Cellar Reviews (2022)

My last bottle remaining bottle of Great Divide Old Ruffian. This one bottled Jan 29 2015. RIP to this one and many previously widely distributed barleywine brands that have been discontinued.

The formerly aggressive hops have have transformed into an earthy minty spiceyness that rides over top of the caramel malt flavors. Still fairly bitter finish. Sticky mouthfeel, carbonation level is still good.

 

Cross posting with the Celluary thread (I prefer this one!)

Who says beers don’t age well….


Pours very dark brown, appears opaque due to the dark color but when held to light you can see that it’s translucent. No carbonation of course, but lots of alcohol legs. Aroma is vinous, dark spirits. Huge port wine, brandy, figs, red wine, fusel ethanol. Just divine. Taste is chocolate, brandy, fusel alcohol, oaky bourbon. Dark fruits, mostly fig and dates. Perhaps the slightest bit of carbonation creeping in, with a bit of cardboard. Overall, a stellar beer as always. Of note, for likely obvious reasons this probably isn’t the ideal beer for a cellaring experience as in my opinion it doesn’t change dramatically over the years like most beers. That being said, it’s always an exceptional drinking experience, both fresh and also with these 7 years on it.

4.5/4.75/4.75/4.5/4.75
(Original/fresh review: 4.75/4.75/4.75/4.75/5; last cellar review [11/2020]: 4.5/5/4.75/4.5/4.75)




Cheers Cellar Dwellers!

 

Going to try to get back in this thread this month. Here's a 2017 DFH 120 Minute IPA. I believe this is 18%, although they don't say on the bottle. Still tasting pretty hot after just over four years. Finish still lingers with strong bitterness. Some citrus, mostly orange, comes through. I think I have a couple 2015 versions hanging around. I may wait another couple years on those.

 

Cross post from the Cellaruary thread.

I'm having one of my two remaining Alaskan Smoked Porters, this one from 2015 (9/08/15, to be exact), so 6½ years from bottling. My cellar storage is in the dark most of the time, and is a fairly constant 60°F. I removed the bottle from a refrigerator at ~42° and allowed it to warm for 20 minutes or so before opening, so probably around 50° or so when I took the first sip.

Alaskan Brewing Smoked Porter (2015)
ABV: 6.5%
IBU: 45

Very dark, black, clear dark ruby with a back-light, visible carbonation within. Dark khaki head, 1 inch, with excellent retention, leaving sheet lacing.

The aroma is smoky, but the smoke is not overpowering; it is stronger than subtle, but pleasant. It is a campfire smokiness intermingled with figs to bring a touch of sweetness. Some bright floral notes as well.

The initial taste is smoke, backed by the dark fruits. No bitterness initially, but it appears in the middle and grows gradually through to the back end, ending with a very good balancing bittering in the finish and aftertaste. The smokiness is nicely done, remaining to the front from the initial sip through into the aftertaste. The taste also features dark fruits (figs) and perhaps molasses, along with a bit of floral. As with the 2014 bottle-date version I had in the Porter tasting last March, the beer is nicely balanced among the smoke, dark fruit, and bittering. The beer actually mellows even more as it warms.

The mouth feel is smooth and the body is substantial (but not thick).

This beer, like the 2014 version last year, has aged very well in my cellar. There is no oxidation nor any other off flavors.

If I look back at my tasting notes when I had the 2014 version fresh (well, almost fresh - in 2015), I would say there is little change, except perhaps for the mellowing of the bitterness. Overall, I would say that, if anything, the beer has improved to my taste. But, I guess that would depend on how bitter you like your smoked porters. The flavors remain intact and well-balanced.

L: 4.5 | S: 3.75 | T: 4.0 | F: 4.25 | O: 4.25 | Rating: 4.05

Here is a bar chart comparing my three documented reviews of this beer:


Make of this what you will.

 

I first enjoyed Reuben's Hat Trick triple IPA when it was released some... 5 or 6 years ago (edit: looking at my review and it was six years ago to the day. Wild.)? I remember enjoying it, and I remember it kind of inspiring in my the question of what's really the difference between a triple IPA and a barleywine?
Re-reading my review from 2192 days ago, it seems that my main impressions were related to the hops. Big pine. Sap, and some peachiness, but I keep mentioning how heavy the woodiness of the hops are. It was very bitter, and maybe a little overly saturated but mainly just heavy hop bitterness.



