Cellar Reviews (2021)

My friends into craft highly recommended Drago a few years ago, and I'm finally getting around to my remaining cellar variants. Per my correspondence with the brewery, they brewed the latest batch in September, are currently barrel aging these beers, and plan on releasing next Fall. They also have a few vintage 2014-2018 Drago versions available at the brewery, which perhaps I'll visit and purchase depending on how the other two 2018 cellar tastings go.

For those unfamiliar / outside of Chicago, Wild Onion Drago placed second among 20 BA Imperial Stouts in the 2020 Chicago Blind Taste Tournament hosted by Josh Noel, defeating highly sought after offerings including Goose Island Bourbon County Stout.

I do plan on doing a comparison (over two days) of 2017 vs. 2021 Cafe Deth, and 2020 vs. 2021 Supermassive Cafe Deth this month in this thread. I hope Coffee Eugene hasn't been displaced this year by Peanut Butter, which I don't plan on buying beyond perhaps a taste draft at the brewery.

I'll have to check out Might Makes Right the next release.

 

I love discussing what to buy and how much to buy, given how many options there are now adays. Just for nice easy numbers, let's say you only purchased and planned to consume 24 new servings of BA stouts/barleywines for stout-season. Assuming you still have at least a few of whatever your favorite standby is, this is certainly my breakdown:

3-6 different beers that I all enjoy enough to have somewhere between 2 and 4 of.
Rest I'd rather have just a single beer.

And if I get antsy, I can dig into my stash for the holdovers. For me, the stash is BCBS, and then Rev makes up about 1/4-1/2 of the 24 hypothetical brews.

There are just too many beers out there, and even if they aren't as good as some of your holdover stash, the fact that it is different and a new variety makes up the lack of excitement associated with a lower rating.

 

Tonight’s cellar beer s a March 2018 bottle of Peche Mortel. Still tons of coffee flavor present. Not as rich as done of the other aged stouts I’ve drank lately, but that’s not necessity a bad thing. The body seems appropriate with the coffee flavors, almost like a cold brew.

 

2020 Founders KBS Maple Mackinac Fudge



12 ounce bottled on 10/26/2020. Still no loss of carbonation with a full head. I think through time I've become conditioned to how Founders thinks of maple syrup adding to their barrel aged stout flavoring because even though I don't taste maple syrup as I ordinarily think of it, there's a sweetening flavor, over and beyond the fudge, that enhances everything. The mouthfeel may have become creamier through time. I still have one bottle from the original four pack; I don't feel like it's a mistake to age it further.

 

This one reminds me of M&Ms… and I love it for that reason. I can’t eat dairy anymore and miss them.

 

Cross post from NBS
2011 Hill Farmstead Elaborative ONE

Full aroma that hits with raisins and figs, walnuts (amazingly), cola, sherry, honey bread, light malty vinegar, and rich grain. Amazingly complex. As it warms very light oak/booze barrel notes and a husky grainy note take it to eleven.

Hard to describe the taste as it has so much going on, and changes so much in character as palate adjusts and beer opens. First sip showed almost no sweet and the light malty vinegar notes in nose were much stronger in the taste. But the tart/sour steps back and joins all the flavors in the aroma to make a startling and delicious balanced beer that has stood well the test of time. Before I finish the glass I also get peach, plum, sour apple, treacle. Superb. .

Lighter in mouth than it looks, perfect body for the flavors they frame, with perfect carbonation, flavors that shine, and just the right amount of deep dark fruit notes and vinegar hints for clean lingering finish that begs for next sip.

Wow, 6.5% ABV and it held up amazingly. It is less blended, and MUCH less oxidation than I feared. Hard to believe even the walnut flavors stayed in the mix after so long. Such a treat!

 

Still have a bunch of BCBS beers, many bought for $5 on clearance, so trying to spread these out for this thread in 6 or 12 month intervals. This is the first cellar rating I have for this beer.

2019 BCBS Grand Cafe de Olla Stout



My OG review is one of hundreds I still need to cut and paste in this database, so I'll retype the scores and a summary here:

Fountainhead (RIP) $14 9 oz draft, 13.5% ABV - Preview Party on the Wednesday before release.

