Cellar Reviews (2024)

5 years old and really good, all harsh is gone, nothing but malty goodness.
Cheers!

 

Such a great stout. Really miss that one

 

Pulled this from the beer fridge (where it has aged gently since I bought it fresh in 2019), didn’t realize I’d never had it before. Review below—since this was new to me I can’t say how it compares to fresh. Contains coffee and cardamom; coffee presence definitely still there but since I can’t for the life of me think of what cardamom tastes like right now I can’t say how prominent it is. There are “vague spice notes” so maybe that’s what I’m picking up.

4.21/5 rDev +2.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
22oz bottle (packaged 6/11/2019) into a tulip. Pours a somewhat transparent chocolate brown with reddish hues around the edges, a thin mocha head dissipates to a wispy film.

Aroma is bitter roasted dark malt, espresso, cocoa. Maybe some vaguely fruity or vinous qualities.

Taste is likewise bold and roasty up front with bitter coffee and chocolate leading the charge, followed by vanilla and toasted coconut. Boozy warmth. Vague spice notes.

Mouthfeel is balanced, medium to heavy body, lingering bitter aftertaste. Creamy smooth.

Overall, as expected, a worthy addition to the Black Butte anniversary lineup.

 

Just chiming in with my q3-4 month Caramella. At close to four years it’s still drinking fantastically.



Happy Sunday Funday BAs!

 

2015 Adam from the Wood

Nearly black. Red/brown hues around the edge of the glass when held to light. Zero visible carbonation.

Picking up on some soy on the nose. Dark fruit. Toffee. Oak. Vanilla.

Taste is outstanding. Similar to the above, but rich dark fruit notes throughout and raisen carrying through the finish. There's also some earthy notes underlying everything which add to the depth. Dark chocolate as well. You can tell It's big and boozy, but not sweet or hot.

Mouthfeel has lots of soft tannins. For some reason I expected some sharpness due to the soy notes, but that isn't the case.

This is an awesome beer. I'm glad I had the opportunity to try it.

 

I just conducted a search and don't have any reviews on this selection from any batch (have notes in my phone I'll get on BA at some point). This changes now.

[OG Review Notes Score]

Revolution Gravedigger Billy (2022)



Can Notes: 12 oz canned 1/19/2022 in the wee early part of the morning (7:46:42).14.2% ABV, Scotch Ale Aged in Bourbon Barrels. I believe refrigerated this entire time.

An old favorite from the early days of Revolution makes a return. This Bourbon Barrel-aged Scotch Ale, decked out in a fine tartan kilt, has a delicate smokiness alongside American oak and bourbon character. Pour a wee dram and let the brogue fly. Don't be daft, enjoy now or store cold.

[OG: $9.00 9 oz., 13.2% ABV draft January 3, 2019, draft pour into a snifter.]

• Appearance: [OG: Pitch black pour, creamy tan head and lacing. 4.5] No change cellared.

• Aroma: [OG: Pleasant smoky bourbon and scotch 4.5] Let warm for about 20 minutes, aroma light, smells a lot like their Barleywine Straight Jacket. Smells good, but bring back my Billy to me, to me. 4.0

• Taste: [OG: Very nice scotch taste, strong as this warms. 4.25] Getting a nice Scotch Bourbon blend, this held up very well. 4.5.

• Mouthfeel: [OG: Somewhat creamy texture, no carbonation, very smooth drinking. 4.5] No change cellared, would add this drinks stronger than the 14.2%, and the sweet malt flavor contrasts against the strong bourbon barrel flavor that works for me in terms of balance and flavor. 4.75

• Overall: [OG: Overall excellent pour. 4.5] Wish I elaborated a bit further, but this is an excellent blend. Scotch Ales can be hit or miss if heavily malted, but really love this barrel scotch ale blend. 4.5

Cheers!

 

Lift Bridge Commander 2019.

I picked this up at their New Richmond, WI location when I was there month ago or so. I am a Commander fan, and I can say that this is holding up amazing. I love it, and would gladly get more. I wish in a way I would have sent this in my last beer mail I sent off. There's so much toffee and dark fruit in this beer and just a bit of hop on the back.