I have been hanging onto it since then, partly specifically waiting for hockey to come to Seattle. Well, I was out of town for the season opener, and had to work for the Kraken's first hat trick, so instead of waiting for the perfect moment, I figured cracking it in honour of, and while watching a replay of, the NHL all star game and some highlights from the women's olympic hockey games.
Drinking it now after having sat for about six years and there's still a good hop presence, but it is less domineering, and is balanced by a good caramel sweetness that has grown into prominence. It really does feel like a decent barleywine, with still a fair amount of hop presence, but much more malt sweetness to balance it out. I think this has been a successful aging-experiment!

Go Kraken! Nice goal, Ebs!

 

Cross posted from the Cellaruary thread
My oldest bottle of Stone IRS I have left - 2010 Spring Release. In general I have stopped aging most Imperial stouts past 1 or 2 years, but this is one that holds up even at 12 years old now, the bomber format may have helped. Pours with plenty of carbonation and head, pleasant aroma of fudgey brownie, dark caramel, a touch of licorice and smoke. Similar flavors in the taste, complex yet smooth, just the slightest hints of negative oxidation. Full bodied, but drinks so easy for a 10.5% abv beer.

 

2012 DFH Olde School

As it warms, amazingly this still has a little heat in the nose. But mostly a ton of raisin and fig, a bit of pipe tobacco. Taste is similar, fairly sweet but not cloying. The booziness is only in the smell, drinks like a "normal" beer, not a 15% abv monster. Syrupy sticky mouthfeel, carbonation is mild.

 

Another cross post from the Cellaruary thead...

This beer has been carefully cellared by me from the time it was fresh. I had one when fresh, another at some point over the years (but no notes from #2, sadly), and now opening my next to last from the original 4-pack. At least this time I have proper Belgian glassware!

Central Waters Brewing Co Brewer's Reserve Belgian Style Quadruple Ale (2017 bottling)
ABV: 10.0%
IBU: NA

No ABV is noted on the bottle; my notes from 2017 say it is 10% ABV, but the current listing shows it as 11.9%. Either way, hopefully making for a nice evening sipping beer!

Brown from the front; bright ruby with a backlight; murky clarity with sparse rising bubbles. Short off-white head that disappears relatively quickly to a thin cap island in the center surrounded by an off-white ring. around the edge. Nice looking lacing as I tip the glass, some sticks, most slides down. No visible floaties acquired with age (a bit surprised by that).

The aroma brings the bourbon and dark fruit front and center. Very good.

The bourbon in the flavor is muted, but there behind everything. The flavor is predominately sweet dark fruit. Gobs of malty goodness, dark fruit, backed by bourbon flavors and alcohol warmth. No bittering. The overall sweetness carries through to the finish and aftertaste, but never becomes cloying; always staying in bounds, tempered a bit I think by the alcohol.

The body is moderate and the feel is smooth with a bit of warming.

Overall, this one has maintained over the past 5 years in my cellar. I can't say it has improved, but (based on both my tasting notes, rating when fresh, and memory) neither has it degraded. At least not much. Perhaps lost a touch of complexity, and the original bitterness is gone, that is all.

L: 4.0 | S: 4.25 | T: 4.0 | F: 4.0 | O: 4.0 | Rating: 4.05

2017 rating: 4.07
2022 rating: 4.05

So, if not a beer that has improved at 5 years, it is a beer that is equally enjoyable. I have one more in the cellar. Maybe next year. In the meantime, perhaps it is time to re-stock a bit now that my cellar is under control numbers-wise.

 

Just picked up a sixer of fresh 2022 SN Bigfoot. So I decided to do a side by side with 5 year old and 10 year old bottles. Left to right, 2012, 2017, 2022. All in my cellar since purchase when fresh. I have a few other vintages older and younger but figured these are good round numbers.

