August Cellar Reviews

Just had this at a recent tasting. I fully agree with this review. I just found a couple bottles, grabbed um', and they're drinking mighty fine. I also landed a couple bottles of the 30th anny imperial stout as well. Anyone know how that's drinking?

 

2009 Odell Bourbon Barrel Stout.

Damn it pours nice; great head of foam with great retention and lots of lacing. The Bourbon still dominates the smell but in the taste, it's calmed down and I can taste some other goodies like chocolate and sweet malt. What a brew to sit back with and read BA. Marvelous!

 

I opened one last week and was amazed at how hoppy it still is. Not a bad thing at all. Best bottle so far.

 

Currently drinking an 07 DFH 120...no bueno. Something isn't right here.

 

I drank a bottle earlier in the week and I am also seriously surprised at just how hoppy that 10' nemesis still is...Dang!

 

Drank Tart of Darkness 2011 and 2012 side by side. 2011 seemed to have a bit less "sour" characteristic, and a bit more of a roasted malt/chocolate taste.​

 

Had a GI Nightstalker from February 2011 a couple nights ago (thanks Otrejo!):

A: Pours a very dark brown with some red highlights, with a light brown head.
S: Sweet dark fruit, subtle chocolate, mild aging hop notes (apple, caramel).
T: Smokey roasted malts, mildly fruity old hop notes, thick chocolate and raw herbal leaf. The bitter and sweet chocolate notes complement the old hoppy herbal element well, and the fruitiness comes out as it warms.
M: Between medium and thick-bodied with slight carbonation.
O: Aging has done this beer some good - it's tasting pretty great right now. Open a bottle if you have one.

 

I'm curious, do you think that's from the aging or were there actually differences between the two batches? Because I just cracked opened a fresh 2012 one and I found it to be almost intolerably sour. In fact the sour was so strong it seemed to overpower everything else.

I'm no stranger to sour beers (I live a couple minutes from Cascade Brewing) but I still found that I was not prepared for that level of sour. Given it's fairly high BA rating, I'm almost wondering if I just got a bad bottle or something.

 

100% 1983 Dirty Horse. Absolutely gorgous. Full bodied with plenty of cherry flavors. Highly reccomended.

Gargamel: Ugh... Man this beer is past it's prime. It tastes very different from the fresh bottles I have tried. This was a world class whale.... not so much any more.

 

Will open my first and only sometime this week, thanks to you. Looking forward to it!

 

I have a feeling this is more bottle variation than anything else. I've had both more than half-a-dozen times, and sometimes the batch 1 bottles are far more sour, sometimes the batch 2 bottles are far more roasty and stout-esque, if you will. And vice versa. Overall, I think I prefer batch 1, but both are similarly terrific.

 

Agreed. Popped one last weekend. Aged wonderfully and loved that it still had a slight piney hop edge to it

 

As I read this thread I am missing my 4 cases of Cellar beers that are stuck in PA until mid-september until I can get them out to Chicago. Drink on fellow Cellar-ers!

 

Tart of Darkness should not be getting less sour over time. I remember having the 2011 fairly fresh and it had a nice balance of malts and tartness.

 

Kasteel Cuvée Du Chateau 2010


11.2oz Belgian style bottle.
2010 Vintage

A - A hard pour reveals a ruddy dark brown colored body with little to no head. A jumbo bubbled collar forms with small whisps of islands in the middle.

S - Soured red figs, tart and sugary, cold sticky dates, Belgian candy syrup, brown sugar, sugary caramel, dirty cardboard sweetness. A tartness keeps coming up and envelops the fruity aroma mid drink, but the deep malt base overtakes everything in the end.

T - Spicy caramel malts, dark bread fresh out of the oven, brown sugar, molasses, not as much fruit as the nose describes, somewhat fruity though, figs are the dominate fruit along side raisins, and dates. Oxidation is present in the form of dry caramel. There's grape and raisin flavor that melds together very well. Old and deep sugary malts. Strong spicy components really kick in middle to end, creating a dry finish to to a sugary malted base.

M - Thick and viscous feel, (like a thickened prune juice), low carbonation with a small and tight stingy feel on the tongue.

Very dense and caramelized flavors with a thick and sugary body. This drinks very elegant. The finish really shines due to the swift and spicy dryness. I haven't had this fresh but this is drinking excellent for the year. Lots of spicy malt laced with sugary fruit. I picture myself drinking this in a tux with a cuban cigar after dinner. Really glad I cracked this. I just wish I had another one to hold onto for a few more years.

Serving type: bottle

 

Its not you...I recently did the Provisions release along with the 2012 Bruery release and found the original to be more balanced, less sour than the more recent versions too.

 

2008 ten fidy still holding up nicely

 

Bought a mix a six from a local liquor store and discovered later one of the founders porters was from 2011. What an amazing surprise, it was really great! So smooth and chocolaty. I actually liked it better than fresh. Might go back and buy up the rest of them so I don't have to wait 2 years to cellar some.

 

Had an '11 BCBS bottled 11/11/11. Not much of a deep cellar pull, but wow, I am going out on a limb and saying it is by far the best straight up BCBS I have ever had (having had all of the '07 - '12 vintages fresh & aged several times).

 

recently drank an 09...blew the freshy completely out of the water. imo this improves drastically after 2-3 yrs.