August Cellar Reviews

Had a 2007 Old Stock last night. Slightly oxidized, good flavor, probably not worth aging any longer.

 

Is that the Cellar Reserve or a regular bottle of Old Stock?

 

I opened a black butte XXIII last night. I was not very impressed with the beer when I had it fresh(which was the last time I tried it) but after about a year of age, its tasting great. The bourbon flavor comes through more and the pepper gives the beer a nice lingering burn at the finish. If you have multiples, I would defiantly recommend opening one. Excited to see where the beer goes from here.

 

Had a pre-2000 (white label) Hanssens Kriek the other day. It was firing on all cylinders; crisp and light, with still a solid cherry flavors, nicely tart, a bit funky and phenolic, no hints of oxidation & I am quite happy that I still have a couple bottles left.

 

Regs

 

The 2 09s I just had were drinking great!

 

I opened a same era Oude Gueuze (white/green label) bottle in June down at Oreo & Alewatcher's birthday party and thought it tasted fantastic. I've got a bottle of the kriek that I'm looking forward to trying.

 

2009 BCBS 22oz Bomber:

Oh baby. What do I say. The CV Joint came out as easy as pie, so a celebration was in order. Man, this beer is drinking so nice right now. The nose is full and beautiful. We let it warm up, and there is still just enough heat to balance the creamy texture, but it is so subtle that calling it heat is almost misleading. The rich flavors are out of this world. What an amazing beer.

 

In the last week or so, I have had a 2008 BCBS - beautiful. Still a little hot, everything is still in place...I would imagine this is its peak.

Also had a Fou Foune last night bottled 8/25/2008, so almost 4 years old. The sourness and funk was way more than when it is fresh. The apricot was still there, but not as pronounced. Although this is such a beautiful beer when fresh, I think this beer is best with some age on it since you get more sour flavors and yet the fruit is still there.

 

I had a 2008 BCBS tonight. Okay, surprisingly not as good as my memory of the 2007. Was totally flat, which took away significantly. Overall, I'd rather have a fresh 2011, I realize.

 

2010 Immort Ale

This does not age well. It's not infected, but it has a weird tanginess to it.

 

Cracked open a batch 33 (~1998?) Adam 1.5L with a bunch of friends recently, and it was magnificent. All the same flavors as you'd expect from fresh Adam, but with just the slightest bit of edge taken off. The tobacco flavor was also much more prominent.

I'd been looking forward to this one for a while and was not disappointed.

 

I just finished a batch 1 BA Hi Fi Rye. I thought this beer was really good. One of the best barley/wheat wines you could find.

 

I cracked open a '10 bigfoot couple months ago and thought it was the worst bigfoot I've ever tried. It was too bittering and unbalanced. I wondered if the hops presence could've somehow increased in hoppyness somehow as it aged (which I've never heard of..). It was worse than fresh. I did try bigfoot when aged 8-10 yrs and those were awesome so I'm thinking bigfoot goes through a nasty phase as it ages. I'm hoping I don't have a bad batch or something.

 

Founder's Nemesis 10' is tasting awesome right now for those who have a few stored away.

 

Is that the only Nemesis with a blue label? I can't recall what year I have, only ended up with one though.

 

Great to hear! I had a couple fresh and really enjoyed them, but I've got one in the cellar and have been wondering how it's developing. I think I might wait another year on it, but temptation might win out.

 

I've been cracking one open every couple of months, and I think it just keeps getting better and better. Which is surprising to me, since this is the 'lull' stage when I usually think Bigfoot gets kind of goofy and mediocre.