Cellar Reviews (2020)

Evening cellar dwellers. Been a long month and while I did score some 2020 bcbs and grabbed one of my 2018s from the cellar, another early and long day tomorrow makes the prospect of a 17 oz 15%er pretty unreasonable.

So I'm cracking my 2nd to last bottle of 2018 narwhal instead (cause ya know, 12 oz of 10% is reasonable). Bottled 27 months ago on 8/30/2018.




Pour is beautiful, great carbonation and a lovely head.
Nose has a heavy and ponderous presence of dark fruits (dates, currants, raisins, plums and prunes). There is perhaps a rising preponderance of the tarter dark fruits (black cherry and currant) over the sweeter but still very rich.
Underneath that fruit heavy cloud is a base that hints and dark chocolate, maybe even bakers chocolate, and a very low note of old leather.
Taste goes in a bit of a different direction. The super dark chocolate/bakers chocolate leads the way with a sort of burnt ashy note blended in. There are some hints of raisins and figs, and a bit of currant tang and bitter skins. A growing stale cola aftertaste takes away from the overall effect.

I suspect that I will try to be patient on my last 2018 until at least next year to see where it goes. At this point I like it from fresh - 6 months the best. Then around 24ish months. Now this one has me wondering if its on the verge of transcendent transformation or if its barely holding itself together.

 

Loved the Bourbon County review thread this weekend!

I’m still holding onto a Coffee ‘13 and I think I have a Coffee ‘15 still too. I figure they are past their prime but hard to grasp the idea of no BCB Coffee Stout in my cellar for the first time in nearly a decade. I appreciate GIs exploration and experimentation with new variants (with a remarkable hit rate IMO) but damnit it’s time to bring back regular BCBCS. A truly elite, elite beer and the past couple iterations of the substitute (Coffee Barleywine and Cafe de Olla) just do not do it justice.

 

Tonight’s beer isn’t exactly a deep cellar drive but I believe it’s over a year old so I guess that counts as a cellar review. 2019 Quintuple Barrel Aged Big Bad Baptist. An imperial stout aged in bourbon and brandy barrels and with 8,000 adjuncts (some of which are barrel aged themselves).

Opaque midnight black with a huge, dense tan head with excellent retention and tons of lacing. Essentially a perfect looking beer.

Aroma is huge coffee and huge whiskey notes. Following that I get cocoa, some vinous dark fruits, decent amount of vanilla, and subtle coconut.

Taste is very roasty with tons of coffee notes. Mild to moderate whiskey characters primarily on the finish. Honestly there’s not a lot else going on. I get essentially none of the extensive list of other adjuncts. Maybe some faint nutty notes as it approaches room temp. But really It’s just a roasty coffee bomb.

Lighter side of medium bodied, actually a bit thin. Not particularly smooth either. Drinkability is average.

Overall this is quite disappointing. It’s not a bad beer but it essentially just taste like a run of the mill coffee Imperial Stout. This can’t be what they intended with all these fancy adjuncts. Perhaps it’s faded a bit with time, but Im guessing not as it’s not that old. Pretty much just a novelty beer with all this ridiculous barrel aging that didn’t really add anything to the final product. Hard pass on this one in the future.

5/4.25/3.75/3.5/3.75

 

if you’re from Michigan and are an advocate of craft beer, there is no doubt you have at least a mixed case of various years of KBS in your cellar. Slowly, I’ve been drinking them down. While looking for this one I found a ‘13(!) KBS that will be opened another day. On to the review!

Pours at cellar temp a dark black with a still impressive head of just under a finger. Most of it diminished but still leaving a bubbly ring around the glass. Some lacing as I drink it. Nose of oak and oxidation, not much else I can describe. Moving on to taste, all coffee and almost all chocolate are gone. It’s too bad but not unexpected. Wood, cardboard, faint dark chocolate, coconut are the most prominent for me, in that order. Leaves a bitter aftertaste.
Thinner body than fresh, also not unexpected.
Overall, this was never intended to be aged this long by the brewer or me. Chalk it up to another “fun” experiment and clearing out old beer. Cheers!

 

Tonight’s beer is a 2016 Stickee Monkee. Killer beer fresh, let’s see how 4 years has developed it.