 

Cross posting with the Stout Weekend Tasting thread. 2022 BCB 30th Anniversary Reserve Stout. Notes from my fresh review have this one in the lower half of the BCBS variants and one of, maybe the, lowest scored Reserve. However, I tend to find regular BCBS and many of the variants best around the two year mark, so let’s see if that’s the case with this one as well.


Pours opaque black with nearly 2 fingers width of mocha colored head that has moderate retention before dissipating down. Aroma is huge barrel character with roastiness and dark chocolate on the back end. Barrel characters are very nice with lots of nuttiness and charred oaky vanilla. Some fusel alcohol on the nose. Taste is huge roastiness and huge cocoa. Theres also a big herbaceous character that is fine in stouts but admittedly not my favorite and it’s a bit too prominent here. The barrel characters are nice, lots of charred oak and boozy characters. Mouthfeel is full bodied, again like the notes from my fresh review something about this variant makes this beer almost thicker and detracts from the drinkability. Overall, it’s a lovely beer but on the scale of BCB reserves it just doesn’t hold up. I’ve had every single bottled variant of BCBS to date (with the exception of 2023 Prop which I’ll probably pop tomorrow), and something about this one is just different. It’s almost like they used a different base beer. I would chalk it up to just palate variation but both fresh and now at two years it still seems that way. Certainly worth a drink but I’m not terribly disappointed that I only have one left in the cellar.


4.5/4.25/4.25/4/4.25

Original/fresh review: 4.25/4.25/4.5/3.75/4.25





Cheers stout lovers!

 

There are still two days remaining in the Russian Imperial Stout tasting, and I'm doing this cross post for one of three 2018 I have remaining. All three have been cellared in a basement from purchase through May 13, when I refrigerated the one I'm rating below while leaving the other two cellared.

Bell's Expedition Stout (2018) - This morning



10/31/23 Side by Side: 2020 on the left, 2023 on the right:


Comparison vs. 2023 and 2020 enjoyed 10/31/23 (Link)

Full Cellar Review (Conducted Now) Link

To summarize the full cellar review and comparison across all three versions, the 2018 scored lower on most marks (the same on one), and the additional two years only worsened the experience. If you are going to cellar these, I'd guess 2-3 years would be the sweet spot. Still enjoying to an extent.

Have a fresh new to me beer for later today, and if I'm feeling strong a second Russian Imperial Stout this evening.

 

Rum barrel aged RIS - from 2018.
Bought it yesterday, didn’t realize how old it was until I went to drink it.
Surprisingly good, even though it was sitting on a store shelf for an unknown number of years.

 

I typically like to post here when I can post a comparison between a fresh(er) version and a cellar pour one or two years later. I don't have the benefit of a fresh beer review within the same batch as far as I can tell, but this offering bottled in 2017 bought at the sad Fischman's going out of business sale is tasting so excellent.

Krebs Brewing Company Prairie Artisan Ales Birthday Bomb (2017)



Cellared for a few years and then refrigerated until tonight, really loving everything about this. Getting a bit of pepper in the aroma, but beyond that (which I enjoy but others may not), the taste is superb with the pepper, coffee, decadent fudge, roast malt all coming together to give a bell pepper desert sensation. Won't be for everyone, but definitely for me!

This was $5 a bottle back then, perhaps 3 times as much now retail without sale, but definitely has me thinking about picking some more Prairie Artisan down the road, and perhaps aging for less than seven years, but having confidence in whatever year I decide to enjoy.

 

Haven’t tapped into my Bigfoots in a long time. Not sure why, but today seems like a good day to break that trend.

2020 SN Bigfoot Barleywine



Drinking mighty fine.

 

Cross posted on NBS, this wasn’t supposed to be a cellar find but I didn’t look at the dates when I picked them up.

More words in the NBW thread, but this is flat out amazing. Wish I had been able to try it fresh to see what might have changed, but I’ll take what I have and enjoy them.
Cheers!

 

Always forget about this forum

@LehighAce06 sent me this 2017 Bottle

Holds up pretty well. Carbonation isn't optimal, but adequate. No real head retention or lacing . Flavor is really good, smooth as Hell, molasses, char, leafy hops & coffee. Drank too easy. Nose is still solid

A: 2.0
S: 4.25
T: 4.5
MF: 4.25
Overall: 4.25