Bitter Monk

I drank one earlier in the year and revisited it a year after bottling, it isn't refermented on brett so it's meant to be drank fresh. after a year it still had the esters and the brett flavors were more pronounced but the hop flavors were gone and all that was left was just the bitterness. Not bad, but not as good as it was closer to the bottling date. I meant to send the bottle I held onto to somebody else but they got diagnosed with some liver problems and were put on a drinking hiatus for several months and I just got around to drinking it.

if you want to cellar an IPA from anchorage I'd go with galaxy, that beer after six months was damn tasty. the hops lost a step but the brett worked its magic.

 

I have one that is probably a year old (based on how long it's been in the store, refrigerated the whole time). I'll try to pop it this weekend and give a report. Stupid question, perhaps, but is it obvious where the date on the bottle is?

 

on the rear label you'll see sideways 'fermented in alaska' and three *********s. the batch number and bottling date is above that. it's in the upper left corner.

 

Clear as a bell, too, now that I know where to look. Thanks. This confirms what mudbug said, July 2011. I'll most likely crack it open tonight- hopefully I'll be gettin' my funk on.

 

Report on the cellared bottle- extremely nice nose. Hops aren't obvious, but I'm sure they make a contribution still, in conjunction with the yeast signature. I get very heavy lychee, followed by pineapple, tangerine, vanilla, white grape and some underlying barnyard funk. The palate is smooth with a good whack of bitterness at the end. The finish is where the brett really comes on strong.

I couldn't say how it compares with a fresh sample, and didn't vote because of it, but what's there is pretty seamless and a very good beer.

 

Can't wait for it to show up in the Bay Area.

 

And it just did. Picked up two bottles. I might try to cellar one of them, but... it's going to be hard.