Aging Bolt Cutter

I thoroughly enjoyed it on tap. It was a little harsh when it was cold but as it warmed up the flavors really started to unfold into a citrus maple hop bomb, which I loved. I would say for you and your love of the hoppy taste that you should drink it now. Luckily I have a few that I'm stashing away because I'm also on the itllbebetterinayear bandwagon. If I were you I'd take advantage of the trade forum for all of the people that are trying to unload it. It's worth the hype for me and I hope it turns out that way for you too!

 

This is what I was going to say. When in doubt, drink fresh. And unless you've had it fresh and aged before and know you prefer it aged, then there's a very good chance that you're going to be in doubt.

 

i prefer english style barleywines and would imagine after a year this would become more to my liking, but fresh it was a bit too over hopped for my tastes (which i know tends to be the inherent nature of american barleywines).

 

A few days is not significant in the aging process, so the one bottle was probably just better than the other.

 

So to you (and all others who are stating that they would prefer it aged), what exactly are you expecting the beer to become with aging? I haven't had many barleywines (two, as I listed above), and don't know what I could be missing out on aged?

 

How easy do you think this will be to come by? I have not perused the trading forum here (though I frequent Reddit's /r/beertrade), so I don't know what it would take to net another bottle. Sorry if it seems like I'm asking you to do my homework for me.

I will probably head back to my local beer store and see if they have any left, but my hopes aren't high.

 

Well some of the more pronounced fruity/sweet(insert adjective here) flavor produced from the hops tend to subdue over time. Cellaring will hopefully allow the drinker to pick out other flavors and characteristics that may be overshadowed and overpowered by the hop presence in the beginning.

 

You are not talking about an amount of time significant enough to bring about major changes to commercially bought beers. The OP is likely referring to aging his BC for months, not days or weeks. You probably experienced bottle variation more so than anything else.

 

Drink it now, especially since you stated you liked the hoppiness of Bigfoot. I drank one the day it hit local shelves and thought it was very good, it's exactly what I would expect a good American Barleywine to taste like.

 

You'd be surprised at how many awesome BA's are out there to help people out with getting some special releases especially ones like this that may have not lived up to the hype. I'm sure there is someone out there who would gladly do a Bolt Cutter for local seasonals or some special releases you might have. You never know until you try! Just watch out though because you might find yourself a new (yet, wonderful) addiction.

Edit: I see you're from Wisconsin. New Glarus would be great trade bait.

 

I'm going to give that a shot I think. Thanks!

 

Good Luck!

 

I can see it possibly getting better with some age but fresh it was a bit of a disappointment coming from Founders.

 

Glad someone started this thread. I was tempted to do it myself. Given the high cost of Bolt Cutter, I only bought one bottle and am also uncertain whether to age it or drink it. I'm leaning towards aging it.

 

In summary, after I drank a bottle the other day...

If you like American Barleywines(hop heavy) = DRINK NOW!

If you like English Baleywines(malt forward) = AGE IT!

I also agree with the theory of drink a bottle before you decide to age any beer. PERIOD! You gotta have a baseline of what the beer tastes like fresh to know if you want to age it.

I do feel that Boltcutter is a bit abrasive fresh; but I think that it has tremendous aging potential. With all that said... I wish Founders would have put more barrel aged emphesis on this English BW. I think they missed the mark since they down played the barrel aging aspect of Boltcutter for dry hopping instead. The hype train would really be chugging along and the beer would have made instant mini whale status if thats how the beer would have been made... just food for thought!

I drank a bottle of Founders Deca that had 4 or 5 years on it and thought that it was still delicous after that long! I think Boltcutter will be a similiar situation.

 

Right or wrong, my opinion of Boltcutter, after having it on tap at Capone's recently, was negatively impacted by how much the hops stand out in what I thought was an english BW. So I will probably drink one between now and New Years and the other bottles will sit in my cellar for a wee bit.

And while I won't deny there was a sweetness, it was overpowered by the hopping. I've read multiple people describing it as "sweet". Perhaps my palate isn't as sensitive or developed as others, but imo Naked Evil and Rumpkin are "sweet". Boltcutter just isn't. For the record, I dig both sweet and hoppy beers.

 

I am planning on putting my remaining Bolt Cutter in a time-capsule so that maybe someone in the year 3030 can actually enjoy it.

 

With this latest Backstage release from Founders, I feel as if they aren't doing as good a job with their special releases (i.e. relying on the hype train too much) as...

1) Firestone Walker
2) Avery
3) CCB
4) Goose Island (please spare me the AB-inBev stuff on this one)
5) The Bruery

 

Couldn't agree more. Hate to say it, but I think that Founders might be relying too much on reputation with this latest release. Wow- I sound like a hater...guess I am just dissappointed because I forked over too much cash for 2 bottles anticipating this to be delicious and it was barely drinkable.

 

Boom.
There it is.

Let's raise our shields as the haters prepare a volley