Cellar Reviews (2020)

2014 Sucré. Poured into my favorite 10 oz snifter, poured aggressively it yields a thin off white head that dissipates quickly, with some lacing in the glass. Color is a dark, deep amber with almost no visibility. Smell is big and bold, the bourbon just wafts off, along with big caramel, toffee, raisin, all with a strong sweetness. Taste is phenomenal, about the richest bourbon flavor I've ever gotten from any beer. But it's not overpowering, I can still pick out the accompanying flavors of vanilla, toffee, caramel, and a hint of oak towards the back end. Feel is incredibly sticky, it just coats everything inch of your mouth, just bordering on overdoing itself. Overall yet another phenomenal brew from the folks at the Bruery, though I can't imagine ever tasting a subpar beer from them.

 

2011-original owner. Great opening nose of raspberries. Still great carbonation. Has gotten a bit more funky and sour over the years but in a good way. I really enjoy this beer (99 boos was one of the best beers I have ever tried) and I think it will continue to do well over the next 10 plus years if stored appropriately.

 

KBS - dated February 2018, so just over 2 years old.

Black in color, thick tan colored head that fades. Aroma of bourbon, vanilla, bitter cocoa and coffee. The coffee and chocolate taste is mostly gone, is mostly whiskey and the flavor is fairly bitter and a touch acidic. Thick, full bodied.
Definitely not as good as fresh. This bottle was the last from a four pack that I tried some aging with. But I will stick to drinking this beer fresh in the future.

 

2015 Founders Imperial Stout
12/02/15 stamp on back label. Cellared at 65F in basement.
Poured into a mini-snifter/mead goblet — shared with my wife! Serving temp 52F.

Cake batter brown head with good retention and scattered scraps of lacing as I make it through the glass.

Aroma of dark chocolate, espresso, hint of licorice, prunes and dates with slight ash

Flavor is delicious chocolate covered graham crackers with espresso mid-palate and touch of ash on the finish.

Feel full-bodied with low carbonation but not syrupy.

Delicious — mellower than the 2016 from a week or so ago but still some booze and plenty of lush imperial stout flavor. Need to move to MI!

 

2016 version. Almost no carbonation left. Very sweet. Like a brandy brownie. Still has that great, velvety mouthfeel.

 

Deconstructed Bomb! Vanilla that's 2, or maybe even 3 (I can't remember) years old is very nice end to my night! Review here.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30356/259865/?ba=neenerzig#review

Eric

 

2011 SN Bigfoot
Collared at 65F in the basement.
Decanted carefully into a Duvel tulip (snifter broke). Serving temp 51F.

Slightly hazy amber with healthy (for collared beer) light beige 1-finger head that drops quickly but leaves some dots of lacing.

Aroma with ultra-burnt caramel aroma with nougat, milk chocolate, mild butterscotch, and light herbal hop note.

Flavor is smooth and sweet with amazing range of caramel and some tootsie roll and lighter background herbal, leafy character. Moderately bitter.

Feel is really smooth and silky with low carbonation tacky sweetness on the finish.

Delicious and makes me think the 2010-2015 SN Bigfoot vertical I have is about ready to go.

 

2016 Red Brick - Beard Envy BBA Barleywine

Clear dark amber color. Thin cream colored head that fades fast. Toffee, caramel, vanilla in the aroma and taste. Not overly sweet. Lower carbonation, sticky mouthfeel.

 

2010. I’ve had this multiple times over the years and this has always been a favorite beer of mine. This bottle has lost some of the vanilla on the nose as well as in the taste. Still a very visceral thick mouth feel. Minimal oxidization but it is starting to come through. Overall still a very solid beer for the age but not the same as it once was in terms of a vanilla bomb. My last bottle of this and doubt I will ever come across again

 

Just discovered this thread and will be revisiting occasionally. Decided to pop a FW 14 tonight -



Aged partially in a 60-degree cellar/basement, and the last 5 years in a beer fridge.

Looking at my old review from 2012, I would honestly say not much has changed -

A: Still murky and nearly opaque with a stunning ruby-red section at the stem of the glass. Khaki head dies quickly (expected) - also, still no lacing (also expected). But carbonation appears fine for a big beer.

S: Tons of sweet-er spirit and dark, sticky fruits still dominate. Vanilla and toffee are strong, oak and red wine as well.

T: Strong alcohol notes on the front, almost medicinal at times, but with waves of caramel, sticky dates, coconut, vanilla, chocolate, oak, and sweet bourbon. Oxidation is fairly muted to be honest. The strength of the alcohol is surprising to me for a 10 year old bottle.

MF: Thinned here, not as viscous but still sticky.

O: Really, a pretty decent experiment. I’m not sure the beer has gotten worse, and I’m also not sure that it would have been better five years ago.

 

2019 River Roost Brewery Rhythm of the Night Batch 4 (Barleywine and Imperial Stout blend)

4.47/5 rDev -0.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Picked this up at the brewery in September while on vacation and stored @ 50 degrees. Bottled on 9/4/19 in 375 ml bottle poured into a DFH tulip. Slight foamy tan head which faded rapidly into a ring over a dark inky body. Could smell the boozy sweetness as soon as I popped the cap. Brown sugar, dark fruit, molasses and rye whisky aromas. Can't really detect the stout presence in the smell or taste; definitely more of an old ale/barleywine feel. Taste is superb with the smell components plus a leather presence. Mouthfeel is suitably chewy with still a slight carbonation lightness. I'm really glad I picked this up. I'm not sure what further aging would have accomplished because this tastes wonderfully balanced with no hop presence to fade.

