Cellar Reviews (2023)

Received ages ago in a trade.

4.27/5 rDev -0.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

2009 vintage. Poured from a bomber into a snifter.

Impenetrable seal brown/bistre liquid with a faint almond event horizon. Vague collar, never quite awakens. Thick sheets of legs.

Molasses, port, cherries, cocoa, and char in the nose. More fruit as the ale warms.

Prunes, cherries, and port are forward on the palate. Vinous quality persists with a background of dark malt, black licorice, and faint chocolate. Blackberries, violets, dulce de leche, ash, clay, and figs. Some oxidation is leading this into Old Ale territory, but no cardboard or other off notes. Low bitterness, medium-sweet, linear finish.

Oily, slick, carbonation has faded though there is some life left.

After 14 years, this has evolved into something difficult to categorize, and in some ways closer to a fortified dessert wine than a RIS.

 

Noting that I could barely detect the coffee knowing it was there, but my better half (tasting blind) pointed it out right away...

 

Happy Memorial Day Weekend Cellar Dwellars!

Cantillon 50N 4E, 2020 vintage.

Aroma is funky, fruity, floral. Taste follows with funky, floral, with a huge minerality. Tart citrus with a big lemon zest character and some orange. There are long lingering notes of fruit , with a big peach flesh character. It’s quite sour but not puckering. There is also a very big lingering vanilla flavor. It’s fruitier than the typical Cantillon Gueuze, presumably from the cognac barrel aging. It’s wildly complex (see what I did there), and immensely drinkable. A gem of a beer, an elite amongst the elite, and a real treat.



i love you with all my heart poems

 

Have always found cognac lambic to be the best lambic. Only beer I decant.

 

First sign of trouble was noticing what looked like carbonation cling on a dirty glass, a glass I knew to be beer clean, including a cold water rinse just before the pour. I took a tentative sip, not too good, hmm, and the second sign of trouble was the beer was almost still. That ring of bubbles is pretty much all the carb. BCBBW 2013. Oh my,...

... turns out it's not carb. on dirty glass, but sediment in bottom, which collected up the side in that part of the glass which my pour tended. This sign of trouble was a justifiable warning.

The first quick taste had already left my mouth when three minutes later I went for it, believing it now was "opened". No carb. At all. This wouldn't be a problem normally, I have enjoyed still beers in this style and others, but here it is an anchor that drags down a sinking ship. This is both too sweet and too bitter, with too much alcohol of the hot variety, and not enough complexity of flavors to balance. Cardboard notes come on strong through first ten sips. The bitter isn't a good balance to the sweet, instead it highlights the worst features of both, cane sugar oversweet and aspirin bitter, which are strong due to no better flavors this once had remain. All the remembered beauty of this is gone, and the sediment that starts to enter each sip holds vague autolytic notes that just make this worse with each sip.

Sad to say I have two more of these, but they are moved up in the rotation now for sure. Hope your cellar dwellers treat you better. Cheers!

 

I would imagine the 3rd fill barrel aging (Bourbon, stout, then BW) might cause a higher risk of things going sideways when aging for long periods. However, 10 years is a long time for almost any beer.

 

Big bummer, i have two more of these and will be drinking at least one within the year. Sucks it’s not holding up anymore.

 

2021 BCBS

Dark fruits are developing nicely, roastiness has mellowed, and barrel characters show zero signs of fading.

I think most frequent visitors of the Cellar Review threads know my affinity for all things Bourbon County and as always this is drinking divinely at the peak 2 year mark.

 

Was cool during the evening with windows open, so still feels cold enough inside to enjoy one of these.

Revolution Deth's Tar 10/1/2021



Refrigerated as I try to do all cans (vs. cellaring select bottles).

Held up very well, flavors, barrel blend well. So enjoyable. Open with confidence.

Cheers!

 

Evening Cellar Dwellers. This first one is actually from yesterday but PostImages was down and I can never figure out all the other convulsed ways to post photos on this formum. Anyways, it was a 2018 BCB Wheatwine. Only my second time having this one and I LOVED it the first go round with approx 18 months on it. Let’s see how it’s drinking around the 5 year mark.

