August 2014 Cellar Thread

2010 Old Schoolhouse Brewing Imperial Stout

pours almost black, dark brown in the edges. not much head. nice chocolate aroma, and a little smokey. taste is smooth - but bold - roasty and bitter cocoa, a touch of coffee. a little acidic. medium bodied, very low carbonation. could be thicker, but overall very solid.

 

Crooked Stave Surette Provision Saison 2013/ batch 5

This is my new favorite beer to age and this bottle is a perfect example of added complexity and flavor.

Pours a pretty golden orange with some haze. Frothy two finger head from a normal pour into 4 oz. HF taster. So much apricot in the nose along with a dominant cheesy funk. Flavor is sour like Cantillon Geuze with just a hint of sweetness, peachy. Mouthfeel is light/medium with nice prickly carbonation. I remember have an early batch in a 750ml with about 9 months on it, the beer was fantastic. This batch 5 is even better. This is almost as good as any HF I recently had at FoFA. Find and drink this beer with 9-15 months and you will thank me. I have one more batch 5 that I might try holding until next spring.

Cheers!

 

Had two Boulevard beers from the cellar, 2013 Saison Brett and 2013 Imperial Stout. Both are drinking phenomenally.

Saison Brett is much funkier than the current version. Had a 2014 version last week, which was great as well, but a year gives this beer some great funk and tartness that the fresh version is missing. Beautiful beer to age a year, at least (haven't tried longer).

Imperial Stout is drinking like a dream. Incredibly smooth, the barrel flavor really comes out in this one.

 

Bells Batch 9000
this was sublime. Only a touch of oxidation. Hops faded out mostly. But the malts, omg. Rich full cherry flavor with a nice caramel. Soft and still nicely carbonated. This is drinking superbly right now.

 

Pugachev 2012, still hot.

 

at a share on Saturday, we cracked open a 2007 Dark Lord that I brought. the funny part is that we found it in my garage about 2 months back. you can see my original writing on the wax...DL Day was 4/29/2007, I acquired the beer in trade on 5/25/2007...then managed to forget it was in my garage . Anyway, IT WAS FUCKING GOOD. I'M TALKING REAL GOOD (seriously, look on Untappd from 8/30; no one gave it less than 4/5). Like a glass of toasted coconut/marshmallow/milk chocolate soup. No soy sauce at all. Thank god I have another

 

I wish I could find a 07 DL in my garage, or any vintage before '12 for that matter to start/keep my vertical.

 

Agree (had a few weeks ago). Definitely had an overpowering bitter coffee flavor, very one-dimensional and not what I remember Abyss doing after one year. Too bad.

 

2011 Parabola & 2014 Parabola

Had a tasting with a few friends. While way less hot and easier to drink the 2011 was far more muted and lacked the personality and array of chocolate, vanilla, and bourbon flavors that the 2014 had. While the 2011 was certainly good I think the '14 was the better beer. It could MAYBE stand a few more months to mellow but this one is tasting fantastic now.

2009 Bigfoot

Had a 2011 a while back and it was perfect in every way. The 2009 seemed past its prime and had pretty much become brown sugar milk. Not horrible but it definitely got cloying.

 

Good info on the big foot. I have a 2012 that I will schedule to drink next year.

 

Anyone who's had the pleasure of tasting old Dark Lord will believe it. To my mouth, the '08 was the last year of the great DL vintages (though I haven't had the '14).

 

FW used different barrels for 2014 (and 2013, though I'm not sure about 2011/2012), so that may account for some of the differences between the two.

 

Opened Black Butte XXIV, XXV, XXVI last night. The XXIV and XXV had very similar flavor profiles, and the XXIV had more pronounced fruit than the bottle I opened a few months ago, which is nice because if it hadnt it would have been a definite disappointment next to the other two. The XXV was a bit brighter in the fruit profile, but its to be expected given its lesser age, plus its addition of currants to the XXIV recipe. The XXVI was my first bottle of this release, and it was fantastic, maybe the best they have done since the first releases. The pomegranate and cranberry melded perfectly with the chocolate and touches of vanilla from the bourbon to balance brightness with softness and acidic with sweet. A touch of smoke came out in the nose as they all warmed, as is characteristic with this series.

 

Good to hear. Very underrated brewery and it reminds me I need to get some to hold onto (but it is so good fresh!)