Pours very murky, essentially opaque, dark mahogany with a small tan head. Aroma is boozy dark fruits galore with a medley of fig, dates, plum, and even berry notes with a pretty prominent blackberry. Oak and boozy notes show the barrel. Caramel and molasses to round it out. Very complex nose. Taste is quite good with bakers chocolate and alcohol soaked cherries. Mild to moderate barrel characters, mostly oaky vanilla. Moderate spice reminds you it’s a quad (it otherwise drinks like an english barleywine or old ale). Other characters I get are brown sugar, mild bitterness on the backend, and some vinous red wine-esque grape notes. It’s very well balanced and there’s a ton going on. Mouthfeel is fairly smooth, carbonation has held up well, ABV noticeable but pleasantly so. Overall, a very enjoyable beer. It’s hard for me to say if it’s gotten better with this much time, and even though I’m really digging it now I also loved it fresh so I’m inclined to say it didn’t necessarily improve with time and comparing it to may fresh ratings (which I didn’t look at before) I did rate it lower this time. That being said it’s certainly still an excellent beer.

4/4.25/4.5/4.25/4.5
(Original/fresh review: 4/4.75/4.5/4/4.75)

 

Opened one of the 2008 Samichlaus's since it's that time of year.

It had definite carbonation on opening and produced a head in the glass, but that faded so quickly it is virtually unnoticeable in the picture.

The nose has some vanilla and caramel. I am questioning my choice of a tulip instead of a snifter. The aroma fades faster than I'd like and a deeper sniff reveals the alcohol. I am pretty sure this is a flaw in my choice if glassware, not the beer. It really does smell good. But it is too fleeting.

The taste is fabulous, very sweet, maple syrup, vanilla, maybe a bit of oak. There is almost a root beer or coca-cola aspect, but in a pleasant way. There's a hint of ginger bite, but mostly a lot of brown sugar balanced with just enough tartness to keep it alive rather than cloying.

A good beer, it'll be interesting to see what the future brings as this one has a lot of legs still.

 

This stout has aged beautifully.
Strong cocoa and hints of coffee, English ale yeast ( I speculate) adds a delightful blackberry touch.
Quick dry finish, malt expression is semi sweet, body has not lost any aspect.
Cheers

 

Hey all, it’s cellar Saturday! Tonight I’ll be looking at Bells 30th Anniversary. I’m drinking it side by side with Bells 35th Anniversary but not specifically to compare, at least not in the review. Batch #14792, bottled 8/27/15.
I poured each bottle the same way; the head difference is noticeable for sure. Just barely a fingers worth on the 30th and still pours a dark motor oil. Aroma of dark roasted malts, bakers chocolate, licorice, maybe some burnt coffee.
Heavy roast, dark chocolate, rye bread, slight oxidation taste. Smooth and chewy mouthfeel, no hint of heat. Overall, in my very humble opinion, Bells just makes world class imperial stouts that definitely hold up over time. This is my last bottle of 30th Anniversary but I could see this still tasting great for another few years. That’s why I loaded up on the 35th. Cheers all!

 

Sunday Funday beer #1. 2017 Cantillon Kriek 100% Lambic Bio. With so many differences in profiles of beers, even within a style, it’s sometimes hard to subjectively define which are you true favorites, but this is to date my highest rated lambic and with over 1,000 full reviews this remains in my all time top 10 highest rated beers on Beer Advocate. Translation on the label says best to consume within 10 years of bottling, with preference to within 1 year. Let’s see how it’s drinking around 3.5 years.

Pours a translucent beautiful dark ruby with a large pink tinged head that dissipates quickly leaving no lacing. Aroma is cherry popsicle, melted plastic, and oak. Tart lactic acidity. Cherry characters are both sour and sweet. Taste is big sweet cherry with balancing sour tartness and a mild pungent funk. Puckering sourness, a substantial minerality, and a big drying oak on the finish. Mouthfeel is near perfect with a crisp carbonation, and highly drying finish which makes you long for the next sip. Overall a fantastic beer. Rated slightly lower than previous times, not sure to what extent that’s from some changing characters vs just day to day palate fluctuations; regardless still stellar as always!

4.5/4.5/4.75/4.75/4.75
(Original/fresh review: 4/4.75/5/4.75/5)

screen shot tool

 

2016 Weyerbacher Brunicorn #3. Blackberry barrel aged sour.

750 ml bottle dated 7/8/2016, so 4.5 years old. Actually bought from the brewery this year, they were selling cellared bottles.

Pours a clear dark pinkish color, a little purpish, thin white head. Prettt good head retention for a barrel aged beer. Aroma is tart and earthy blackberry. Taste is similar, with a touch of oak. good depth to the flavor, fairly sour, shorter finish. Thin bodied, higher carbonation. Overall pretty nice to drink.