Not much difference in appearance really at all. All three are about the same clear dark copper color, and have excellent head retention while leaving rings of lacing on the glasses. Aroma goes the opposite direction as would be intuitive, as its "bolder" oldest to youngest. The aroma moves from a mixture of toffee and spicy pine resin in the oldest to all bright floral hops and orange rind in the fresh. 2012 taste hits mild molasses, mint, and rum - starts sweet, but underlying bitterness, but long finish. 2017 the malt flavor is less developed, and the hop bitterness is stronger. 2022 not unexpectedly has the most hop flavor, but still balanced with the caramel malt. Stickiness in the mouthfeel increases with the age.

Overall it's still surprising when some of these classic strongly hopped American Barleywines are still have a bold hop bitterness after a decade.

 

A 2017 bottling of Central Waters Brewer's Reserve Bourbon Barrel Stout.

It's been my experience that Imperial Stouts tend to not do as well as cellar beers as do barleywines, wee heavies, and quads. But, as this is a simple barrel-aged stout, with no flavoring adjunks, it may be OK.

Central Waters Brewing Co. Brewer's Reserve Bourbon Barrel Stout 2017 in 2022
(with the label a bit worse for wear...)
ABV: 9.5%
IBU: NA

Deep and dark, with nothing visible, even with a backlight. Short tan/khaki head, thick, with good retention. Sheet lacing quickly becomes strings and loops and then slides down into the beer.

Excellent aroma. I could smell it as soon as I poured. Dark fruits and chocolate, roasted coffee (even though it is not a coffee beer), something slightly sweet, perhaps vanilla.

The bourbon hits on the initial sip, but not overpowering. The flavors foretold by the aroma are all there; dark fruits first, then vanilla, then a bit of chocolate and roasted malts. Alcohol warmth on the finish and in the aftertaste. Very good. The bourbon and alcohol does become more prominent as the beer warms.

The body is on the thick side of moderate, but not viscous thick as some Imperial stouts are. Smooth.

2017 in 2022: L: 4.5 | S: 4.25 | T: 4.25 | F: 4.0 | O: 4.25 | Rating: 4.24

Unfortunately, I did not do a review of the 2017 fresh, nor the 2nd bottle from the 4-pack that I had some point in the past, but I do have notes from the 2016 batch that I can compare with this one.

Here are my notes from 6 years ago, fresh:

Killer aroma bourbon, chocolate, vanilla, fruit, coffee, roasted malts + more. Very dark with a 1 inch tan, creamy head that recedes moderately fast to a thin cover with some irregular lacing. Moderately carbonated. Very smooth, creamy mouth feel. Taste of bourbon, chocolate, roasted malts - but not as much as in the aroma. Moderate bittering arrives in the middle and finish. After some alcohol in the initial taste, it recedes to be well controlled and hidden in the middle and finish, but returns as alcohol warmth in the aftertaste.

L: 4.25 | S: 4.5 | T: 4.0 | F: 4.25 | O: 4.25 | Rating: 4.21

 

Nice review. Opened a 2015 the other night & it was dead; veering into mustiness & thinner than a glass of water. I guess 6-7 years is too much on this fella.

 

2002 JW Lees Harvest Ale. Was waiting for the 20 year mark for this one, will be the oldest beer I've drank. Its been in my cellar for about the last decade or so, at the time I bought it from a shop selling vintage bottles (which I believe the brewery or importer releases vintage bottles).

Poured into the snifter leaving the sediment into the glass. Swigged that from the bottle for good health! Pours with no head, but a touch of carbonation. Wonderfully complex aroma - plum, dates, raisin, black cherry, pipe tobacco, a touch of spiced rum. Taste starts with similar flavors, slightly sweet, but finishes with more of a toffee flavor. Medium bodied, slick feel from the low carbonation level. Overall very enjoyable.

Ive had a lot of various ages of this beer and I think about 10 years is my favorite as at that point is has a ton of butterscotch and caramel. Older than that is when it moves into more the dark fruits and port wine flavors.

 

Thanks!

 

Cross posted from the Cellaruary thread. Bottle had a best before date of October 2018. Not sure when it would have been bottled. Still drinking very nicely, I’ve been having one periodically since September 2017 and still have another four. Brown sugar, dark fruits, and a bit of booze on both the nose and taste. I really love these high ABV Baltic porters and RIS with no adjuncts.