Cellar Reviews (2023)

Terrible news!!!

 

Having a 2020 Third Coast Old Ale courtesy of @CarolinaCardinals Thanks Tom!



I can't recall the last time I had one of these, what the hell is wrong with me? Maybe it's all the sweeter, BA beers I drink that make this seem so wonderfully fresh and bright in contrast. Light, sugary caramel, sweet candy oranges, and some pleasant grapefruit bitterness at the finish. I am thoroughly enjoying the hell out of this.

 

1-2-2008 was your official review date, not that i am stalking you. What prompted my sending to you was the rating of 3.61...i thought to myself surely young Dan's palate was not fully evolved when he reviewed...i still enjoy it when i can find it but i can say the first time having it my immature palate found it a bit "rough around the edges". Glad you liked!
Cheers!
Tom

 

now update that rating.

ThirdCoast is king of BWines

Larry Bells AskMeAnything is a pleasure to read in case you guys haven't read it. I was browsing it last night and almost can't believe how great he really is

 

Thanks Tom, I don't remember rating this so low, I've certainly had it since 2008 and enjoyed it. Young Dan, lol that hasn't been true for a long time. Anyway, up to a 4.32 now.

 

Love the beer but I can’t get over the label change, even down to the glossy finish on the paper. If you have the chance and are patient, put one down to rest for a few more years.

 

NFL Sunday Funday with BCB Biscotti Stout. Big fan of this beer fresh, interested to see how it is developing.

Aroma is huge anise up front, Pernod like. Next I get chocolate, roastiness and a big nutty character. Taste is phenomenal, great multi-faceted chocolate charters with a balancing roasintess and booze. Anise then comes in but not as prominent as the nose. Nutty notes have faded but are there. The sweetness has subdued leading to the whiskey barrel notes being more forward. Overall it is excellent, and is developing mostly as anticipated with the sweeter adjuncts fading and it becoming more balanced, albeit less biscotti like.

4/4.25/4.75/4.25/4.5
(Original/fresh review: 4.25/4.75/4.5/4/4.5)

 

I can get onboard the NFL Sunday Funday because the Lions game I’m watching is not working out.

Opened this before the game started so this wasn’t intended as a “drinking this game away” beer.

bottled 1/14/2019

Deep and dark brown, mocha head still beautiful on the pour. Burnt fudgey brownies on the aroma. Some hints of booze and char too.
Taste is similar. Fudgey brownies, vanilla, char, balanced cocoa bitterness, wood and barrel.

This is/was my favorite Founders beer. This is my last Mothership bottle. Still drinking fantastic.

 

Nice discussion of your Xmas ale sampling, but sad to think there is likely to be more of this seasonal standout.

 

I am having a KBS from my cellar bottled on 2-20-2018. It has an ABV of 12.3%, higher than average for KBS I think, and is still moderately boozy. Despite having heard that coffee flavor diminishes over time, this KBS still packs a load of black coffee. Overall, nonetheless, it does seem slightly more mild and harmonious than a fresh KBS.

 

2015 vintage

Look- pitch black with a thick dark mocha head. Very tight bubbles that slowly dissipate. 5

Smell - dark cocao and roasty malt 4.5

Taste- chocolate up front with coffee notes on the finish 4.75

Feel - creamy and slick with light carbonation. A little chewy 4.75

Overall- Not sure if this is one of those beers at just the right time moments, but this just hit me hard. Was really feeling it and was super impressed for this 8yr old stout. Almost no signs of oxidation. Drink em if ya got em! 4.75

 

I think I'm down to my last 3 bottles. Sigh. So good.

 

So. Wanted a BCBS. Grabbed for one of my last, and it turns out to be a 2013 BCBBW. Uggh. Bad lighting in cellar strikes again. Now, I think, not only do I have another of these (the last two both were sedimented and awful) but I don't have a stout I thought I had. Hmmm. Sorry for the pic, but I am well known to suck completely as a photographer.

What? I pour carefully to leave as much sediment behind as possible, but there isn't any! Finally a bit of it is at the end of the pour, but there was sooo much in the last two bottles I tried of this. No hiss from cap, no carb. at all. But the smell is strong, and hits before I put nose to glass, and the smell is great, not as it once was, but quite full of clean grain sweet, honey, herbal bitter notes, dried fruit, and lovely booze and barrel notes. To my surprise the taste also is excellent, just like the aroma, this bottle survived very well. No sherry, port, cardboard, or autolysis. A faded but excellent version of itself that I drink way too quickly as I can't help myself. And this on the day I finish the book I have been writing for a very long time. Good news all around. Cheers!

 

So glad that one was still good! Maybe not at its prime, but better than the others you described for sure!

 

Always enjoy reading @cavedave cellar excursions! Sounds like a great day. Love seeing those older labels. Glad this one worked out in everyway, a contrast to your previous attempts at the same vintage.

What kind of book did you write (fiction / non-fiction, genre)? Do you plan on publishing / self publishing or releasing online?

Cheers!

 

Thanks! It was a wonderful surprise to find out this one was delicious!

It's a sci-fi novel and I don't plan to publish any of my work while I am alive. I consider my stuff (one other book, poetry, song lyrics, and short stories) the kinds of things that would be appreciated better as being from a dead author, so my youngest son and my brother have ownership of everything except the song lyrics I did as a favor for a friend for all the songs on the album "Lies", by Evidence Black. Friends all are able to read all my stuff with the proviso they make no comments.

 

What, I have two posts in a row? Zounds! (love that word) Oh well, getting my Nov. beer in early as I went late last month, and really in the mood for that stout I ended up not to have. Worthy replacement for sure is its brother, this 2014 BCBS. I am pairing it with some of my own OG Kush, a thick, fragrant, rich smoke, and if either of my marriages had been as good as this one of beer and weed I'd be married still today.
Deceptive pfft on opening but this baby is all but still, and it matters not a bit. The smell is a perfect mix of all the remembered flavors of this there seems little point in mentioning. They have become completely a blend, a flavor of their own that is an homage to brewing greatness. It's a beer that can be excellent in different iterations of itself through time, Ten years in this has become what I have trouble describing other than in most general terms. . None of the sharp corners of when fresh, none of the pitfalls of bad aging, very clean, delicious, and amazing. A finish that lingers and begs for next sip, luxuriously thick in the best possible way Yummm is final word as I am now halfway through and fucking loving this softened and blended masterpiece of flavor. Cheers!

 

Another excellent review @cavedave - makes me want to re-think how long I should intentionally cellar my BA stouts.

 

I reviewed a side by side of my 2020 Bell’s Expedition Stout vs. the 2023 release on Halloween. Since this was one of the few instances I can recall where a cellar version was preferred on my end, I am linking it here for those of you who may not venture into that thread.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/commun...-side-by-side-2023.671043/page-8#post-7863000