Cellar Reviews (2020)

Barely cellared but I thought it would be nice to check in on the now year round BA narwhal from Sierra Nevada. The cans available to me are still the first canning that I think I saw, 12/20/19 so just about 6 months in.

The lovely dark liquid still hosts a decent mocha colored head that recedes at a leisurely pace, nose comes across to me as figs and pipe tobacco along with oatmeal and an earthy chocolate vibe.
the mouthfeel is really nice, almost fudgy when paired with the softly chocolate malt (like the milkshake) flavors. More prune and currant than fig in the flavor and a very calm bitterness that reminds me of leather.

Great beer, absolutely no signs of deterioration at 6 months and possible signs of improvement. I'll probably grab a couple more of these to sock away so I can do some side by side comparisons of the BA and regular versions at various ages. Also would like to do a side by side when a fresh batch arrives with an elder can to see how things look but from memory this is slightly more coherent than when fresh. I enjoyed it immensely fresh and don't doubt that this is just a matter of "love the one your with" but there's a softness to this that I don't recall with the fresher cans

 

Happy Friday, all.



Omega Point barleywine from 2014, and still just as gorgeous as the day it was born. Thoroughly English, in the family of barleywines that lean in on the oak, leather, sherry, and green tobacco notes. No excess oxidation, still plenty of rich, fruity sweetness on the midpalate, mostly fig and prune with a tiny bit of tartness that counterpoints everything else that's going on. I really wish this wasn't my last bottle, but I'm so glad to be drinking this one.

 

First beer in probably two weeks for me (well first full beer, I had half the Zhukov from the brat gravy last week). I started doing a keto diet, that was stupid. Since I’m breaking that tonight, figured I’d go to a treat yo self beer.


COAST 2012 Barrel Aged Blackbeerd (Blanton barrels). This is one of my favorite beers from one of my favorite breweries. Back when I lived in SC, COAST was an at least once a week spot for me to frequent. BA Blackbeerd was always a treat, and this 2012 variant is my favorite vintage. Interestingly, it is also the beer that got me into drinking good bourbon. When this beer was fresh, the bourbon characters were so prominent yet so approachable, it prompted me to start diving into that world (and Blantons is perhaps my favorite bourbon to this day.)


So how is this beer drinking now, nearly 8 years later? Aroma is fantastic; oaky, roasty, smoked malt. Barrel characters have certainly faded, mostly just oaky vanilla. Significant baker’s cocoa rounds around the aroma. Taste is amazing, substantially sweeter than the aroma implied, an almost maple syrup like sweetness. Big roasted notes, and some subtle smoky char. Lingering oak and bitter dark chocolate hang around forever. Like the nose, the barrel characters have faded, but it remains an exception combination of sweet, roasty and oak.





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Cheers cellar dwellers!

 

2019 Clown Shoes The Exercising of Baxter

4.15/5 rDev +1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

From yellow ink on the neck of the bottle: "PKG 151 05/27/19 11:40"
From the neckerchief: "10.75% by Volume"

Found this at a bottle shop last week and snagged it. Swore off big imperial stouts until autumn but today was an uncommonly cool day so here we are. Nice tan head over an inky dark body. Smell is nicely berry sweet maybe due to the port barrels because I'm not detecting any rum with some vanilla and chocolate tinges as it warms up. Taste likewise improves as it comes closer to room temperature. Mouthfeel is a bit thin for this type of stout.

I'm not sure that further aging would improve this but that's why we experiment.

 

If it’s going to be a diet cheat day it might as well be a diet cheat weekend, right? So tonight’s vintage beer is another very special one. Westbrook Fisticuffs, an “English Style Old ale aged in Bittermilk Barrel-Aged Old Fashion barrels”. Brewed and bottled once, in 2015. When this beer first came out I absolutely loved it. For me, it stole the show at the late great Brevival Festival that year, a fest loaded with specialties, rarities and one-offs. Was super pumped when I saw that they bottled it, and the bottled version did not let me down. Had two of these left in the cellar that I was saving for a rainy day. Today seems as good as any. Let’s see how 5 years did for this beer.


Pour yields a very dark brown, almost black, with 1 fingers width of dense creamy white head with good retention. Aroma is spicy rye, huge oaky vanilla, subtle dark fruits. Faint candied sugar and subtle fusel alcohol. Rye whiskey characters are very prominent. Taste starts with some subtle roast then a big oak character. It’s is quite sweet, maple syrup like sweetness, which balances roasty and bitter notes. Significant cherry. Oaky vanilla lingers forever in the aftertaste. It really does emulate an old fashioned cocktail quite well. Mouth is creamy, carbonation is good, no signs of oxidation nor any ill effects from the aging. Somewhat surprisingly, it doesn’t seem this beer changed all that much over time. Of course 5 years makes one prone to recall bias, but at least according to both my memory and review of my notes from drinking fresh. Not that that’s a bad thing, the beer was excellent fresh and remains excellent.

 

I’ll crack open one of my ‘16s soon (one that was not unintentionally eis-bock’d) and let you know how’s its drinking around 4 years. I imagine very well.

 

2017 Central Waters Scotch Ale. Not much hiss when opening and pretty much no head. Aroma comes off as sweet with dark fruits, oak, bourbon, smokey malt and a hint of caramel/vanilla. I'm also getting a hint of something that reminds me of apple juice. Taste is nice. Getting those dark fruits, toffee, brown sugar, vanilla, nice touch of oak and bourbon. No apple juice vibes on the taste so must just be in my head. Starts off sweet but balances out as you drink. Coats the mouth but as is true with many central waters BA beers not super thick and very smooth. A nice Scotch Ale and sadly my last one. Cheers all.

 

Yeah, it's a good ager. Something I can't say aboot its barrel aged cousin. At least, not in my experience.

 

Looking at some of the reviews and I have to question my memory. Maybe I held on to a BA one for too many years...

 

I tried Punishment at a share when it came out and it was too intense. Sounds like this would be good to add to a pot of chili or in a marinade.