Cellar Reviews (2023)

2017 Founders CBS. Cool to catch a vintage draft at a local bar. Very smooth chocolate, mild coffee, maple is prominent but not sweet. Overall very enjoyable

 

2020 Westy 12, exactly 3 years to the day after bottling.

Pours with less carbonation and less head than when fresh, but is a very nice dark mahogany with a good clarity when heals to light. Aroma is loaded with huge dark fruit notes, lots of raisin, doughy yeast, like a sweet breakfast bread. Lots of caramel/toffee and a bit of candied sugar. Taste is yeasty, dough, mild spice, small amount of bitterness, and lots of nice sweet notes of caramel and dark fruits (albeit less dark fruits than the nose).

Fresh Westy 12 is great, Westy 12 around the 2 year mark remains one of the best beers on the planet. At 3 years it’s past its peak, but still exceptional.



Cheers, online old beer drinking friends!

 

Happy NFL Sunday Funday Cellar Dwellers. Didn’t get my typical breakfast beer in last Sunday as I was golfing, so back with a bang this weekend. 2018 Bourbon County Brand Vanilla Stout. Just over 5 years since bottling. My last one (until they make this variant again, hopefully soon!).

Pours opaque, black, decent sized dark mocha head but it dissipates fairly quickly and afterwards the beer looks pretty still. Aroma starts with huge toasted marshmallow, with chocolate and some cinnamon and graham cracker on the back end. Reminiscent of a s’more. Taste follows but has more dark fruits and also some bitterness on the finish. Vanilla is def present, although of course it has faded in intensity. Barrel notes are there but not particularly prominent with mostly toasted oak. Bigger roastiness than the nose implies. Mouthfeel is full bodied, carbonation low but appropriate. The very high ABV is well masked. Overall, this remains great, but is def past its prime.

 

Hmmm, I have a few bottles that will be exactly 2 years old in 2 days, looks like it’s time to revisit it!

 

Do it!

Happy Birthday to them…..

 

2021 Mother of all Storms, just shy of 2 years old at this point. My last bottle.



I absolutely love this one. It certainly has the sweetness to be called an English barleywine but it has more of a balancing bitterness than most American examples of this style. Toffee is abundant but there is a bitter charred quality to it, there is vanilla but it's kind of earthy, the figs aren't sugared, etc etc etc.

In summation, this is big and bold but beautifully balanced. I haven't had this often enough to say if it has improved with age or not, but it's damn fine at 2 years out. An all-time great that I hope to come across again.

 

Found a 2012 Orval in the cellar, drank it on Saturday night. At about 10 years, this was aged too long. Still very carbonated, very fizzy on the pour. But at this age, little to no flavor was left. While I have enjoyed aged Orval in the past (up to 3-4 years), this one was over done. If you have any in your cellar past the 5 year mark, drink them now.

 

Chimay Grand Reserve. I believe this is a 2020 version, was purchased in 2020 at least, so either that or a later 2019. Only distinguishing bottling numbers are L20-186. Not sure if that’s 186th day of 2020 or just something more random.

Pours a dark mahogany with some ruby hues when held to light. Aroma is huge dark fruits, plum, fig and red grapes. Some sugary sweetness. Taste follows with some huge dark fruits, lots of berry and grape, some balancing bitterness, not much spice. Mouthfeel is smooth but carbonation is a bit low for the style. Tasty beer but past its prime.

 

Bdcs 2018. This was one I chased 5 years ago when I was bigger into ticking and recall being quite let down by it... held onto one or two more because back then it was tradeable and had "value".

At 5 years old the pour is more impressive than I previously noted. Smell.is bled and I thought it was going to be off due to a faint tartness.

Taste seems exceptionally hot for a 5 year old 10% stout. Chalkier and creamier than I noted. Light cocoa dust and lots of sweet cream. Dry for a big stout. Not bitter and not sweet; like a nice dark chocolate candy bar its envelopes chocolate with just the right touch to exude the beans flavors. A faint vanilla. Alcohol is easily detectable. Mild roastiness to it with a simultaneous sweet twang. Feel is hot and dry.

Overall probably a better visit of it than I had fresh but nothing mind blowing here.

 

One of the top three aging barleywines in the country IMHO. A beautiful beer.

 

Wootstout. Year? Not sure. Somebody please help me out... I know that the bottle art changes with each iteration so it's surely identifiable. I'd hazard to guess this is 2019 or 2020 based on recollection or buying it.

