Cellar Reviews (2020)

I think this is my favorite barleywine, never disappoints. MoAS Day is def on my to do list. Stay at a hotel right on the coast, get a case of MoAS delivered to your hotel room doorstep, vintage MoaS and other special releases on tap at one of the most scenic brewpubs in American. Sounds like a good time to me!

 

Reached into the Cellar for this local annual.
There is a wonderful ripe blackberry element, buttressed with toffee, some vanilla as well. Pours with excellent clarity, and, vibrant carbonation.
Feel is round, but avoids being slick. Finish is luxurious and refined.
Somehow, avoided oxidation in the best way.
What a treat this is.
Cheers

 

Not to detract from your review, but I noticed that you (along with most people) seem to indicate that BT is usually thick and viscous. Somewhere around 1-2 months back I opened a 15. I've been saving it for almost 3 years. Maybe 3 years, actually. Anyway, I was so disappointing - it was thin, certainly not hot, and almost watery, with a very weak barrel. It was nothing even in the ballpark of being a thick or big boozy stout. I understand that it had been sitting for 5 years at that point, but that shouldn't dramatically change the viscosity to the point of being thin and watery. Much closer to a brown ale than a thick stout.

I *gasp* cried and drain poured the entire thing. Probably one of the most disappointing beers I've ever had. It was my first (and will be my last) BT. Now I have to figure out what to do with my 16 BT and 15/16 Chocolate Rain.

 

The wife - who is breastfeeding, and thus very limited in what (ok, how much) she can drink, and when, decided she wanted some beer. I love my wife, and I love the way she describes things. I appreciate that she relies upon me to pick out for her what she likes. She said, "i'd like something light and bubbly" - OK, you want a saison, it'll be a little sour (which she is OK with), but that's a 750 format, no go. So I think - OH, we have a NG Raspberry Tart in the fridge and a Founder's Blushing Monk. Ultimately I thought she'd enjoy the Blushing monk more tonight, since the Raspberry Tart can be very sweet.

The Blushing monk was from the most recent release, which was either 2018 or 2019. 12oz. In all honesty, I only had 3oz, I had it while cooking/eating, I didn't snap a photo, and I didn't write down notes. So, this is quick and off memory:

Hiss when the cap was popped. Poured the same ruby-red color reminiscent of both this beer fresh, and Rubaeus (although the latter is, as I recall, a deeper, almost more purple red). Taste reminds me less of Blushing Monk when it was fresh, and more like a less sweet, much more vibrant Rubaeus. (In full disclosure, I used to really enjoy Rubaeus, but I haven't had one in about 2 years. They gave me awful headaches.) This beer was less sour than I remember fresh, and much more balanced. Remarkably more enjoyable than Fresh. Everything that I didn't like about it (mostly, the rough edges and lack of balance - none of which really had to do with the raspberries, and everything of which pretty much had to do with the alcohol) was gone. All that was left was a beautifully balanced beer with a ton of raspberries.

I wish I had a couple more of these, but, alas, that was the last one.

 

I was pretty shocked about the barrel. It reminded me a lot of what a local brewery that is just getting into BAing puts out during their first few years. You get some, and it's fine if you only pay like $4 or $6, but you wouldn't pay more. Perhaps it was just too many years sitting. Perhaps I had just built it up to be too much of what it isn't. In my mind, it was this monstrosity of a beer, and instead, as you noted, it was definitely probably more of a strong ale with stout influence.

You had some very good descriptors that I think were spot on.

 

It should have happened, but it hasn't happened yet. I try to only partake 2 days a week. Mostly that's because of trying to be healthy and not gain weight (plus, I'm actively trying to lose weight), but more recently, with an infant, it's...also way easier to drink less. Anyway, historically this was always a Friday/Saturday thing. It still mostly is, but now it sometimes varies. This past weekend we had a few hiccups, and I ended up just really consuming one beer, and I already had it preselected. This weekend I'll start it as long as I open something up - and I'm sure I will. The only decision is whether to open it with something more "standard," like a vintage BCBS (14 or older), or open it with something like a BCBVBS 2.0, which I've been wanting to open recently.

