Whaley Beer Dusty's

Have you had the Courage?

 

Not yet, I'm saving it for New Year's Day 2023 so I can have it on its 30th anniversary. Perhaps @zid has had his already?

 

Waiting for 2023 as well.

 

See, depriving myself was why I bought the case.

Unfortunately, inventory shows I'm now in the same position... unless there's one hiding behind a bomber in the beer fridge.

Who is "Dusty" and why are his beers "Whaley" - and is that like "fishy"?

 

The problem with most finds like these is that you're getting a shell of what those beers once were. A lot of people base their opinions of once great beers that have now devolved into metallic teriyaki paper. I'm not saying you shouldn't buy 'em, but you definitely have to keep in mind what you're actually getting.

 

The liquor store near me had a whole bunch of 2017 So Happens It’s Tuesday for awhile. I would only go there every few months and buy one at a time, but I think I ended up getting three bottles eventually. Even paid full price every time!

Also got a 2014 Avery Mephistopheles or Beast and another 2014 bottle of something I can’t remember in 2021 at another liquor store that sells beer, just not a lot of it apparently.

 

Avery has been releasing old stock of uncle Jacob's, tweak, the demons, and other gold foils. I grabbed a bottle of pump[ky]n last year and it was terrible. I knew I was in trouble when I poured it out and the beer was a clear amber. How the hell does roasted malt drop out of suspension anyway? The beer was awful. I had grabbed it on the off chance that it would be similar to the beer I loved fresh. It wasn't even close. In my experience if it's not a barleywine it's not wort aging.

 

I wanted to open the Courage with 30 years age on it since we're so close to that year, so I asked Pattinson if Courage was released at a specific time of the year. (If he said December, I don't think I would have decided to wait until December '23... I'm not good with waiting.)

He told me that the 1993 date is likely the release date rather than a brewing date - which would have been 1-2 years before its release... and that it could have been brewed at any point in the year. So, if we go with that, then the '93 Courage might already be 30 years old from when it was brewed. Nonetheless, I'm still going to wait til we're in 2023 to open it.

 

Is that the name of the new Dark Lord variant?

Aged wort is the best.

 

What's funny is that some of their really old stuff (early to mid 00's) is known to hold up well. Old Czar, Beast, Reverent, Salvation, etc. Mind you, I never think they're better, but they at least taste somewhat close to how they did when fresh.

I'm okay with aging Lambics (and similar aged sours from the US or other parts of Belgium) along with barleywines/old ales, but they're pretty much it. At least intentionally. I'm sure many of us have forgotten we had a particular beer until it had turned to mush. Intentionally aging stouts is a recipe for disaster IMO. At best, you're going to get a dialed-down approximation of what they once were. At worst, you're getting a cheap port that someone poured soy sauce and blood into.

 

Ahhh... we gotta get of worshiping that "Base 10" numerical system. I mean, look around - 12 months/52 weeks in a year, most months have an odd number of days. 7 days in a week. 21 to legally drink in the US, 62 to collect SS, 59.5 to get into your IRA loot.