Cellar Reviews (2020)

2017 KBS

Was noticing the number of people claiming this doesn't age well, looked in my cellar fridge and thought "shit, I'd better get on this". Poured into a DFH tulip, the carbonation is still quite present with a fluffy dark tan head of an inch on top of a dark brown body. The barrel is still present in the smell along with some chocolate and malts. It's the taste where this suffers. The coffee is almost gone and the rest just doesn't have enough bite to it. This isn't surprising since my experience in aging stouts has been that it balances flavors or an alcohol burn that predominate in a newly bottled version.

I've still got a couple 2019s that were no great shakes fresh that I probably should consume shortly.

 

Pipeworks BA Jones Dog - Summer 2017

“Our Jones Dog milk stout, aged in Elijah Craig bourbon barrels.” “Bourbon barrel aged imperial milk stout brewed with cocoa nibs and vanilla beans.”

Poured from the bomber into a tulip. Not much head at all - thick liquid. Aroma is roasty malts, sweet faint vanilla, want to say oak too but may be false. Sweet malt and bourbon flavor dominate, chocolate aftertaste but no heat for a 13%-er. Sticky, coating mouthfeel. Overall held up very well. Would be cautious about aging further (not that I have another bottle) but this may surprise people and hold up well. Would love to find another bottle.

 

2012 DFH Olde School
BOTTLED IN 2012B 09:48 on bottle neck. Served in a mead glass.

A: Red grape hue with no head.

S: Aroma knocks you over with candied figs, dark and burnt caramel, prune, and some wheat toast crust.

T: Flavor is lush and decadent with sugared date/candied fig, maple, prune, burnt caramel, Werthers butterscotch, and leather/tobacco with some red grape ester in the finish. Tiny bit of alcohol creeps in with the finish as well.

M: Smooth and viscous without feeling syrupy, low carbonation but lush without being cloying.

O: I enjoy barley wines but not a love affair by any means, and this beer is hitting its best stride now I think with minimal alcohol heat and also minimal oxidation character with still plenty of aroma and flavor intensity to go up against any top-tier barley wine. Impressed and will be eyeing the 2-3 I have left.

 

Yeah, I've read that KBS isn't the best candidate to cellar.

 

Drinking a few year old bottle of the original batch of this beer at a beer bar years ago is what got me interested in starting to age beer. I still have a bottle from the 2010 batch I plan to open this year.

 

2010 St Bernardus Abt 12

Pours a medium brown color with cream colored head. Decent head retention. Aroma is dark malt and a touch earthy yeast. Taste is a bit sweeter, more raisin and plum flavor. Medium bodied, carbonation is still there but it's on the lower end.
Overall I think its past its prime at this point. Best around 5 years or so.

 

Tonight’s offering is one of my all time favorite “seasonal beers”. That Santa Hat Wearing Monk always brings a smile to my face, and joy to my palate. This bottle, according to my trusty wine marker, is from 2014. Now there are some bottle numbers on this, and I thought the last number on St. Bernardus was the “best by date” and was either 3 or 5 years after bottling, which would make this either a 2013 or 2015. I guess it is possible that it was bottled in ‘13 and I purchased in ‘14. I dunno for certain, but it’s likely somewhere between 4.5 and 7 years old at this point.

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In terms of how it’s drinking, damn good!
Very bready/doughy on the nose, like a sweet breakfast bread. Spice is there but quite faded. Substantial caramel and sugary sweet aromas. Taste is better balanced with combo of sweet and spice, bitterness on the finish. So much going on here, sweet malts, black pepper, clove. The flavor complexities of elite Belgian beers never cease to amaze me. Carbonation still vibrant and very impressive head and lacing for a beer of this age. Well done, Christmas Monk, well done.

 

Was that because you also thought it was too sweet at 10 years?

 

2012 DFH Olde School

Clear dark brown until the sediment pours from the bottle and the glass becomes murky. Cream colored head that fades. Aroma still is a bit boozy - brandy, rum soaked raisins. Taste is fairly heavy on the figs and dates that this beer is brewed with. Some mollases and caramel too. Not cloyingly sweet, a drier finish. Sticky mouthfeel. Overall much better than the 2016 bottle I drank last week.

 

A good aroma & taste description of a superb Xmas beer!
In fact, the BBD for this beer in a 75cl bottle is 4 years. I still have 4 of these bottles in my basement dating back from 2014 (so expired [and rotten or 'over the top' (whatever that may mean) for some] since 2018) and will cherish them for a few more years to come.

As for the monk, he more ressembles a pagan and old drunk with red cheeks in a bar than a true monk. The brewery de-religionized him many years ago.

 

I'd put an asterisk on that statement - the bombers I thought held their own, the 12 oz bottle however, not so much. So format may play a big part in aging this one. Even fresh, year to year KBS showed variations; some were more coffee forward, some chocolate, some boozy barrel, so where they are when they start i strongly suspect will also contribute to how they age. Unfortunately, as they started producing it year round now, all bets are off.

 

In the name of drinking down the cellar, I originally had planned on having a share to try these Beasts side by side with some friends, but social distancing is putting the kibosh on that. Time for the wife and I to rotate through them over the next week or two.

Pictured in order of age from left right, ranging from the original Very Angry Beast (2013) to the 2018 re-release. My bottles of Breakfast Beast and Banshee and the Beast are all gone, so they won't be part of the lineup, unfortunately.

 

Awe, so it was a 2014. The trusty wine marker comes through again! Thanks for the bottling date confirmation!

 

Tonight’s vintage beer treat is a 2014 Founders Imperial Stout. I’ve always preferred this beer with a little bit of age on it, but don’t think I’ve ever had one this far out. In terms of how it’s held up: Aroma is incredible, so much better and more complex than when fresh. It has this very unique floral, herb like character that I can’t place; it’s almost mint like but not in a weird or out of place kind of way. Roast is much more subtle than fresh, fine dark chocolate more prominent. Super subtle fusel alcohol to balance. Just fantastic on the nose. Taste follows but not to the extent of the aroma. Roast is more prominent, but again much less so than when fresh. More sweetness to balance including chocolate and some semi-sweet dark fruits. Tobacco and leather notes to close out. This is incredibly drinkable. All in all, much better than fresh, without the slightest bit of question.


Look at that head on a 5 plus year old beer!

As you can see the bottling date is smeared, which is my own donkey fault as it was looking nearly perfect before I just now wiped off the condensation. Hard to make out now, but it was bottled 2014, I think it said 12/2/2014 to be exact.


Just drinking fantastic right now. Cheers!

 

Completely agree. Stellar both fresh and with age. Probably my favorite all around barleywine.

2010 BC Vanilla is one of the best beers I have ever had, period. Doubt there's many (if any) still floating around at this point. Cheers to the legend that it was.

 

2010 Avery Mephistopheles - Batch #6

Pours like used motor oil, tan colored head. decent initial head, but it fades to nothing. Bold aroma of dark chocolate, mild smoke, a little roast, pleasant. Similar taste, depth to the flavor yet still smooth. No booziness despite the high abv. Lower carbonation, thicker feel.

Overall a great beer - a shame that Avery discontinued it.

 

While certainly discontinued, ‘new’ drops of this seem to pop up fairly often in my area.. could be my proximity to bolder, but I keep seeing different places posting pics of it as a new arrival along with usual suspect type fresh or new IPAs... which is niiice.

 

I didn't realize, but looks like they actually "re-released" a batch this past Fall, but more limited than in the past.
https://blog.averybrewing.com/avery-resurrects-mephistopheles-stout-2b9d038266ce