Dogfish Head World Wide Stout. 11/1/2016 bottling. Straight pour down the center, head lasted for about 2 seconds. A bit of goopy protein bits at the bottom. Nose is of dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, dark bread, char, and ethanol. Taste of huge dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, charcoal, wood, dark bread/crust, molasses, toast, nuttiness, herbal, grass, peppercorn, light pine/dark fruit, and yeast earthiness. Light-medium herbal/woody/charred bitterness and ethanol spiciness after the finish. Medium carbonation and medium-full body; lingering sticky/resinous hop, chalky roast, and spicy alcohol dryness. As with other 18% stouts like the Bruery does a lot, the alcohol hurts the body. No cloying/acrid/astringent flavors after the finish. I reviewed in 2014 with a 2010 bottle. Still right around 4.2/5 IMO Cheers
2017 Hair of the Dog Cherry Adam, enjoyed on draft at The Beermongers. This is rather delightful. It still has luscious, dark cherry character in the nose and flavor, and a fair amount of oak and bourbon too. Notes of umami, sticky toffee, chewy malt, pipe tobacco, and a big PING of alcohol. Surprising amount of woody bitterness. Slightly tart with some smokiness and a bit of astringency in the finish.
Cross-post from Mid-Atlantic Beer Flyers tonight trying to get it done in Pittsburgh. Let’s open something up. 2013 Victory Old Horizontal. Way more carb than I was expecting. Great lacing. Amazing aroma up-front. Oranges and burnt sugar. A little prune, a lot of dried apricot. Forward notes of candied orange and brown sugar. On the finish, very bitter. Mostly enjoyable, but a little bit of carbonized bitterness that is unpleasant. Full mouthfeel, totally palate-coating. Great. Better than I expected 13 years on. I have one bottle left, which I will share in short order, but this level of age is a success.
it’s a gem. They were still floating around certain beer stores around here as recently as about 6 months ago, so you can probably find one via trade (or outright sale) pretty easily if you’re interested. I’d certainly recommend!
I’ll raise you a 2010. Did this last Thursday. Prune! A lot of prunes. Dark chocolate. A little more carb than I expected. It’s really quite good after ~15 years.
I have not seen this thread until today. I agree. From New Holland, truly sessionable BA stout at a paltry 18.7%, looks like it was bottled 01/31/24. This looks the same as every other Dragon's Milk I've had, brown, thin and watery with a small tan head. Vanilla aroma, some roasted malt. Flavor is chocolatey with some woody notes. It doesn't feel as thin as it looks. The booze is well hidden, but there's a nice buzz. Probably my favorite varient in the DM lineup.
Wolverine Massacre imperial lager, 2018 vintage. Incredible as usual. Aromas of big caramel, brown sugar, toffee, bourbon, toasted oak, and light cocoa. Taste follows with big caramel, toffee, brown sugar, bourbon, toasted oak; light cocoa, coconut, dark fruit, and herbal/grassy hops. Light herbal/grassy bitterness and bourbon/oak tannin spiciness on the finish. Mediumcarb and medium-full body; creamy mouthfeel with lingering sticky hop and oak tannin dryness. No cloying. Super clean lager flavors and not that fruity. Lingering warmth and booze of 14.3%. A ton of barrel but not rough on booze after the cellaring. 4.25/5 Cheers
Dogfish Head Raison D'Extra bottled 12/21/2018. Murky pour, no head retention, a lot of streaming carbonation on the glass. Aromas of big raisin, prune, apple, caramel, toffee, brown sugar, brown bread; light molasses, tobacco, leather, yeast earthiness. Taste of huge caramel, toffee, raisin, prune, cherry, apple, brown sugar, brown bread; light molasses, tobacco, leather, wood, peppercorn, pine, herbal, grass, and yeast earthiness. Light herbal/woody bitterness and peppery yeast spiciness on the finish. Medium-plus carbonation and medium-full creamy/bready malt body; lingering sticky hop and spicy alcohol dryness after the finish. No cloying, mild increasing warmth of 16% after the finish to the gut. Slight touch of astringency. I reviewed the 2006 and 2014 a bit better than this on Untappd and on BA originally. This was not quite as rich as the 18% ones. Aged real well.4.3/5 Cheers
2023 Sucaba from Firestone. This tastes great. Burnt toffee, brown sugar, a slight bitter wood note, a slightly sharp boozy note, and lots of stone fruit. Not too sweet. Nicely integrated flavors.
