Cellar Reviews (2019)

2017 Bell's Black Note Stout

10/05/2017 bottle poured into a DFH tulip. No lack of carbonation for a fluffy tan head over a dark brown body. Smell is of boozy roasty chocolate with a licorice/molasses tinge. Taste mirrors the smell with still packing some alcohol heat on the way down but not at all unpleasant. Mouthfeel is incredibly creamy, moreso than I remember this fresh. I wish I'd bought a four pack at the time because I love what the aging has done so far and would like to experience further points in time. Next time I'll stock up more.

 

Drank a bottle of Grassroots Brother Soigne bottled 5/28/2015! 4 years and a few moths old.

Poured out a thick cap of head that quickly dissipated. Smells like blood oranges & limes. Tastes the same without any off flavors. The saison wasn’t overly acidic either; it was quite crisp and refreshing with still adequate carbonation.

Can’t believe how stable this beer is! I would have thought for sure that the blood orange and lime would be muttled or non existent.

 

Batch 2 from 2013. Not cellared by me.

Here's my less than eloquent review:

Batch 2, 2013. Going on 6 years old!

Pours a hazy pale gold with one heck of a nice head of foam, lacing is very good.

The smell has an awesome Brett presence, oak and some citrus. And tartness.

All 4 components in the smell are in the taste with the citrus coming through on the milder side. And this sure is dry! Tartness is what I would call, at an easy to cope with level.

Body is on the lower side of medium and the carbonation is lively but in a good way.

Yikes! I dig this!

Prost!

 

My first beer from Casey.

Bottled August 25th 2016, corked and caged 750ml bottle.

Pours a hazy orange yellow with an ample head of foam that leaves some very nice lacing behind.

The Brett is strong in the smell. Lemon, oak, tart...acetic is one of the tart aromas I get.

Taste follows the nose. Tartness is like something you'd expect from a Lambic. Lemon is noticeable, oaky woody notes, Brett is there almost in spades. Tasty acetic sourness. Pretty magical.

Light side of medium bodied, carbonation is up there but not overpowering.

This is so good, I wish I could have shared the bottle.

 

I'd buy for you haha I know I didn't enjoy it

 

I've got tomorrow off so I figured I'd bust open a little Bigfoot side by side. I've got a 2019 bottle and will be reaching back for a 2011 to compare and contrast the effect of age. I've had Bigfoot both fresh and aged in the past and have loved it both ways, but it's nice to do a little refresher.

Upon the pour the first thing is that the lacing is apples and oranges. 2011 leaves little cobwebs along the glass while the 2019 has occasional spots but that's it. Head retention also favours the elder as it piles in drifts in the corner while the fresher option leaves a galaxy swirl and a single island.
The fresher one actually felt like the aroma was pretty mild. Considerably moreso than I expected. I felt it was more green... not vinous per se, but more that direction, while the aged one was definitely richer maltier sweeter more decadent feeling. My gf said it reminded her of like a rich rum cake.
Interestingly* enough she and I had almost opposite impressions of the flavour. She described the aged version as harsher and sharper on the tongue, while I definitely felt that those descriptors applied more appropriately to the fresh. I think part of that is also just a difference in what we mean by those words, as further exploration of her experience matched the specifics I felt I found, but it was interesting to me just the contrast in general. Anyway, I felt the fresher one was raspier and hit with a sharp bitterness that really showcased the piney hops, while the 2011 had a marked depth and richness to it that I would describe as almost caramel/toffee sweet with a rich decadence that harkens back to her description of deeply soaked rum cake.

Ultimately she preferred the fresher option while I'm definitely more into the older bottle.
While she'll drink and enjoy beers on occasion she's not a nerd about it, so it was kind of cool to be able to show her how the same beverage can change over time (she does have some wine background, so that was a good touch point for reference), and to see her kind of explore and compare them, and ultimately enjoy some of the side of the hobby (and specifically a style) that can be overwhelming for neophytes.

