Cellar Reviews (2021)

Next up is Firestone XXI from 2017. Pours black with almost zero carbonation. Nose is toffee, bourbon, raisins, figs, and some vanilla. The taste is...holy crap! Absolutely mind-blowing. Seriously, I have rarely tasted a beer this good, and it's amazing that it's 4 years old. So much toffee on the taste. Werther's all the way. It's literally like sucking on a caramel candy. The bourbon barrel is something minimal. Chocolate, tropical fruit from the rum barrels, freshly-baked bread, a bit of brown sugar, and a bit of licorice. Wow - this is a magical mix of flavors that really shines through on this one. I can't believe it has aged so gracefully. I would buy as many of these as I could if I knew how it would taste after this amount of time. If you have a bottle, crack it and enjoy the symphony of flavors!

 

Where was my invite? Sounds awesome!

 

Bell's Batch 9,000, bottled in 2010. Trying for the first time 11 years after bottling, and I must note that I have never had this beer before. Therefore, I can't comment on how it has aged. Still a nice hiss when the cap is popped. Pours motor oil black with little head. Looks perfect! I immediately think of sherry/port when I first sniff this one. Lots of figs and dates. Black licorice is definitely raising its hand. Blackstrap molasses, a bit of honey, a whiff of pipe tobacco, dark chocolate, and a hint of french roast coffee beans. Of all the notes, the molasses screams the loudest. The taste is super intense, balanced, and smooth. Follows the nose really nicely, with intense notes of molasses, dark chocolate, sherry, red wine, prunes, walnuts, pecans, blackberries, and an oak bitterness on the back end. However, there is also a sherry sweetness mixed in at the end as well. This is beyond outstanding, and has aged beautifully. The mouthfeel is thick and creamy. Coats and the mouth and sticks around for a LONG time. What a lovely beer to both smell and sip on. I would give up a lot to get another bottle. Cheers all.

look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

 

Fantastic experience!

 

Dipping into my Cellar package from Hair of the Dog again tonight. Sorry not Don yet @DIM !
This is a 2013 Pannepooch Reserva Quad. Interested to see where this one goes and need a thoughtful big beer to help decompress after a busy work week!

Onto my review:
Sampling a 2013 12 oz bottle poured into my snifter. Part of my recent cellar order from Hair of the Dog.
Beer is cellar temp and has been stored as such for a few months at this point after arriving at my house.
The beer pours a deep mahogany color with some garnet highlights. No light passes through my glass. I do keep the last few drops from entering as it is full of sediment and I dont want it. The beer is still and very short lived frothy small bubbles come up when I pour from elevation, but they dont stick around.
Aroma is dark malt molasses and red grape, very port wine type character with some dark fruit and a bit of a tart note and red grape. Definitely a vinous character to the nose. Hops and ABV are absent.
First sip reveals a still beverage as expected. Body is medium and texture is a little slick. Physical traits make for easy drinking, but booziness slows me down a bit.
Flavor is similar to nose, very port wine in character, dark red grape and plum notes with some tart acidity on each sip. No hops, and a bit of warming heat on each swallow. This is very much a sipper and is again very vinous in experience.
I am enjoying this brew and how it is slowing down my night for me. May not be for every one and definitely feels less like beer and more like wine at this point.
4.15 in BA DB

 

2015 KBS. Pours with almost no head. The nose is really nice. Not getting any off notes - nice milk chocolate, dark roast coffee, bourbon, cherries, blackberries, and a great layer of roasted malts. The taste is good. Almost a bit more coffee forward after 6 years, which is a bit surprising. The aftertaste is definitely bitter, and I'm trying to figure out if it's a bit of an off note from the coffee. Green pepper? Maybe a hint. Not quite as good as the nose hinted. A tad metallic as well. Not much bourbon or sweetness to be found, and the chocolate has gone from milk chocolate on the nose to the darkest chocolate in existence. Again, just a lot of bitterness. Not sure if I can finish the bottle, to be honest. For science!!!

 

2015 Grey Monday. Cellared properly since purchased 6 years ago. Pours black without much head. Nose is dominated by chocolate and hazelnut. Not getting much barrel on the nose. I honestly feel like the nose has faded a bit since fresh. This one always struck me as really robust on the nose. The taste on this is phenomenal. Quick different from the nose. Getting sweet brown sugar, bourbon, milk chocolate, marshmallows, vanilla, malts, and lots of dark fruit. Raspberries and strawberries mostly. Interestingly, the ABV doesn't make itself heard until the swallow. I really don't get much but it burns a bit on the way down. This is just phenomenal. I feel like the taste is smoother and more integrated than when fresh. So, the nose has faded, but the taste is smoother. Mostly sweet with a touch of bitterness on the aftertaste (but still in the shadow of the sweetness). A great, and dangerous, sipper.

 

2014 Central Waters Stout. From fridge temp. Pours black with some head. Quickly dissipates. Dark fruit dominates the nose. Not totally sure if this is a good thing or not. Cherries, blackberries, and strawberries. Chocolate and roasted malts are there as well. The taste is really good. Not getting much barrel, but this starts to come through as the temp goes up. Mostly dark fruit – like raspberry dipped chocolate. Roasted malts, oak, black licorice, molasses, fudge, and bourbon. Gets better as it warms. Mouthfeel is nice and thick. I definitely think this is past its prime. A few years is probably the sweet spot, but this was a really cool experience. Cheers!

 

Nice review! It's so amazing that they opened up the cellar. I never would have been able to try this one with so much age. I have several batch 83, and I feel like that has been the sweet spot for me. It would be so awesome to get a group of HoD fans together and crack 8-10 bottles spanning all the batches.

 

In honor of my daughter's 8th birthday, I'm opening a similarly aged Old Guardian from Stone. Bottled in 2013. Poured from fridge temp and there is still a nice amount of carbonation. The nose is full of toffee, with a touch of pine. Clove oil, leather, and sweet candy emerge with a few minutes. The taste is outstanding. So different from fresh, although I haven't had one fresh over the past few years since Stone stupidly decided to stop brewing this one! The hop bitterness has faded, yielding a toffee-dominated beer. Refined, smooth, yet still complex. Grass, wheat, leather, maple, Werther's, grapefruit peel, earthy, and red grapes. This has really turned into such an interesting beer. I have some older ones in the cellar (going back to 2006) and I'll open one of those soon to compare.