Pours a very dark mahogany with some nice reddish hues when held to light, appears clear and not the least bit murky (aside from the sedimentation i poured separately) but is such a dark color you really can’t fully see through it. Head is of decent size but is fizzy and dissipates very quickly. Aroma is dark fruits, maple syrup, the most prominent aroma is caramel/toffee, an almost rye like spiciness otherwise not a ton from the barrel, there are some really lovely baking spices, perhaps the faintest hint of cardboard is sneaking in but even so it’s a fantastic nose. Taste is very complex, loads of dark
fruits and caramel, port wine, some
bitterness on the finish. I also get pretty heavy notes of dark cocoa. Barrel characters are not prominent and are mostly oaky notes. It’s very good, although unfortunately I must say that it appears the oxidation monster is beginning to show its ugly head. Fortunately it’s early in that process and although it detracts somewhat it is far from destroying the beer. Mouthfeel is medium to full bodied with low carbonation, ABV is exceptionally masked, and drinking is very good even with the hints of oxidation. Overall, it’s still a very good beer but clearly past it’s prime to me. It’s my last one and I’m not terribly sad about it, but do hope they bring this variant back again soon.

4/4.5/4.25/4.25/4.25
Original review (not fresh, reviewed around 1.5 years): 3.5/4.25/4.75/5/4.75

 

Tonight’s cellar beer is a 2018 BCBS. “Develops on the bottle for up to 5 years”, welp were right up against it. Let’s give it a whirl.

Pour as if it were fresh. Opaque black with one fingers width of sense dark khaki colored head, dissipates modestly quickly and no notably lacing. Aroma is roast, dark fruits, and dark cocoa. Not a ton of barrel left on the nose. Taste is complex with a deep roastiness, caramel, figs, maple syrup and molasses cookies linger on the lips after each sip. Barrel notes are mild to moderate, mostly with oak and vanilla. Mouthfeel is full bodied with a low carbonation that was decreased a bit with age, ABV is exceptionally masked with good drinkability. Overall this is an excellent beer as always, it does continue to develop with time although as just mentioned a couple posts above for me this beer peaks around the 2 year mark.

4.25/4.25/4.5/4.5/4.5

 

Cross post from WBAYDN 3890.




I bought this as a joke. I was not expecting this beer to be good anymore. Boy, was I wrong! This beer has so much flavor still. So much caramel, toffee, and dark fruit. Insane carbonation in this beer. Damn! I am shocked, and wish there were more at work, but it is now all gone. I truly have to wonder how long this beer will hold up? My guess is many more years, or decades.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/2874/75939/


4.49/5 rDev +15.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
This beer was bottled on July 18, 2014 consumed on June 15, 2023.

I had to use my wine bottle opener to get the cork out. Once I did, there was a nice pop, and a ton of smoke came out of the bottle. The beer pours a nice dark amber, almost brown, into the glass. When I hold it up to the hazy sunshine out of my window, I really see a nice dark amber color. I was totally amazed with carbonation in this beer for being so old. There was a 3 finger tan head. The retention was decent, but there's no real lacing on the glass.
The aroma is amazing. I get so much caramel, toffee and dark fruit (mostly plum) on it. I was expecting a hot mess, but this smells amazing.
Taste - After the aroma, I was no longer expecting a hot mess, and it sure as heck isn't. tons of flavor packed in this old beer. Lots of caramel and toffee start it off. The flavor then turns to lots of plum and some raisin and fig on the backside. There's an earthy undertone that hits throughout that ties all the flavors together.
Smooth as heck in the body. Very thick and rich feeling. The carbonation provides a slight tickle to my throat going down.
I bought this as a joke almost, since it was so old. This beer, almost 9 years on, is no joke. It's the real deal, and I truly wonder how long it will hold up?

 

Nice! Great to hear it held up to the test of time.

I have a 2008 St Feullien Cuvée De Noel Magnum, which is the oldest beer in my cellar. I never intended it to be that way but also never found the right time to drink it. Not sure when the right time will be, and if it’s a huge mess I wouldn’t be surprised, but you never know maybe it will be a gem!