Extremely tangential, but: While I don't HATE the new design, I DO think it's a pretty significant step in the wrong direction as that older bottle just looks so much more... them. Iconic. Creative. Classic. Anyway, neither here nor there.

 

Deschutes The Abyss 2010

One of my first cellaring experiments, this is the oldest I've had an Abyss, previously maxing out about 7-8 years. Curious to see how long they can go.

The black wax is as crumbly as any I've seen, but the beer still has some life, if the mild head means anything. The taste confirms this. The bourbon is near gone, just a hint in the sinuses, but there's a beautiful mat of sweet malt, probably with an assist of the ghost of molasses the beer was brewed with. Prominent roast on the finish; has a little bit of that unique Mikkeller taste to it.

Not the world-beater it was fresh, but this is still a good, solid beer that's holding up beautifully.

 

2014 Trader Joe's Vintage Ale

About 1.5 fingers of fluffy off-white head that dissipates to thin off-white film with a pronounce collar. Body is opaque - nearly back with red and brown hues around the edges of the glass when held to the light.

Nose is dominated by dark fruit and raspberry. Some perceived sweetness that I don't anticipate will carry over to the taste. A bit of earth and leather underlying.

Taste is very different than the nose. Starts with some earthiness and subtle dark fruit notes. Middle of the mouth is the same, but some subtle ripe red berry cuts through the earthy notes. Finish starts with sweet red fruit, but quickly transitions to dry leather. The latter lingers on the tongue.

Incredibly drinkable for 9%. Mouthfeel is light for the abv, but in no way thin. Nice balance between sweet and dry.

This is outstanding and really we'll blanaced. The nose is so rich and surprisingly no oxidation. Frankly, I had low expectations seeing as this is 4+ years, but its better now than my recollection of the vintage fresh. One of the best beers I've pulled from the cellar in recent memory.

Edit - Here's my review from 2014:

A - 2.5 fingers of fluffy beige head. Great retention and lacing. Dark, deep brown-red body, almost black. Reminded me of a porter.

S - Sweet dark fruit. A little booze. Cocoa nibs. Brown sugar. Touch of leather. Belgian yeast (clove and banana).

T - Tons of sweet dark fruit, more plum and golden raisin. Maybe some dark chocolate. Some coriander?

M - Medium carb and body. Slightly sticky finish.

O - A little too sweet for me. Could use a couple of years to mellow out the sweetness and add more earthiness

 

2012 Schneider Weisse Tap 6 Unser Aventinus

This is a follow up to a May review of a 2008 vintage, the first time I'd tried this. New bottle bought at same bottle shop and poured into same DFH tulip. Body and head are essentially the same as the 2008 but the smell is much more complex with spice notes overlaying the sherry aroma. The taste confirms the smell as cloves and still a faint banana taste exist in conjunction with the dark fruits and sherry flavor. Mouthfeel is very clean and refreshing.

I believe this is much more in the primo age window at seven years than eleven. Next I'll try a fresher one to see what shakes out. This is a fun experiment.

 

This is similar to my take of old Vs fresh. I seem to recall thinking to myself that the older one had more or less the save flavors, but all of them were more intense, so much so that it didn’t seem nearly so much like it was the same beer. For sure, the fresher was a more favorable drinking experience for me. The older was, while unique to try, not significantly enjoyable. By the end (I split it with my wife), I for sure felt like I was forcing it.

 

Your experience has obviously pointed out the right thing for you but Patrick Dawson included this in a few beers he spotlighted in "Vintage Beer" as prime candidates for aging. Accordingly the brewer sets aside cases from each batch to age in the brewery's natural ice cellar for at least three years before dispatching them to distributors, which is how what I've reviewed ended up in my hands. The tasting panel Dawson used found this was their favorite in verticals with marked changes in every increment. The sherry tastes didn't become apparent until year three and then steadily increased until they became the dominant flavor. Again it's what appeals to you.

 

Absolutely.