Tough decisions!

 

Well, I've never had a black Tuesday, but what you described sounded like a bottle that had some kind of problem. I wouldn't write them off just because of that. Also, according to folks in the bruery thread the bruery is super responsive to customer feed back and might be that that batch was known to have had problems. They might even hook up some shwag.

If you do decide to bail on the black Tuesday I would definitely give chocolate rain its own chance, and if you decide to pass on all of it I'm sure you could find a happy trader locally and at least turn it into a number of other beers you would enjoy more.

I thought their So Happens It's Tuesday was a very good big Bourbon stout that was very much on the level with, and possibly better than regular bcbs so it may just be that black Tuesday isn't the one you were looking for

And on that subject, I only had my first bcbs in 2018. I was astonished at how well it lived up to the hype. I was ready to be over it, too cool. But it is now an annual favorite. Last year I found a 2015 bottle in a bottle shop for $18 and gave it a whorl. I definitely liked the way it had mellowed. I had that beer at just about 4 years old and definitely enjoyed it...differently?...than I did the fresh 2019 I had right near it.

To me, the fresh stuff is a very brash beer. The flavors are big, there's a bit of heat, its not joking around. The beer at 4 years had calmed down enough to really enjoy the subtlety. The chocolate and dark holiday bread notes could kind of shine. The bourbon was more barrel influence than a shot. Different and, to me, I think better.

I'll probably open my second to last 2018 over the holidays this year and maybe I'll even really piss my wife off and try a real side by side with a fresh 2020 .

I like my stouts to have a little more nuance than seems to be the trend these days. I want to be able to enjoy more.than 6 oz and the older the bcbs that I've tried, the better in that respect

 

BCBS is obviously a favorite of mine, but I understand this comment well. About 6-8 ounces in, I get a bit of palate fatigue. I get less of all those flavors that I love, and a little more of the more one-note muted chocolate-malt-oak, and that's about it (with some bourbon, of course). Perhaps that is one reason why I enjoy pacing myself more with BCBS. By spacing it out, and thereby likely having at least some snacks (that won't clash) in between, I'm giving my palate a nice rest that doesn't just include water.

 

This is one reason I don't pine after the variants or chase after any big stouts at all. I've tried one monsters park from modern times, and a big ba chocolate thing from revision, as well as tap tastes of various big pastry or near.pastry things from around the country and I just end up feeling like I could take a 4 oz cup and sip it for about 90 minutes and that would be just fine. An 8 oz pour looks like a chore and the bomber of monsters park I opened by myself (I'm a lush) was like a slog up a long and syrupy mountain.

Would love to see bcbs go back to 12 oz bottles but the 500 ml is a nice evening long treat

 

Cracked my last bottle of Stone's 12 anniversary ale from 2008,the Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout. Simply outstanding. The beer really lives up to its name. Roasted malts, some sweet cocoa, bitter dark chocolate with just a hint of coffee, and oatmeal. Wish I still had more bottles of this, but I do have a bottle of the encore version from Stone's 20th anniversary in 2016.

Eric

 

I'm not a big pumpkin fan. The older I get, the less I seem to like it. That said, I love pumpkin pie. I also think pumpkin pie spices are fine (and I like rye, so the idea of "baking spices," which include all those that would go into pumpkin pie, such as cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, coriander, etc.), but I don't tend to like things that are "pumpkin spice," like the starbucks latte. The spice level is so unbalanced, there's just something very offputting for me. Anyway, this is all to say that other pumpkin foods, like a pumpkin role, muffins, bread, etc., I also don't like. So, perhaps I actually don't like pumpkin.

Anyway, beers like this, that are generally considered very good, are beers I'd like to try. But the cost of admission - even at retail - is just so high for a beer you don't know if you'll like or not. It's definitely the type I would want to try on tap (if given the opportunity). Come to think of it, I HAVE tried several pumpkin beers on tap...and was glad I didn't buy any of those in bottles first.

I sound so negative...don't mean to! I love this thread.