• Appearance: Pitch black, light tan ring. 4.25
• Aroma: Strong bourbon, backed by roast coffee. 4.0
• Taste: Excellent roast coffee taste, sweet sugar backed, orange the man behind the man. Bourbon well blended and incorporated. Sublime. 5.0
• Mouthfeel: Sliky smooth, creamy mouthfeel, rich body, light fizzy carbonation, easy finish, sweet aftertaste. 4.5
• Overall: Excellent coffee stout offering. 4.5

Based on this draft preview, and a couple of others, I went from not planning to pick up an allocation to picking up a Black Friday allocation of all variants. In addition, I picked up a few more, and then a box of 12 for $60 + tax in a September 2020 clearance sale at Walgreens.

How does today's bottle compare? For the first 20 minutes, here is my assessment.

Develops in the bottle for up to two years (Bottled 8/12/19, Drink by 8/11/21 8:07)

• Appearance = Same. 4.25
• Aroma = Coffee, maple, bourbon, in that order. Bourbon has mellowed as expected. 3.75
• Taste = The coffee has held up well, much sweeter than expected, bourbon develops as this warms. Getting light cinnamon, but no pepper, which I did not note in the OG review. Slight burn as this warms and I reach the first half of the bottle. The orange is gone, but I take responsibility drinking past the recommended date. 4.25
• Mouthfeel = Consistent with OG review, keeping the same score. Held up well. 4.5
• Overall = Losing points for age as expected, but like most BCBS offerings,. this held up well with only the adjunct (orange gone, cinnamon this time). 4.25

My advice for those possessing this is it should hold up for the next few months, but would drink sooner rather than later to avoid disappointment, as this is already 3 months beyond GI's recommended best by date.

 

Yesterday's news prompted me to pull out this beer this morning.

What I find most ironic is Bell's pulled out of Illinois 15 years ago after their distribution rights were sold (Union Beverage was their distributor (they are gone now)), owned by National Wine and Spirits). to Chicago Beverage Systems (Blue House / Reyes), Bell's was not pleased and pulled out of the state before returning a few years later.

Once their sale to Mitsubishi Kirin / subsidiaries is complete, estimated to be within a year, their beer will be distributed in Chicago by, you guessed it, Chicago Beverage Systems.

Bell's Expedition Stout


My OG review is linked here. This bottle is from the same 6 pack, almost three years to the day later (3 years, 8 days). This was bottled 8/29/18 and refrigerated since (I have eight more in my underground basement cellar). Probably should have started at these 2 years earlier, but what can I do.

The results? Looks the same, fine lacing still appears though not as prevalent as the fresh OG review indicates. Getting a dull bakers chocolate and malt aroma, consistent with the taste, the coffee is no longer noted, either first sip or 10 minutes in. Feels a little thinner but still creamy and full for the most part.

Final analysis - I'm enjoying this, but would recommend drinking this fresh, or perhaps trying 6-12 months out if intentionally cellaring to note the impact before going further.

The Vapors with today's music accompaniment.

 

2018 Expedition Stout - @ChicagoJ, guess we had the same idea today

Nose is more soy sauce and umami than fresh. Taste is full of dark chocolate, roast, some hints of old coffee, and bitter roast. Flavors are not as strong as fresh but they all blend and smoothly transition to each other. But im missing some of meaty notes, chocolate complexity, and the coffee in a fresh bottle. I've had a bunch of older bottles think that that while this is nice, it already started to loose some of what makes expedition so great. Agree with ChicagoJ, in my experience 1-2 years is the perfect spot but fresh is also great

 

2014 Celebration

I've posted aged celebration notes before but this was my oldest, 7 years old. Nose is full of caramel and hints of sherry. Opens with a muted hop presence that is well balanced against the sweeter malts that are starting to thin out to sherry notes.

Not bad by any means, something like a lighter bigfoot with less bitter bite. Definitely not the same as fresh and was a fun experiment.