 

Old Foghorn from January of 2016. This one came front the store last week so who knows, the particular store does have a massive walk in cooler where most of the beer lives.

Pours a murky copper/mahogany with a wonderful head that dips down to a nice foam cap.
Nose hits me with malted raisins, some date and figgy sweetness. Really big wonderful aromas.
Taste comes with a big holiday fruit.cake kind of vibe at first. Prunes, a touch of black licorice, some festive spice, all over a rich malt body. Leaning a little toward the cola spectrum, but still towing that holiday fruit bread line.
Body is pretty nice, thick and lightly syrupy on the lips but not overly thick.

This is nice. I'll probably bring another 2 into the fridge in the next month or so but I'm definitely interested in seeing this thing another year or two out from now. Now I just need to find a source of fresh stuff

 

A lot has been going on these past several days, it’s been a roller coaster of emotions. But today’s been a great day, so celebrating with my oldest Bourbon County in the cellar and one of my favorite variants (and beers in general), a 2013 Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout.

Opaque black with a small darker tan head that dissipates quickly. Status quo BCB look, no signs of carb issues/flatness. The coffee is still going super strong on the nose, which is amazing after 7 plus years. The coffee pairs beautifully with wonderful complex barrel notes of charred oak, vanilla, a nutty character and bourbony booze. Subtle dark fruits and a decent amount of bakers chocolate. Just phenomenal. Taste has definitely changed, coffee characters are still present but it’s more bitter black coffee, roastiness has also faded to bring out even more bitterness. Dark fruits are still around, really nice with raisin and dates. Cocoa and subtle vanilla are present. Barrel characters have faded some but remain at a moderate level, mostly charred oak and the aforementioned vanilla. Mouthfeel is smooth, ABV is well masked and drinkability is great. Overall, I still love this beer. Has it faded some, yes. Is it still excellent and would I drink it everyday if I could, yes.

Make the most of everyday, BA’s, and cheers!

4.25/4.75/4.5/4.25/4.5
(Original/fresh review: 4/4.5/5/4.5/5; of note original review was prior to BAs 0.25 intervals)

 

2018 bourbon county brand stout. The very first bottles of this I ever found in a store (although I did.get a bottle of uninfected 2015 from a bottle shop last year). Interested to revisit it two years later.

Immediately on cracking the bottle a boozy fig aroma fills the room. Sort of like a chocolate figgy rum cake kind of a smell. Some hints of tobacco and leathery tannins as well. The booze is really pronounced, at least at this cool temp. Also just the hint of dark cherries or maybe currant.
Taste follows with super boozy chocolate and a touch of sweetness sort of like blueberries or black cherries. There's a sharp fusel note that is dancing around the edges. Figs are in there as well. Its getting richer as it warms and the fusel note is fading but its still shockingly boozy.
Mouthfeel is that rich creamy fullness that doesn't get syrupy. It's something that I really like and respect that aspect of bcbs.

Overall, I'm not sure what to think about this one. Its quite.boozy and the flavors aren't as cohesive as I expected. And that fusel bite lingers at the back of the palate a bit too much. I'll let my last 2018 sit for another year for sure. May check in on 2019 soon though

 

Just finishing up an Evolution of the Barrel from Tahoe Mountain brewing. Never heard of it or them but it was a really really good blended sour ale (blend of 1,2, and 3 year aged). Looks like it might have been a one off from 2016? Anyone else know anything about them?

 

I can't wrap my head around anchor either. We seem to get sporadic drops of their stuff around here (6 hours north of the city or so) and its pretty unpredictable. I always grab some fresh anchor steam and I've given some of their hippy stuff a shot and been happy for the price. Wish we got their porter and ya I'd love to pick up an old foghorn sixer fresh for comparison.

And your post about old ruffian above makes me think I need to revisit toffee, I feel like there's a taste I can't pin in a lot of the bigger beers I've been drinking and I wonder if its toffee? I was never a toffee fan as a kid and at this point have only a very vague and likely inaccurate memory of that flavor

 

Haha I was going to mention the same thing. Christmas ale is always here shortly after Halloween and every store has it.

And I will definitely grab a pack of toffee to shore up that hole in my sense memory as we stride boldly into the meat of big beer season!

 

2011 DFH 120 min IPA

Pours a really dark copper color, thin head. Aroma of dark caramel and fig. Taste is similar, has some tobacco in there as well. Starts mildly sweet, then finishes more balanced. Medium bodied, pretty low carbonation at this point.