Cellar Reviews (2023)

Surly*

 

2015 Bell's Third Coast Old Ale

pours mostly clear but with some floaties that settle out, thin cream colored head around the ring of the glass. big aroma of fig, dark caramel, molasses, booze soaked peach. similar flavors in the taste, a lingering finish. sticky mouthfeel

 

2020 Free Will Ralphius BBA Imperial Stout

Pours jet black, thin layer of cream colored head. eventually fades. rich dark chocolate, vanilla, oak, a little whiskey. taste is actually pretty mellow, not boozy at all for a 14% abv beer. good balance, not sweet nor dry. fuller bodied

 

So during Celluary I finally got my cellar mostly in order. Found a couple of these hidden in plain sight, never meant to keep them so long. But they are still drinking very well!
Cheers all.

 

Funny to see my post follow @Whyteboar since this beer also is one I never intended to cellar this long, especially as the last one I opened at a share years ago already had shown some problems with a vegetable hint to the coffee flavor and nearly a gusher. I wouldn't mind if the rest of today is filled with pleasant surprises like finding this "hidden in plain sight", 9 years old gem. 2014 Coffee Bollocks (variant of Dogs Bollocks barley wine)

Glad to see no gusher, in fact a perfect amount of carb to leave this dark brown with reddish cast barley wine looking fine in the glass and emitting plenty of aroma. Unexpectedly clean aroma, still holding hints of oak, believe it or not, and lighter hints of bourbon too, as well as light coffee that is not vegetal in the least, along with a well blended and strong bouquet of caramel, alcohol spice, herbal bitter, milk chocolate, and even some cola notes to make this incredibly pleasant to bring near to nose. Taste also is unbelievably clean, so much better than a bottle opened more than five years ago. All the flavors of the aroma are here, clean, well balanced, with a sweetness to them that is perfect offset to the alcohol spice and bittering notes. Perfect low carb, lovely coating mouth that never builds nor gets weird, and a finish that is clean and begs for next sip.

Nothing beats a good surprise, and I expected this to be awful but instead it's a fucking gem. Is this an instance of one bottle in a case is from a different barrel than another? Anyone able to explain how the last two beers I posted here were superior to the same beers from same cases cellared the same ways, but tasted some years earlier?

Anyway, this is all about learning as we go, right? Cheers, y'all!

 

Love the name of that beer! And you're right; we're learning as we go. Been a great ride so far.

 

Back for another one that was lost in the chaos of the cellar for too long-

Canned in 2020. This one didn’t gush like last night’s 2021 pastry stout but it did feature residue at the bottom.
I don’t know why I bought this other than I think someone posted about it here and it sounded good. A milk stout; lactose in stouts is common and can be tasty. This one featured peanut butter though- and not a subtle amount. This has more PB than stout!
I don’t know if I would have liked it more fresh, maybe it’s better balanced, don’t know and I likely won’t find out. Too many other beers to try!
Cheers all-

 

Not sure this is the correct thread to post this,.
I have a 2018 Founders KBS that's been in the fridge since receiving it as a gift in 2018. Should it be left in the fridge, or stored in a less frigid environment. I'm in no hurry to open the bottle.

 

I don't think the refrigeration will hurt it, better than a cupboard over the fridge!

 

Tonight’s found beer is Barrel Runner from Founders.

Still a good tasting beer, though the rum is all faded away. A bit of the fruit flavors from the hops remain and definitely alcohol is present but it’s not identifiable by me.
Cheers!

 

I opened my last of those a few weeks ago. I had to pour it out. Oxidized badly. Glad yours was ok.

 

Bottled 5/1/19. Still tasting good. Very smooth, no alcohol presence. The cherries are very strong. It's going down way too fast.

 

There’s a local liquor store with some truly outrageous stuff on the shelves - like waxed Stone ipa collabs from 16 years ago and ten year old beers from breweries that closed permanently soon after - but they have some hidden gems, too. I just got this 2008 world wide stout and it’s quite good:



This is a thinner stout in general and time has thinned things out even further but there is still adequate carbonation left. Nicely oxidized at this point with some sherry tones, and not just the sweet ones, definitely the nutty notes of an oloroso and a hint of brininess to go along with some bittersweet chocolate and suggestions of maple syrup. WWS is way too fusel to me when fresh but this has settled down into a terrific, memorable beer after so many dusty years.

 

2018 - Barrel-Aged Bell's Expedition Stout. Pours dark black with minimal head. Poured out at 55* from the cellar. Smells and tastes boozy. The bourbon barrel flavor is evident throughout. Nice flavor but on the boozy side. I tried the non-barrel aged version last night and the difference in flavor is quite different. I'm thinking of sitting down on the other 3 for a more mellow experience. Hopefully I'm making the right call.

 

Random pull from the fridge, no idea how long ago I bought this but it was less than a year. Mad River brewing releases vintages of their John Barleycorn periodically. This is a 2017 bottle, which I believe means it was brewed in 2016 and then aged a year and bottled for 2017.

It's ruby colored with little to no head, the nose is sweet and richly grainy. Taste is caramel over sweet breads. Some herbal bitterness that balances it well. This is a nice batch. I might have to see if this is still on the shelves locally

 

I've never had this beer fresh or any smoked beer before, so it's not fair for my to comment on how it held up. But it's very smoky with a strong char underneath. It has that typical porter thinness but but in a bad way. Enjoyable.

 

Cheers!

 

So I'm getting ready to send a blind trade out and saw that he had never reviewed this one.

But I couldn't just send him a beer brewed in 2019 without checking to see if it was still good.
Spoiler, it is. It may be cheating that this has been my favorite (as far as ratings go at least!) Brown Ale as it is Barrel Aged but if it's in the category, it's in the category.
I can't swear it's just as amazing as before, but it's pretty amazing now.
Cheers!

 

2018 Mother of All Storms, and it's still just a killer of a barleywine. I have one bottle from 2015, but this was my next oldest in the cellar. All the distinctive leather, tobacco and prune that make MoAS stand out from English barleywines that present more emphasis on sweeter brown sugar and vanilla notes. If I think about comparisons with bourbon flavor profiles, I've always thought of MoAS as the George T Stagg of barleywines, and the 2018 is still swinging for the fences in terms of being similarly "heavy" in its character. I can detect some hints of mustiness and soy that suggest oxidation is finally starting to impart some more negative notes, but I'm really enjoying it nonetheless. It's very hard for me to say what I think is a peak age for this beer.