 

Short’s XIV Anniversary Ale - Blood Orange Wheat Whine w/ peppercorns, blood orange and orange zest. Pkg 040918

Poured into a ball jar glass. Pours a clear light brown, iced tea color with little to no head or carbonation. Mostly boozey aroma. Taste is some orange, with a mint flavor, little boozey, and slightly bitter finish. Bitter finish stays in the mouth. Overall an interesting beer and I have one more bottle to revisit at a later date.

 

This is my first ever post in the cellar thread. Beyond my BCS cellar beer, these pours I will be rating throughout 2020 are less intentional but rather beers I did not get to in my refrigerator and or cellar throughout the years. I have learned a lot about beers and cellaring since the 2014-2015 time frame when I first started purchasing "craft" beers, but still have much more to learn, and I enjoy the process and journey.

These two pours have been stored in the back of by refrigerator for years. I don't believe they suffered for this treatment beyond perhaps the chalky mouthfeel of the Chocolate Quad. The bitterness in the Delirium was somewhat surprising based on the sweeter aroma, but this taste feature is consistent with many other posted reviews, so I don't believe the age caused it, but as always welcome any feedback to better my understanding.

This is a two for over the weekend, didn't need a second beer after either of these two powerful offerings.

Saturday pour: 2014 Castle Brewery Van Honsebrouck Belgium Ale Barista Chocolate Quad 25.4 oz 11% abv (by Kasteel).Purchased several years ago for $4.99 on clearance at a store I cannot recollect.





Appearance: Dark brown black pour, tan light bubbly head quickly dissipates leaving light bubbly lacing. 4.0.
Aroma: Rich roast chocolate and malt aroma, very sweet. 4.25.
Taste: Roast malt and chocolate taste, very sweet. 3.50.
Mouthfeel: Fizzy carbonation lingers throughout the pour, medium lightly creamy body, slightly dry, chalky. 3.75.
Overall: Very good dessert quad offering. 3.75

Sunday Pour: 750ml Delirium Argentum 7.0% ABV Bottled May 21, 2015 by family owned Huyghe Brewery.



Stored in my refrigerator since purchase, this was a very smooth and creamy pour (ok multiple pours), glad I pulled this out today.

Bottle stated 2014, but the cork and date code indicated a bottle date and time of 11:42 on May 21, 2015 (141st day of 2015).

Appearance: Poured into a chalice, very creamy reach bubbly off white head lasts a long time, leaving generous creamy lacing in it's wake. Mild carbonation throughout the pour, beige orange colour, some floaters milling about. 4.25

Aroma: Nice fruity bread aroma, raisins, dates, figs, apricot. Bold, slightly sweet and pleasant. 4.25

Taste: Unexpected bitterness as compared to the aroma. Bread and raisins hold, the other aroma complexity was not present. 4.0

Mouthfeel: Fizzy carbonation lingers throughout the pour, creamy rich body, east clean finish. 4.25

Overall: Very good pour, happy I pulled this one today! 4.25

Hope you enjoyed the reviews, and your respective pours this Sunday, I have enjoyed reading all of the great accounts throughout the thread. I wasn't aware of this thread until recently, despite being on the board since 2015, but I will continue to read and post now that I am aware.

Cheers!

 

2008 JW Lees Harvest Ale

pours clear dark chestnut brown in color, no head. chunks of sediment pour out too and eventually settle to the bottom of the glass. aroma and the taste are rich bold toffee, but there is enough earthy tobacco and raisin in there too so it's not cloying or too sweet. medium bodied, low carbonation, a touch syrupy.
One of my all time favorite beers.

 

Anyone have experience aging Tropic King?

Seems like a candidate for aging because of the high ABV, but was wondering if anyone had direct experience with it.

That said- I doubt I’d be able to have the self control to age any lol

 

Its a hopped saison from funkwerks ya?

If so, my first thought would be that the tropical hop.flavors they seem to want to showcase (and possibly what you like about the beer?) aren't likely to age super well.
That said, depending on whether its a clean or mixed fermentation there could be some interesting changes and new flavors that you enjoy. I mean, it can never hurt to sit on one bottle for 6 months for science right?

 

This isn’t universally true but the more I get into it the more I see the Belgian beers are amazing cellar candidates. We just drank a 2013 corked and caged gulden draak that was simply sublime. Sweet, smooth, alcohol moderated and integrated. Present but a contributor and not a detractor. Not at all cellared under optimum conditions but hanging tough and super drinkable, really toned down in comparison to a young bottle.

we also drank an affligem dubbel that was like 8 years old and it was tolerable for a few ounces then a drain pour...notably oxidized and way too chunky to be enjoyable.

 

2015 Great Divide Old Ruffian

12 oz bottle, pours dark brown with garnet colored highlights. Thin cream colored head that fades. Aroma and flavor still have a bit of piney and minty hop bite under the dark caramel malt flavors. A bit bitter, and probably some negative oxidation. After a couple of bottles I would say this beer hasn't aged very well. Medium bodied, lower carbonation. If they ever un-retire this beer, I'll stick to drinking it relatively fresh.