Nice frothy pour but an unremarkable and mute effervescence. I recall this beer being MUCH, MUCH, MUCH roastier and smokier than I'm tasting. I'm getting absolutely none of either and I'm getting ALL lactose which I did not think this beer had in it? Absolutely mind boggling how this is 13%, you could have told me this was left hand milk stout and I would haven't have second guessed it on flavor or strength.

Overall highly let down. I had a great recollection of this beer but this is completely lackluster. Whether thats poor aging, a poor recollection/expectations, or just currently being off I can't say.

Editing to say I'm probably 4oz into this beer and its definitely turned. An unfortunate drain pour.

 

I've tried aging a few vintages over the years and never had success. It's a great beer and a decent price, but after about a year or so the favors profile really flattens out/gets muddled and it becomes unremarkable at best.

 

I haven't gotten to this 2021 release in 2023. Barleywines are on the sweet threshold end of the spectrum, so typically don't seek out extra, but Revolution typically does a good to great job with balance.

Revolution Maple Jacket 2021



Original Review Link - Same release performed Christmas Day 2022.

Can Notes: Purchased as part of a December 2022 sale of "we made too much 2021 Deep Woods Beer" at the brewery. Canned at 12/6/21 5:43:06 PM, 14.4% ABV. Refrigerated when purchased and thereafter until cracking open this morning.

Appearance: Looks surprising slightly lighter and clearer in color, yield today offers a creamier and full cover over the base, thin tiny bubbles, very creamy. Add .25 for a 4.75

Aroma: Started after warming at room temps for 15 minutes. Syrup aromas certainly fell off, slightly cardboardy. Two years in a more balanced treatment, far less sweet so better for me but YMMV. Add .25 to 4.5

Taste: Oh, the sweetness played hide and seek in the aroma, but is sweet as f*** in this face, I puckered up cringed at first sip due in part to the surprise. Maple still there, base very strong, barrel lurking but emerges as this warms. Let it sit another 10 minutes hoping for more balance, and this helps a bit, and a bit more 10 minutes further. So dive in 30 minutes after pulling for better results. Lower 0.5 to 3.75

Mouthfeel: Perhaps one of the most creamy beers I can mentally recall. Faint gentle carbonation sustained. This drinks hard fast, harder than the 14.4% ABV. Walter Payton level Sweetness, maple, rock candy, sugar finish. Close to a 5 for the body, lack of balance knocks my previous score .75 to 3.75 for overall mouthfeel.

Overall: Pretty much surprised at every aspect of this one, which is unusual. Thought the appearance improved and the aroma was more balanced, but all bets were off from there. Feels as though a 5 year old wanting a sugar high signed off on this recipe, as the sweetness is too much for me, far more increased than my Christmas Day notes last year. Oh well, I'll know to drink these fresh if ever re-released by Revolution and part of my Season Ticket in future years. Overall 3.75 or 0.5 less than my review one year post canning.

 

It's Friday the 13th, so I decided to take on a monster, a 2011 Brooklyn Monster to be specific. Poured brown to ruby in color, and very murky. Smelled like wet cardboard. After the look and the smell, I was scared, but there's no turning back now. I'm not going to say it tasted great, but it was better than I expected. And yes, I did enjoy this Monster.

I don't have the fondest memories of drinking Monster fresh, which is why it sat in my cellar for so long. But for a 12 year old barley wine, this was a fun experience. I don't necessarily recommend aging beer for this long, but this was still (surprisingly) highly drinkable after a dozen years. Happy Friday the 13th.

 

Drooooollllllll

 

Truly heartbreaking that we may never see this beer again.
I spoke with my people at Stone and they aren't currently aging anything in barrels . They pretty much told me their barrel program is dead for the time being, mostly due to Napa closing which was where they did most of the barrel stuff.

 

I don't post here often (if at all), but I pulled an older Capital Autumnal Fire out of my stash. Can't tell the year, but I know it was brewed when Kirby Nelson was still in charge.

A rather vinous nose worried me, but aside from a little oxidation this one has held up pretty well.

Earthy caramel flavors with peppery alcohol adding a bit of balance and cutting through, what could be, cloyingly sweet malts.

I think I have a few more of these, too.

 

Happy Sunday Funday Cellar Advocates. 2022 BCBS Willet easter egg variant. Just over a year so officially a cellar beer in my mind. Nose is loaded with dark fruits. Taste is sweet and savory, dark fruits, molasses, big barrel notes. Still a bit herbaceous which tends to fade with time. Developing wonderfully as BCB stouts almost always do. Not quite at peak but getting there.






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