Cellar Reviews (2021)

Welcome to the cellar! There's actually a thread HERE all about bigfoot aging and reviews. Its been a while since anyone checked in but there are certainly some older vintages discussed and lots of folks' opinions of the "sweet spot" for that beer.

 

One of my favorite beers to age based on combo of price, availability, and awesomeness (both fresh and with age). I’ve never had one old than between 5-6 years, although I have them back as old as 2013 in the cellar. I’ll get back to you in a few more years with updates!

 

Cheers! I'm not sure it gains much beyond the 7-8 year mark, but I thought it was worth a go trying one with a little more age on it.

I picked up a 6 pack of 2021 Bigfoot today and am looking forward to comparing!

 

One of my favorites. Last year it never came near me and I had to trade for it. Hoping that's not the case this year. I'm ready for a 5 year vertical.

 

It’s 2021 so I guess this is technically a cellar beer now: 2019 Bourbon County Brand Stout. Seems like it’s been forever since I posted on this thread, although it’s only been days. First week into the diet, starting to shed a few lbs, enjoying some healthier food, etc; it’s going pretty well. But man, I’m telling you my fellow cellar dwellers, I do miss my near daily craft beer offering. Last beer was Sunday; six days without beer makes one weak, right? Fortunately I’m having a cheat day today, enjoyed a Caramella earlier (can’t overstate how much I love that beer), now onto this ‘19 BCBS. l will keep the rating short since I post these a lot, but I do like keeping track of each vintage across time so I think a short review is worthwhile. This one is just under 18 months from bottling.

Pours black with a sliver of tan head with minimal retention and lacing. Aroma is surprisingly leather forward, lots of roasted malt notes, barrel characters are lower end of moderate with charred oaky vanilla. Taste follows, huge leather and pipe tobacco, roastiness and char. Much more prominent sweetness than on the nose, which is a good thing for me. Some bitterness to balance, and bourbon barrel characters on the finish. Overall, great as always, although for my palate it’s not yet hit its prime at 1.5 months. That being said, I’ve never met a Boubon County at an age that I didn’t enjoy, and this is no different.

4.25/4.25/4.5/4.5/4.5

 

I suppose this one could have gone in the "Aged Gems Found in Stores" thread, but it didn't really taste like a gem.

Picked up a 4 pack of Summit Old Blaggard a couple weeks ago because I thought it was new stock and it is barleywine season. Got it home and it was bottled in Feb 2019, so about 2 years of store aging.


2021 notes of the 2019 bottling:
Appearance: Hazy auburn, small firm head.
Smell: Wet cardboard oxidation, toffee, overripe dark fruit.
Taste: Earthy, mild raisin/prune, caramel, then kind of overripe or maybe even rotting cherry and dark fruit.

Original 2015 release review:
Appearance: Clear amber, big head.
Smell: Sweet, malty, earthy, dark fruit.
Taste: Slow building flavor, sweet and earthy, then dark fruit with a bit of citric bitterness. Kind of reminds me a bit of Belgian dubbel but not as earthy.

2021 summation: Not sure what kind of conditions this was store-aged in, but I wouldn't call it an improvement. My 2015 review was a solid 4, 2 year old rating would be in the 3.25-3.5 range.

 

Drank a 2007 Schlafly Oak Aged Barleywine the other weekend. It wasn’t as terrible as I was expecting. Especially considering it was brewed when I was a sophomore in high school lol

 

I had a 2008 in 2016 and it was quite good still, but a bit past its prime. I sure wish they'd bottle a barleywine every year.

 

Alright, diet cheat day turned into diet cheat weekend; at least for beer. So I’m sipping a 2018 BCB Midnight Orange. Reviewed one of these probably about 6 months ago. Thought it have improved immensely with time. Have 2 more that I was planning to take out longer, but got a little impatient so pulled the trigger today.

Pours like most BCBS’s, black with a small sliver of dark tan head. Aroma is huge roast, pretty big fusel alcohol, mild orange chocolate. Huge barrel notes, awesomely so; really wonderful oaky char and an almost peat like character. Fantastic nose. Taste follows: roastiness, pretty prominent black coffee which I actually rarely get with BC nor its (non BCBCS) variants, some nice dark fruits like fig. Orange is very subtle, chocolate is prominent and is mostly dark cocoa as opposed to milk chocolate. Molasses like sweetness. Just a wonderful balance of roasty, sweet and bourbon barrel notes. Very smooth, ABV noticeable but not in a bad way, great drinkability. Overall, this just keeps better with age. When to drink my last one is the question. I’m not sure the answer but I will say it’s drinking damn fine around the 2.5 year mark.

4.25/4.5/4.5/4.75/4.5

(1st cellar review, around 2 years old:4/4.25/4.5/4.5/4.25;
original/fresh review: 4/4/3.75/4/3.75)

i asked god for patience and he gave me

 

Patrick Dawson's tasting panel designated 4-5 years as optimal. They said anything beyond that isn't bad per se but lacks the complexity to justify the further aging.

 

Also, please ignore the links which sometimes appear under my photos. Postimages sometimes sneaks them in.

If anyone is wondering, I did not ask god for patience, even if I did he must not have granted it to me.....

haha

 

I've had 2 so far and am definitely enjoying this year's release. I'm already wishing I had picked up more than a single 6 pack so that I could drink more fresh without feeling guilty that I didn't wait to age it, so I'll definitely be picking up more if I can.

It's funny that the 2011 still felt hoppy by (even American) barleywine standards, but I apparently had forgotten just how overloaded with hops it is when fresh. It definitely tastes more like a traditional barleywine given some age to smooth out its hop presence, but I find it equally enjoyable when fresh as a barleywine on hop steroids.

I actually have a few more 2011s and will be doing a side-by-side/mini-vertical at some point whenever I decide that I want to drink 24oz of barleywine.

Hope you're able to get your hands on some soon!

 

I got a 2010, 2011 and 2012 waiting for me.

As far as the 2021 goes, imho, it's not as bitter to me as previous fresh Bigfoots.

 

Had a virtual barleywine tasting with my fraternity brothers tonight, so pulled some beers from the cellar:

Blithering Idiot 2019 - Weyerbacher Brewing
Appearance:clear, dark copper in color, tan colored head that fades
Aroma: boozy dark caramel and apricot, peach
Flavor and Aftertaste: a little hot still, like most of Weyerbacher’s big beers. A touch sweet, with underlying bitterness.
Palate: a bit sticky, medium carbonation
better with more age


Olde School 2012 - Dogfish Head
Appearance: cloudy, dark brown, cream colored head fades fast
Aroma: a lot of fig and raisin, brown sugar
Flavor and Aftertaste: similar flavors, a little bit sweet. no real booze heat left, really smooth
Palate: low carbonation, coats the tongue
still got more life

Double Bastard 2010 - Stone Brewing
Appearance: pretty dark brown, garnet highlights, cream colored head. Head fades
Flavor and Aftertaste: still has a piney hop underlying aroma and flavor to the rich malt. Earthy, well balanced at this point.
Palate: slick, but still a good carbonation level
bring this beer back, Stone!

 

Nice! There were several Weyerbacher brews that aged like champs & this was one of them. Sadly I am down to my last couple of Blithering Idiots (2018) having drunk all the really old bombers. I miss them.