2022 Fou' Foune from Cantillon. Wow - this is tasting so good right now. More sourness than I remember. Peaches, vanilla, tart, and more sourness. Refreshing.
From 2018 and still delicious. Might have lost a little bitterness (not that it is very bitter when fresh) but still had the Bell’s roasted malt flavor. Good stuff. Cross post with Imperial Stout thread. Cheers!
One of my two favorite regular RIS’s! (along with Old Rasputin). Makes me want to go drink one right now. Maybe later with breakfast! (It’s a paperwork-only day today, in my home office.)
And it’s going rather well with our Sourdough Pancakes with Blueberries. Paperwork starts in about 15 minutes. Or 20 (!).
2008 Samichlaus. Pours with zero head. The nose is toffee, prunes, honey, and figs. The taste is amazing. Prunes, vanilla, smoke, malts, and brown sugar. Amazing.
2015 Dark Horse Plead the Fifth. Super rich dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, roasted nuts, molasses; light fudge, charcoal, wood, pepper, pine. Light pine/woody and charred malt RIS bitterness. One of the best in the style. Mild warmth of 11%. I wish I could still get this brewery. One of my favorite Russian Imperial stouts. This is tasting less bitter and smoother/silkier than the 2017 bottles I had recently. This is undated, but a different label than the 2017. Cheers
Back with a goal to clear my twenty 2024 Cellar Beers before Summer and the heat arrive. I don't have a review of this particular vintage to compare against, but this has historically been a Top 10 favorite for me. This has been refrigerated since purchase, not properly basement cellared. One thing I was shocked by was the label said to store laying down. I store all beers upright, including corked beer. Brouwerij Girardin Gueuze 1882 (Black Label) (2024) Bronze orange clear base, beyond medium sustained carbonation, faint carbonation ring above the rom and milky way cover over the center of the base. Lay down the funk, wet horse blanket, tart, lemon, pear, lemongrass. Yes! Too impatient to wait, first sip consistent with the aroma, a little more bitter/tart than expected, but still excellent. After warming, this mellows out, funky but not epic, strong flavors experienced with the aroma. Very nice. Faint fizzy carbonation, sweet over tart but fine, lemon horseblanket my finish. Not an epic experience like my first go, but this still held up well. Think the basement cellaring is better than refrigeration. Cheers from the cellar!
2013 Sierra Nevada Bigfoot. Pours with a short rim of head that leaves smudges of lacing. Aroma with mild oxidation and medium caramel with herbal, grassy hop nose Flavor is pretty solid given 13 years with a bit dampened medium and some burnt caramel with low-medium bitterness and spicy, herbal hop flavor and light tobacco notes in the aftertaste. Mouthfeel is solid for a barleywine, not much different from fresh aside from less intense malt and hop stickiness. Medium finish. Overall, still very good and drinkable. I think I like them fresh more now that it is not easy to find good American barleywine anymore. Very enjoyable beer!
I'm reversing course and going oldest to newest, starting with the first of eight I still have from 2020. This is from Keeping Together which brewed out of Half Acre's Lincoln location when they still had a Wild Ale Program. They have reopened in Sante Fe New Mexico, and really want to hit their spot in the next year or two. Keeping Together Architects of Harmony (2020) Bottle Notes: Properly basement cellared for a few years, and refrigerated since 2024 IIRC. 25.4 oz, Saison with black locust honey. This is really quite excellent after all these years. Reviewing my review notes from a fresh bottle on April 4, 2020, I find the the beer pretty consistent but more funky than noted in my review, which is a bonus for me. So glad I get to enjoy this bottle for a night cap!
