Stout is a cellar classic and the 2016 was doing very well, just getting a bit of age but still nice hot and boozy treat. This one can go for 5+ years and developing into a beautiful liquid but already 2-3 years in, it's showing some nice traits. Don't really prefer it fresh.



Thomas Hardy's Ale 1987 had some soya and saltiness, cellar stink but still a pretty nice thick mouthfeel. Not bad but not the best example of an aged Thomas Hardy's. Bottles of this age can have very different cellaring history so impossible to know how and where this was stored before ending up in my glass. Not bad though, but needed a slightly acquired taste.



Thomas Hardy's Ale 1985 was a smaller bottle than the 1987 and was unfortunately infected and a drain pour. Somewhere behind a sour vinegary off-flavour, there were nice maltiness and aged malts giving those sherry and port wine aspects, but was unfortunately not possible to drink much of.



Wilsons Very Special Anniversary Ale 1984 was a new acquaintance to me. It wasn't found on Untappd either so added it there. This one held up very well and had no off-flavours or any bad oxidation notes. Of course it was old but had a very nice sweet malty taste with depth. Could definitely develop further if aged in good conditions.



The classic strong faro from 3 Fonteinen, Straffe Winter, from 2008. The first reaction was that this was not good and past its prime, slightly sour and sweet (faro kind of sugary), a bit weird, but after a while it started growing and became actually pretty neat. It probably was past its prime but after getting a bit warm, it turned out enjoyable.

Cheers!

 

The Abyss, like many beers, goes through a weird stage where the aging process where the ingredients start to clash, cancel one another out, or just become unpleasant. For whatever reason, it seems like two years, give or take, that happens for me. I've had Abyss up to 8 years old that I've really enjoyed...but it's certainly possible it just isn't to your tastes. And all that crap they started throwing in years back (cherry bark?) made The Abyss much less appealing to cellar for this chap.