Cellador (2020)

Hey guys,
I didn't see an open thread for Cellador, but if there is one already, my apologies.

Anyhow, they have been nuking it lately. Confuzzled was absolutely delicious, with luscious pineapple and tart guava mango finish. Eve was beautiful, less fizzy than Chapeux, a bit yeastier and tarter, with green apple coming through beautifully. Naraka is a variation on Cinque, and a gorgeousl luscious beer: boysenberry and vanilla, more balanced than cinque, but jammy as all mighty Hell. Gosesque Nectarine might be my favorite in the series yet. And they just released Ample Pits, which should be delicious. Soon to come, Fig Fumee; if you guys haven't tried their smoked beers before... you should. Murex was also quite delicious.

A few other releases come to mind: Jie, their stonefruit pimped version of Famille, and Anitya, their latest beer wine hybrid. I think that last one drinks better closed to room temp, at 55 degrees, where the grape and wine character really shines. The latest batch of Chapeaux was also stupendous. And I enjoyed Moshi Mosh quite a bit as well.

Their latest Syndicate member opening party was fantastic, and I'm super excited to see them keep improving their game. Last year's Slide Down My Cellar Door was my favorite beer of the year, and one of the greatest beers I've ever had. I had it next to Westly and it blew it out of the water imo.

I think Kevin and the gang are killing it, making the best sours in Cali alongside Homage these days imo.

I really hope they start experimenting a bit with aged hops more and also trying a few more unfruited beers.

 

I think Kevin dialed down the acidity a fair bit im 2019. They used to be far tarter.

Take Slide Down My Cellar Door: 2018 is extremely tart, but 2019 is basically perfect. Gosesque Nectarine is also much less tart that previous iterations. Anitya and Naraka are not too tart. Cinque was also not very tart, and on the sweeter edge. Murex is also not particularly tart. And Jie was also surpisingly balanced, clean and crisp. Petalum was pretty dialed down on the tartness too. Chirimoya Saison was also balanced, and the latest batch of Saison du Rossier has a nice bitter backbone that balances it out. It's very bright and straw forward. I love that beer. Chapeaux is one of my favorite beers in the world probably, and though tart it isnt particularly puckering. Samsara is tart, but just astonishing.

I never found Famille to be overly tart, tbh.

Their stonefruit sours, particularly nectarine stuff, tend to be very tart still, like Bibliophile and NAP was. But they're much more controlled these days than Synchronicity was, for instance, or Berlinerish Nectarine. From their most recent offerings, Eve is quite tart, green apple forward (more than Chapeaux), as is Confuzzled, mostly in the finish, where you get some of that guava green acidity. Moshi Mosh was also quite tart, though very succulent. I love these three beers.

The only beer I genuinely thought was a wholesome failure last year was Jackson Ranch, which was confused, and overpriced. A few others were meh, like Clockworks, which I didn't care for. Oh, and there is another one with Meyer lemons and kaffir leaf I think I didn't enjoy too much. Melona too boozy. And Carrot King was too tart. Other than that they have been consciously dialing the tartness down.

I like the honey bottle conditioning, and they have been working with maple lately more. I hope they use more aged hops in the future.

 

The Gutless Wonder from 2018 was way too tart, I thought. Berlinerish Raspberry was tart, and simple, but lovely. I talked to Alex about the acidity thing and he mentioned that Kevin was trying to bring it down a notch. I think they have mostly hit the spot.

Again, Slide Down 2019 was my beer of the year. I didn't try A Thousand Summers, but was a bit let down with Ashley and Westly, alas. Sante's forte remains their saisons, imo.

 

Gotcha.

I do have a bit of a high tolerance to tartness, since I grew up in Peru and we eat a lot of very acidic dishes, like ceviche obvs, routinely. I had some stuff from Sour Cellars the other day and I couldn't finish it because it was so tart. I still remember back when The Rare Barrel was extremely acidic. I think Kevin is progressively dialing down his acidity, but they have hit a balanced spot by now, excepting some puckering ones.

What are you getting?

 

Cuvee is delicious. It has some of that lambic aged hop character you get from Homage and funk from their house culture, with that sweeter straw finish from the honey from Cellador. It's more fizzy than Cellador usually is, which is usual for Homage.

Bibliophile is delicious, and has that characteristic aromatic frenzy from Cellador stonefruit beers which I love. But if you thought Slide was too tart you'll probably think the same. Same goes with NAP.

B2 of Saison du Rossier is wonderful, I think that will be your jam from this batch alongside Cuvee. It's effervescent, dry, with a nice bitterness in the back that cuts through the beer and makes it come super clean. I love that beer.

Ellipses needs a little time in the cellar imo, it's fine but a tad one note. I don't remember Jeremy Bearimy very well, and I think I skipped Restik or wasn't impressed. Murex is drinking very well right now too.

From the whole lot I'd say you're bound to particularly enjoy: Anitya, Cuvee, Saison, Naraka, Jia.

 

So, I just popped a Fig Fumee and have to say I was very disappointed. It is quite tart, with some really lovely flavors and depth, but it is seriously under-carbonated. I don't know what happened there.