Anyone cellar Great Divide Yeti variants?

The Belgian was discontinued last year, replaced by the Oatmeal.

Plenty of info on cellaring all of these, search around.

 

Did a yeti variant horizontal last weekend. All but BA Yeti (2011 and severely infected) and Belgian(2012) were from 2010. They all had seen better days.

 

I've got some 2011 Yeti Chocolate Oak Aged beers. Hopefully they're decent...need to open them before the winter is finished. All the Yeti's (numerous varieties) that I've aged have been tasty.

 

I had the espresso yeti this past December with just over a year on it, and it was delicious. The espresso only faded slightly and created more of a mocha/chocolate flavor coming through. My favorite Yeti so far.

 

I liked plain ol Yeti with a year on it and still have one that I'll try at 2 years. The Belgian holds up well but I was expecting more of a difference between the Belgian and the regular at a year old. I just traded for some 2011 Belgian Yeti that I haven't cracked yet.

Overall, I've been buying fewer and fewer non-BA imp stouts to age. They're good for a year or so but I end up liking them fresh more often than not. Just my 2 cents...

 

I had an espresso Yeti with two years on it that had some ashy, black licorice notes going on. Not very good at all. However, regular Yeti with 5 years on it was like drinking a dark chocolate brownie. Two year old oak aged Yeti was pretty good, but not yet to where the 5 year one was (obviously).

 

I opened an expresso and a chocolate yeti the other day and I was not impressed. They were both about a year old, and my reaction was really meh. The beer changes, but as was said above ashy is a good description. I usually like coffee flavors to fade, but instead of fading it was almost more bitter. If I get more of these I will drink them right away.

 

Here's a review I did of regular oak aged Yeti at 18 months:
It’s one of the first bottles I put away to cellar and one of the first I’ve pulled out. I really liked drinking it fresh but found the oak fairly strong, a bit harsh and overpowering against the stout. Time has made the oak more subtle and really helped blend the two. The oak sits in the background adding depth instead competing for my palete’s attention. I’m happy I aged it and really enjoyed it.

As HDMII touched on, nobody knows how Oatmeal ages since it was just released. I've hesitated on aging Espresso and Chocolate because those flavors typically fade over time... but will try it after yankeefan287's experience.

 

Just opened a Oak Aged Yeti that has a bottled on date of Sept. 2012. Can't say I think it has suffered much from the age, maybe a little even a little smoother than I recall. Sad part is that I bought it last month. Guess there hasn't been a lot of rotation at my local bottle shop.

 

Anyone have specific feedback on aging the Belgian variant?

 

I like the espresso variant with about six months on it. The espresso and hops fade a bit and make it more approachable. That being said 2011 was one of my favorites, 2012 saw me buy two bottles and were so disappointing I didn't get any last year. We'll see what happens this year.

 

Our store still has a few and I plan on getting one soon to try. I assume it'll age the same as the regular, but the Belgian aspect will age like a good quad, so it should be a little more stone fruit forward. I hope so anyway.