 

Tonight’s cellar beer is a 2019 3F Framboos (aka Framboos Oogst). This is a new to me beer, but a very long time want. No fresh for comparison, but it was quite delicious. Raspberries weren’t particularly prominent, the age probably had something to do with it; although with a best before 2039 it’s still relatively new on that spectrum. Really enjoyed this, l not sure it lived up to the hype, but certainly a great beer. Full review follows:

A: Pous crystal clear, copper in color, moderate sized bright white head dissipates quickly leaving no lacing. Looks still in the glass’s 4.25

S: Aroma is immediate raspberries, hay and raw wheat. Initially quite floral which then cedes to funky notes of slightly pungent cheese. I can’t say that it smells particularly sour, but there’s some lactic tartness and citrus rind. Quite complex and a wonderful nose. 4.75

T: Taste follows with a big plastic like funk up front, which quickly yields to floral and citrus notes, with big oaky vanilla on the finish that lingers forever. Taste is quite tart and sour but it’s not as puckering as many lambics. The raspberry characters are present but certainly not prominent, not sure to what extent that’s due to the age. 4.5

M/D: Mouthfeel is lighter side of medium bodied with a big but appropriate carbonation and incredible drinkability. I could drink this all day. 5

O: A wonderful beer no doubt. Not sure if it was worth the difficulty in obtaining as I think I prefer Cantillon Rose de Gabrinus when it comes to Raspberry lambics (and I’ve surprisingly found the other easy to get over the years). Regardless, still wonderful and I would have a fridge full of this on the regular if it was readily available. 4.5






Cheers Cellar Dwellars!

 

Matt is my favorite from Hair of the Dog. Mixed barrels, smoked malts, and Belgian Candy Sugar, first made back in 2009. Was there anything else like this around at the time?



My last bottle from 2013, I have one 2019 and 9 2022's. Wish I had more. Still magnificent a decade in, no hurry if you're holding any of these. No carbonation here, it's dead flat. I like that only some of the malts are smoked, it's a nice feature rather than the main attraction. Sweet elements of honey, brown sugar, marshmallow, plus hints of chocolate, cherry, and pear meld beautifully with pipe tobacco and gentle booze. This is a singular treat, I hope I have the willpower to let some of the 22's go another decade.

 

Not the usual cellar beer, but an interesting experiment:
A friend of mine found this 1999-2001 era Miller Lite in his house. Somehow, despite drinking many beers almost every day since 1992 or so, he manages to lose one every once in a while. A few years ago he gave me a TsingTao from the early 2000's, I posted a review in the Cellar Reviews thread then: https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/cellar-reviews-2020.630642/page-11#post-6978781

The pour:

Can is a little worse for wear, dented in a few places but not bulging.

Appearance: Gold, red chunks, ok head at first but fades out quickly.

Smell: Kind of a vague fruitiness? Does not smell like your typical fresh Miller Lite.

Taste: Sipping slowly in case of trouble, starts with a light, watery body. Shifts into an interesting oxidized caramel flavor, maybe a hint of tootsie rolls. Really not too bad!

Overall: I think this beer was refrigerated the better part of the past 20 years. Not skunky, not nasty, it reminds me of an EXTREMELY watered down aged barleywine.

 

I have a sixpack plus a couple more of infected stout from Duck Rabbit that have been in the cellar for at least 10 years. A true horror when fresh. Gonna be opened at some point, you know, for science. I often wonder about those bottles when I'm down there. Your post made me think of this for some reason.

 

Well, decided to open my next beer a week early, as last one was two week's late. It is same as last beer, 2013 BCBBW. I was both cautious and hopeful, cautious since my last one was awful, and hopeful because of a recent opening by someone else that yielded excellent results.
I did a careful pour and hoped to leave any sediment behind. Last bottle was loaded. This bottle too had plenty, a good amount left behind though glad to say. Aroma was hopeful, raisins and barrel notes, dates, a bit of port and cardboard, cola notes, and some herbal bitter. Taste told the terrible truth of this tragic transformation of gem to disaster. I won't bother to go over the things that were bad about this, you merely have to read https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/cellar-reviews-2023.670640/page-4#post-7781093
and change it slightly to be less aspirin bitter and less cardboard, which I attribute to being more careful about how much sediment entered glass. On a positive note, I chugged the last third of the glass and paired it with some homegrown DoubleDave bong tokes (backcross between my friend Dave's and mine cross many years ago) and I gotta say the alcohol content of this baby hasn't lost a beat, and now that my resistance is somewhere south of lightweight I am feeling wonderful, so there's that. Cheers y'all.

 

I picked this up today thanks to a tip from @Mdog
2016 Celebration
I am amazed by the fact that there's still lots of hops in it. Malty up front, and nice pine hop bitterness on the back. This is one hell of a surprise to me. Delicious.