Cellar Reviews (2019)

Wow sorry about that, it's cbs from founders
Not sure how I managed to omit that useful bit of information

 

Mouthfeel is perfect.
Dark rich chocolate and bourbon sweetness.
Really liked this. Drink yalls up!

 

This thing is liquid candy now. Might have left it too long.

 

Avery Pumpkin - Sept. 2015


Thin tan head which quickly dissipates to a pencil-thin collar. Translucent, Amber body with tons of floaties.

Nose is dominated by pumpkin spice, as well as sweet dark fruit and rum. Obviously boozy, but the alcohol notes compliment the other elements of the nose well. Picking up on underlying notes of vanilla too.

Taste is boozy and sweet. Starts with alcohol and pumpkin spice. Middle of the mouth brings sweeter notes of dark fruit and vanilla - pumpkin spice is still present. An assertive finish with more booze and lingering brown sugar sweetness - like a spiced rum.

Mouthfeel is robust and a bit syrupy. Low carbonation. Finish still has an assertive bite and slight burn in the back of the throat and chest.

The booze is not hidden with this beer even with nearly 3.5 years in the cellar. If you enjoy spiced rumr then this is a must-try. Probably won't revisit this one, but glad I got to try it - wish I had let it age for a year or two longer.

 

Amazing how dark that beer turned.

 

Glad to see a review on this. I have one left. Haven’t been in a rush to open it and probably still am not.

 

Man loved that beer fresh. Did you open one at a year or two?

 

I recently had one fresh and had one a year old. Fresh was too boozy for me, but a year was perfectly balanced for a BA barleywine. Given how much it changed over a year, I don't think I'd age it more than a couple years. I love the 4 pack format, so I'll age them up to 3 years and see what happens.

 

A shelf turd I bought today.

Pours dark but not pitch black,
Foam and carbonation it doesn't lack,
Smells sweet and fruity and so very strong,
Has not been sitting on the shelf too long,
The flavours are good and didn't oxidate,
Hurrah hurrah , I didn't buy this too late!

 

I had a 2012 vintage last year and I found it quite boozy myself. I've got 1 more that I think I'm going to sit on for the foreseeable future.

 

Interesting - I recently had a 2 y.o. bottle which I thought lost quite a bit from when I had it at 6 months.

 

Interesting - I recently had a 2 y.o. bottle that I thought dropped off quite a bit from when I had it at 6 months. I thought this would hold up/improve but a bit sooner might be better.

 

2013 Nebraska Fathead BW - 10% abv

Brownish red appearance. Aroma of plums and dried fruit with whiskey. Little carbonation. Hints of vanilla, dried fruit, malts, sugar with a background of whiskey, which is not overbearing. A little sweetness in the finish with very little warmth from the alcohol. A tad thin. I'm pleased with it. I've got 1 more in the cellar which I'll probably drink later this year. I don't see this improving any more with age.

 

Wrong thread. Don’t worry though. I reposted to ensure the appropriate amount of likes in the correct thread.

 

2007 J. W. Lees Harvest Ale

4.35/5 rDev +2.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

2007 bottle poured into a DFH tulip. No carbonation over a reddish brown body with floaters at the bottom.

Smell was of raisins over a boozy sherry aroma. Taste mirrored the smell but had almost no alcohol but this is the first ale I've had that I could taste leather and tobacco that I've heard so much of previously but never experienced. No cardboard or oxidation tastes that I could detect. Mouthfeel was fine as it lingered nicely while not being as thick and oily as other British Barleywines I've had.

Obviously this is something special. I don't know if 12 years is the optimum cellaring time but it's difficult to imagine how this can be improved on.

 

Dogfish Head Burton Baton (3/11/2016)

From last night:



Look: This beer pours a murky, opaque, dark amber / light brown color. A khaki colored head settles from a couple fingers to a thin layer atop the glass. Minimal lacing. No visible carbonation. A nice enough looking beer in the glass. Looks the part of an English Barleywine.

Smell: Piney and resinous hop profile intertwined with sweeter and fruitier aromas including dried apricot, raisin, dates. Vanilla and tawny port wine as it warms. Earthy, unsweetened black tea. A big, deep whiff yields some rum soaked fruit cake, almond paste and marzipan. No perceivable alcohol. A beautiful nose.

Taste: On the tip for the tongue you get sweeter caramel and date flavors. As the beer moves to the sides of the tongue I definitely get some bitterness. It’s subtle at first but it grows on the finish. It’s an herbal bitterness. More caramel sweetness. Sweet bread flavor. Vanilla, dried apricot. The beer finishes semi-dry. It’s easily drinkable for 10% ABV. Very much so.

Feel: A medium bodied beer with low carbonation. It drinks nicely. A warming feeling on the palate and in the pipes.

Overall: Based on my notes this beer is similar if not the same as when it was fresh. I don’t know if it improves with age, but it certainly holds up well. The nose is absolutely fantastic. The flavor is clean and well aged with no off flavors or issues. It’s quite drinkable at 10% ABV and I wonder if time has helped that. This is a fantastic beer that one does not need to rush.

 

2017 750 ml of Against the Grain - Bo & Luke (white ash)

This is one of my favorite dark beers, brewed with rye, corn, barley, and cherry wood smoked malts. Barreled for a short time in freshly emptied bourbon barrels it takes a stab at the flavors of bourbon in an interesting way.
This bottle was additionally stuck into a fresh charred white ash barrel for an additional period.
Here's my full review
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/26850/324389/?ba=stevepat#review

The cliff notes are that all the edges are impressively softened. This is the beer that comes closest, in my experience, to sussing out the flavor of bourbon beyond the burn. There is lots of complex grainy notes, the rye stands out to me but there is a robustness that I think is a result of the corn.
Faint notes of vanilla belie the barreling and the smoothness is distressing when you notice that little 13% in the lower corner of the label.

I still have 2 regulars of this from the same year and one with hazelnut and cocoa that I will strive to sip down sooner than later (although this one might be a little ahead in aging considering that it got a second barrel session). This is a sleeper champ to me, easy to get if you are in Louisville and a really unique and wonderful stout. I kind of think of it as a pastry stout for the type of person whose idea of a pastry is bourbon