Cellar Reviews (2020)

Two year Brooklyn Brewery Black Chocolate Stout Vertical

Winter 2019 bottled on May 16, 2019 50 degree cellar temperature

Poured into DFH tulip. Very dark brown body with an inch dark tan head which gradually faded. Smell was of dark chocolate and malty char. Taste was of dark chocolate with a not off-putting hop bitterness. As it warmed to room temperature the chocolate intensified and got creamier. Mouthfeel was very full as befits a big stout.

Winter 2018 bottled on July 15, 2018

No diminution of the carbonation or head retention. Smell was of less bitter chocolate as was the taste; the hops faded nicely and a fuller mouthfeel. Aging has worked well on this and I'm kicking myself for not aging more of these and not sitting on these longer. As it warms up it gets even better. To the beverage store ASAP!

 

A good friend came over and we cracked open a bomber of Stone 04/04/04 Vertical Epic Ale. This one is a Belgian Strong Pale Ale, and it has aged fantastically! Poured into my goblet glass, this beer is still a clear, light to medium brown/amber color with a very nice, just slightly off-white head that was a solid inch thick when first poured. Good retention. Aromas and flavors of sweet caramel and bready malts and wheat, lime leaf, and Belgian yeast are all still quite prominent.

Eric

 

2017 Founders Backwoods Bastard

This was my gateway into the joys of barrel aging (not Imperial Stouts; it's a long story). 8/26/2017 bottle poured into a DFH tulip. No lack of carbonation over a dark brown body. Smell has the typical licorice/molasses wee heavy malt smell over a barrel aged base. Taste echoes the smell with a boozy heft which is very balanced. I'm not sure what additional aging will improve but I've got two more to answer that.

 

2018 Against the Grain; Bo & Luke (hazelnut cocoa variant)
Only ended up with this one cause they were out of the regular, which is a divine brew.

With about a year an a half on it (don't date the bottles but I think they usually release around june/july) the chocolate flavor is still overpowering the underlying stout with notes rye, charred wood, vanilla and fig jam playing second fiddle to a strong dark cacao note. The hazelnut is present mostly in unfortunate gelatinous globs that are present throughout the bottle and taste/feel like nutella flavored boba tea balls.
As it warms up the chocolatey flavor subsides a bit and a rye/bourbon flavor without any trace of alcohol heat rises to more prominence. It's a nice beer inspite of the goobers, but this is a stout that doesn't need flavored variants and a little age didn't change that fact

 

Don’t have full reviews since I opened them at a bottle share, and was more into the conversation, but thought I’d leave a few notes.
2016 Central Waters BA stout
Aged phenomenally, became sweeter. Most of the roast dropped out, it was very chocolatey with a lot of barrel character. A bit thin, but still a great beer.
2015 BA narwhal
Fresh is much better, drink it now.
2017 bourbon county
A bit smoother than the 2019. I thought it felt a bit more rounded, but honestly didn’t change a ton. Slightly less of the bitterness on the finish and I thought the barrel wasn’t as pronounced. I wouldn’t age for improvement, but thought it didn’t really lose much compared to the 2019.

 

2010 Chimay Grande Reserve

750 ml corked and caged bottle. Pours a clear dark amber color, no head. The second pour I swirled the yeast sediment and it was a muddy brown. It was more flavorful with the yeast, without both the aroma and taste was just sweet caramel and too much oxidization, but the sediment added some earthy notes. Very little carbonation. Overall this was a it of a dud, just lifeless and dead. I've read of bars in Belgium offering 20+ year old bottles, so maybe just bad luck on this one? Huge difference between this and a 10 year old bottle of Victory V12 I recently drank that was still fully carbonated and full of flavor.

 

2016 Founders Imperial Stout
11/30/16 stamp on back label, cellared at constant 60F. Served in a glass snifter.
Inky black hue with inviting brown head which fades quickly and leaves a few wisps of lacing. Aroma is chocolate cake batter, light licorice, black coffee and burnt raisins. Flavor with light molasses/licorice up front with blasts of black coffee, dark chocolate, raisin, and light ash in the finish. Feel is super smooth with low carbonation and full body. Stellar beer that I hope they bring back every once in awhile — they can mark me down for 1-2 cases whenever they do!

 

2013 The Bruery Melange No.3. Poured into a 10 oz snifter, color is a deep, murky amber with little light penetration. Smell is richly sweet, caramel, brown sugar and molasses, little bits of raisin and other dark fruits. Taste is just as appealing, big and decadent, rum cake, chocolate notes, more molasses, with a wonderful malty backbone. Feel is out of this world, despite being nearly 17% abv there's no hint of booziness, absolutely zero oxidation, and the low carbonation provides a chewy and sticky mouthfeel. Yet another hit from the Bruery, and at 7 years old it's a real treat.

 

2015 Bells Expedition Stout

Almost all the bitterness this beer has when fresh is now gone. It's licorice, chocolate, leather, char. It's incredibly smooth and easy to drink. Mouthfeel is the same medium body, low carbonation, velvet.

 

missing 2017, missed out that year.

2013: mostly just sweet malt, oxidized, slightly cardboardy. Some underlying brown sugar
2017-2014: mostly a fade from 18 to 13, not
2018, nice balance of sweet malts and hops, bitterness has toned down and lets the brown sugar shine through
2019: slightly less hoppy, bitterness is still strong
2020: fresh and bright, obviously most hop forward

Trip in the Woods, Vintage Bigfoot: blast of grapefruit rind up front, rounded out by the barrel, with a rich chocolate, dark fruit maltiness. Fantastic

I have a 1 one more bottle of each year. Planning on holding on to for another chunk of time. Still waiting for that sherry to come out.

 

2018 El Segundo brewing - Old Jetty BBA barleywine.

Never had this one fresh so no.baseline to compare to.
However this was drinking nicely with a wonderful light body and a taste that emphasized burnt toffee and the spicier aspects of bourbon/barrel. Really enjoyable experience as it opened up over time with some warmth.
Will be on the lookout for fresh bottles and wouldn't be afraid to crack open an older one. Nicely done barleywine

 

KBS vertical - 16, 17, 18, and 19

All cellared at 52 degrees and were poured into snifters. I *expected* to like them more as they got older, but that wasn’t the case.
The 16 in the 12 oz bottle either oxidized or otherwise lost something, it paled compared to the others. The 17 was more coffee centered so retained that bitterness bite, but definitely less than fresh. The 18 had a better balance so was smoother and pleasant to my palate, the best of the night. The 19 had lost some of the “heat” that KBS has fresh but (for me at least) not enough. It should be better next year.
These were the last of Kosmicki’s annual versions, I am curious how year round production will change the ale.

 

Same beetle from your profile pic? That’s sweet!

 

2017 Surly Darkness

Poured into a standard glass. Pours dark black with tan head at first that fell to nothing. Smell is roasted malts as expected. Taste at first is dry cardboardy dark malt. As it warmed lots of chocolate and mild sweet finish came out. Overall very good and would have 2017 again.

 

Do you think it improves to 4/5 years - or just holds up?