Cellar Reviews (2019)

2013 Founders Imperial Stout, stored out of light in basement at 65-68F, not temp controlled
12/19/13 stamped on bottle neck

A: Jet black with no head.

S: Coffee with lighter roasted notes and even lighter sweeter caramel notes

T: Black coffee with slight sweet caramel note and minimal ashiness. Smooth and not at all hot on alcohol. Good burst of roast and moderately bitter.

M: Creamy and smooth with full body and low carbonation.

O: Delicious and smooth with minimal rough edges. Stellar and hard to believe it is going to improve a lot more. Malt presence is still strong.

 

All right. 10 years on this thing I didn't like it much in my original review. The nose is now like candy. The mix of the vanilla, maple, bourbon and wheatwine is like the sweetest candy on a nice barleywine. Really quite nice. A small ring of bubbles forms in time and actually leaves a slight marking. All sorts of floaty stuff too. Boy the vanilla is strong in the taste and there is a candy like quality that is a little less intense than the aroma. Somehow not too rich but the 12% abv hits the gut quickly with a shot of warmth before moving up to the prefrontal cortex with a 'ding'. The alcohol flavors are actually blended in quite nicely, with a bit of rosewater and spiciness, with the later something I noted in the aroma as well. A very complex set of flavors. Seems to kind of lost the initial or original wheatwine flavors with the maple, bourbon, vanilla and alcohol all blending into and interesting mix of complexity. From my reivew I thought the bourbon was too dominant. Age has now worked it's magic to make something better than when I first partook.

 

I'm sitting on a couple vintages of these I'm hoping to get to soon. Looks promising.

 

2013 Goose Island BCBS - I think it's past it's due date if you take into account the current 5 yr. recommendation. No notification on the bottle. Poured out slowly with no head retention. Noticed coagulated lumps at bottom of pour, which were discarded. Inviting aroma. Low carbonation but good flavor, including molasses and bourbon. Nice finish. Definitely a sipper. I've got a couple of more bottles but I don't think I'll sit on them any longer due to the lumpy sediment forming in the bottles.

 

Hey hey hey. This isn’t WBAYD! This is the cellar thread! Tell us what you think .

 

Allagash Coolship Resurgam - Bottled August 2016

About 2 fingers of white hear that, over the course of 10 minutes, dissipates to a hefty cap and collar. Hazy golden-orange body. Very fine and hardly visible carbonation.

The nose is intense and immediately apparent after uncorking the bottle. Plenty of funk, but not overwhelming - funky cheese and musty basement dominate. Tart lemon and slight tropical fruit underlying. I'm picking up on some oaky tannins as well.

Flavor is intense, but layered and well balanced. Starts slightly tart, citrus fruit, accompanied by white wine. Both rounded out by oaky tannins before being overcome by funk and ripe tropical fruit. Finishes with notes of more intense tart lemon flesh, funk, and ripe tropical fruit.

Mouthfeel is soft for the style and medium bodied.

This beer is always a treat, but I really enjoy this vintage at this age. Softer mouthfeel and more balanced then my recollection of the same fresh.

 

Just drank a bottle of Adam from Hair of the Dog. It was labeled 'Batch 95' and their website ends at 'batch 85' and says that's in later 2012 with batches coming out every 3ish weeks so I assume the beer was from 2013, maybe 2014.
Didn't post it here cause I couldn't figure out the age and I bought it off a shelf just a few weeks ago, assumed it was much fresher than that.
Long story short, assuming it was 6 or 7 years old, it was well past it's prime. Aroma was very pleasant and robust, taste and mouthfeel were both muted and watery and oxidized. I really want to track down a fresher bottle because I have had this fresh at the brewery and know it's a tops beer. However, seems like 6ish years might be too much.

 

2017 Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout

4.56/5 rDev -3%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5

The ratings I gave it originally were done in 2017 when I recall being disappointed that I couldn't detect the maple. In the intervening two years either the coffee and chocolate flavors have somewhat faded or my palate has become more discerning because the maple permeates the aroma and the taste. The bourbon and barrel likewise are less prominent although as it warms to room temperature they start to reappear.

I didn't buy this in 2108 because of mild disappointment in 2017, and from reviews at the time I wasn't the only one feeling that way. Either the aging has worked wonders on this or I was an idiot two years ago. Those aren't mutually exclusive. Anyway this is very enjoyable and I look forward to trying the current year.

 

Thank you for convincing me not pay 30 bucks a bottle for the pre buyout releases.

 

That is such a great beer for the cellar and to drink anytime really! I have one bottle left of 2011 brandy Old Stock that I am popping at 10 year old! I am fairly certain that it will still taste fantastic at 10 years old. Its such a stable beer for the cellar that ages so gracefully.

 

Vintage Ale 2011
Inspired by Beersnake1 to give my couple of aged Vintage Ale bottles a go, so here we are.
This one has faded quite a bit. Not particularly oxidized but the flavors are softer and much less intense. Still a nice richness and noting darker fruits. As you can see it still pours nicely. Aroma has faded even more than the taste.
Re-reading my original review it appears it wasn't necessarily bold the 1st time around either, but I'm sure it's faded some since.
Not a waste of a cellar, just after 8 years it's not quite the beer it was. As always, still a fair price for a generally expensive style. Just not a top notch version.

 

Meantime Brewing Company Thomas Hardy's Ale The Historical 2018

4.21/5 rDev -0.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Picked this up over the summer when someone in a local bottle shop who knows my tastes pointed this out along with a regular Thomas Hardy so I snagged them both. Didn't know how long to sit on them so I decided to try this now.

Poured 250 ml bottle #12523 into a DFH tulip. No carbonation: Zero, Zip, Nada. Color was a rich maroon amber with a little haze but no floaty things. Smell was of dark fruit, scotch and raisins. Taste mirrored the smell but with a tobacco and leather tinge. Almost no alcohol heat which at 13.7% is incredible. And no detectable hop presence even though it's listed in the ingredients. Mouthfeel was a little thinner than I expected but not bad.

I debated sitting on this longer; the owner of the bottle shop gave me a WTF look when I asked his opinion but he might be agnostic on the joys of aging. So this didn't quite reach my expectations but it was still a very pleasant experience in which I'm still basking as I type this.

 

Founders Curmudgeon 12/30/2016

Someone here tried to warn me out of aging this and I think that person was right. No problem with it going flat because the carbonation hasn't subsided at all as the body continues to get darker. And the smell is still plenty rich and sweet with vanilla tones. But in the taste the molasses has faded somewhat leaving the bitterness of the oak barrel being somewhat grating on the palate. As it warms to room temperature this becomes less problematic as the sweetness returns to mask the barrel but I recall this being a better experience with less age under it. If/when Founders offers this again, I'll be so guided.

 

Bottleworks 13th Anniversary Ale brewed in collaboration with Stone. I drank and reviewed this when it was a new beer. This came out in the spring of 2012, so this is over 7 1/2 years old. Had a bottle in my cellar. This is an American Strong Ale. Still is a very dark brown color with a tan head that settles to tan lacing. Still has some bready malts and booze along with some maple syrup and licorice. The taste is still pretty similar. There just isn't much hop character to this at this point, althought here's still a hint of hops. A good beer still. I feel this aged well, especially for this style. No off-flavors or anything of the sort.

Eric