I probably could have made a more coherent post as well. My definition of new vs old was similar to yours - an 11 year old vs, say, a 7. The flavors were absolutely different and apparent to me, and my preference was the younger for the reasons listed.

I definitely appreciate that they make these vintages available in this way.

 

Ommegang Rosetta - 3 Year Vertical

I first had Rosetta back in the beginning of 2016 and was really impressed by it. The bottles had a best before date of 5 years on them, so I decided to pull one bottle from my 4-pack (bottled in July 2015) and cellar it. I ended up cellaring a bottle from '16 and '17 as well. Popped all 3 of those bottles this month...

Bottled July 2015, best before July 2020.

This was my least favorite of the three. It had oxidized a little bit and was just slightly past its prime. Still enjoyable but it had definitely lost its edge.


Bottled Oct 2016, best before Oct 2021.

The 2016 had a lot of the qualities that I loved about the beer the first time around. Complex raisin, cherry and port flavors. Fantastic. My favorite of the three just barely beating out the '17...


Bottled Feb 2017, best before Feb 2022.

Huge, creamy head on this one. So much fruit flavor, even more than a fresh bottle. Like eating a cherry Fruit Roll-up. A little cola mixed in. Sweet and a bit cloying, but absolutely delicious.


The '16 and '17 bottles held up really well. The '15 bottle had started to go downhill. I don't know that aging the bottles were an improvement over freshly bottled versions, but it was a fun experiment. I'd say 3 years max is a good rule for this beer. Cheers!

 

2015 Double Bastard in the Rye. Pours dulled ruby red, with a solid two fingers of tannish head. Smell is malty, brown sugar, molasses and piney hops. Tastes of malt, oak, vanilla, fresh molasses, ripe dark fruits, and spicy rye notes. Mouthfeel is super sticky and coating, definitely stays on the tongue for a while. While I never had the opportunity to taste this fresh, I would certainly say it has benefited from four years of aging.

 

If you’ve never had it fresh, how do you know it has benefited from aging?!

Also, sounds tasty. Nice review.

 

2010 Bells Third Coast ale, pops off with a nice hiss despite the age, definitely a good sign. Pours a somewhat murky amber, something common on unfiltered barleywines, and forms very little head. Nose is rich, heavy raisins and extremely sweet malts. Tastes of earthy hops, sweet caramel and toffee, and a dark fruits mix. Feel is very syrupy, much more so than fresh, and leaves a lingering aftertaste. Aged 9 years this beer has certainly changed, but mostly in feel rather than taste. Certainly a learning experience, as this is my oldest beer so far.

 

Love this beer, excited to read your review. I'll have to to open my 18 soon, cheers!

 

2016 Parabola, 22oz bottle found on the shelf at a store. Excited to get to jump in line with the cellaring on this one.

Pours a wonderfully rich mahogany/walnut brown with a thin, dense, cocoa colored head.
Aroma is figgy/pruney and a little boozy. Plum and cacao hides in the folds of the rich wall of smell. I could gladly sniff on this all night.
Taste has a mellow chocolatey and molasses character up front with some woody/barrel character that hints at bourbon/whiskey without the boozy burn. A rich nuttiness rises in prominence as the beer warms along with a sort of spicy bite (something like cinnamon/ginger/cardamom) that might just be my palate lately because I've been detecting it in a lot of stouts I hadn't noticed it in before. Really mellowed out flavors compared to fresh, much more homogenous and constrained, has a much easier drinking quality to it than the relative in your faceness of the fresh stuff.
Mouthfeel is nice, a lot of these barreled stouts get a little thinner than my ideal but this is still a nice rich, smooth, full bodied beer.
I love this beer. I love it fresh, I love it with a year on it, and apparently I love it with 3 years on it. I don't know that I would want to take it much further than this and I will definitely be drinking the 2 bottles of 19 that I have at 1 and 2 years (although I may score some more bottles if I find them on sale again) but even if it's lost a half step this brew is rich and lovely.