 

2014 Expedition Stout

nose honestly smells dirty, not sure how else to say it. Taste is a waves of chocolate, milk, hot chocolate coco, then old coffee, then deep dark chocolate with hints of roast. Body is silky smooth and still quite full with light carbonation. A completely different beast than fresh and the 2018 noted earlier. Everything is a nice smooth blend but again I still feel like im missing the pizazz of fresh. But again, its just a totally different beer at this point, maybe i shouldn't compare it to fresh.

 

Reading through this thread during the past week inspired me to open tonight’s beer. I know I shouldn’t cellar coffee ales, but it’s a barleywine so I did. I fear the green chili pepper flavor BUT good news this beer is peaking. 2018 Bourbon County Brand Coffee Barleywine. Nose is sweet carmel. Coffee and Bourbon have faded in this flavor but still existent. Sweet and creamy carmel flavor with traces of coffee and small hints of green chili pepper round out the finish. Mouth is chewy as hell. The flavors on this beer play very well and crest an enjoyable experience. If you have a bottle pop it now.

 

Evening Cellar Dwellers! It’s been a while since I posted here. Combo of being busy, trying to be a bit healthier, etc. Anyways, back tonight with this cellar pull courtesy of the HotD cellar program, 2005 Doggie Claws. I had my first ever Doggie Claws two nights ago, a 2020 vintage. It was really great fresh, and while I was drinking it I thought how much I would love to try this aged. Well fortunately for me the HotD cellar store exists, saving me many years and allowing me to jump right from the relatively fresh to the more than a decade and a half plus aged cellared version! What a time to be alive, fellow beer drinking nerds! Anyways, let’s see how this one has developed over time.

Pours opaque, nearly black, a surprisingly large tan head builds, a solid 2+ fingers in width, that has good retention. No signs of age in this one, looks a lot like the fresh bottle I had, nearly identical except the head on this vintage one is a bit less dense/more bubbly. Aroma is complex. Dark fruits, port, vanilla, some oaky/woody characters. Hop characters that were present strongly in the fresh variant are obviously faded to nothing. Green apple and burnt sugar round out the aroma profile. Taste is unique. It’s got ripe fruit notes, perhaps even a bit tart but not like full on lambic/gueuze and not infection, but this interesting juicy cherry or cranberry juice character. There are also some more typical dark fruit notes, like dates, a bit of port wine. Some oaky notes. Unfortunately the oxidation monster is starting to creep in. It’s not destroyed and I will easily finish this, but it’s definitely detracting from the flavor profile. Too bad. Mouthfeel is smooth, carbonation is good, drinkability a bit limited from the aforementioned oxidation. Overall, this beer is great fresh, and I bet it’s a monster between 5-10 years, but I wouldn’t take one out this far (16years) as it’s clearly past it’s prime. Next HotD box I get I’ll be sure to get some older , but not quite this old, vintages!


4.5/4.25/4/4/4
(Original/fresh review: 4.75/4.5/4.25/4.75/4.5; reviewed at approx 1 year old)

 

I actually didn’t care much for this fresh but think it’s developed wonderfully with time and absolutely loved the aged variants I’ve had. For me it was a case where the muting of adjacent flavors over time was a good thing.

Really cool! how did you get a hold of that one? I’m kinda surprised they bottle and label them as such.

 

2016 Free Will Ralphius. One of the last years they offered it in bottles. I really enjoyed this one fresh. The years have really mellowed out the fudge and bourbon. Now it’s lighter (thinish) in mouthfeel and the flavor packs quite a bitterness (roasted coffee grinds, black licorice, and tobacco). Enjoyable but I don’t think it’s getting better than this.

 

Exchange rate.

 

I was very fortunate to receive this from a trade partner who has a friend that used to work for Goose. I'm a die hard BCBS fanboy, so I was rather fortunate to get this for so many reasons. I absolutely will be keeping this on my shelf.

 

After taking a little break, back to the cellar tonight. Still have at least another four pack of Dieu du Ciel Isseki Nicho, an imperial dark saison, from 2017. I’m getting a lot toasty/roasty, coffee, and chocolate from this. The body doesn’t have the same weight to it that I would expect in a stout of this ABV (9.5%). It’s a unique beer and my description is not doing the beer justice.

 

I'm definitely not familiar with this style. Going to have to look into it.