Craft vintages

This is the first and only that comes to mind. Never had it but I certainly wish . . . and consider it vintage.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/388/59144/

 

I tend to let too many of my cellared beers sit past their prime and I drink a lot of 'molasses' beers, but that has not been the case with the BCBS bottles that I've stored for 6-7 years. However, I've never been fortunate to pick up and cellar any of the variants, so I don't know how those do.

 

Ballantine Burton Ale.
Thomas Hardy Ale
To start. Both have been recently resurrected.

 

Well, as it happens, I finished an '09 Angels Share a few minutes ago. Despite the complete lack of carbonation, it was still, enjoyable. Most of my cellar is at my friends house ( he has an actual cellar. With a separate room. With shelves. I discovered a bunch of stuff I'd forgot I had during a recent reshelving project. Hello '97 Old Bawdy!).

Back to your point, nobody should have a cellar "packed with haze". Those brews are for freshness freaks, not folks who have more patience. Again, strokes for folks.

 

Had a 2002 J.W. Lees Harvest Ale about a month ago. Insanely delicious. Not sure many beers can survive that long and be that good.

The 2001 still in my fridge is calling my name...

 

I had a 2001 Alaskan Smoked Porter in 2015 that was phenomenal!

 

Haters gonna hate, but pour that 1997 Sam Adams Triple Bock through a strainer and let it sit about 45 minutes to open up, and it's a damn fine way to spend an evening.

 

I still have an unopened bottle of Ballantine Burton Ale (the '46 batch) that I picked up quite a few years ago. Do people still drink those?

 

In 2016 I had a '08 Black Albert at the Brick Store in Atlanta and I about died. That was a phenomenal beer. Showed me what age will do to certain beers when kept right. Not really that old at the time but for me then it was by far the oldest beer I'd had.

 

I recently had a 5 year old Class of 88 from North Coast, as well as Cantillion Rose de Gambrinus on draft and both were something very very special.

 

Whose name is on the label?

 

+!

 

My go-to shop has a few bottles of McAuslin St. Ambroise 20th Anniversary Vintage Ale (2009). I sampled this one about a year ago. From my review, I found it a bit tannic and astringent with off-flavors that I thought might be due to oxidation. (It had a sherry-like quality that was not altogether pleasant.) It was also quite alcoholic. I'm debating whether to get another one of these and give it a few more years. For $6.99, what could possibly go wrong?

 

JW Lees harvest ale is a favorite. Some others that I was thinking of were Samichlaus, Bigfoot, Avery demons of ale series. They all age well, and at least the demons were retired due to a lack of interest from today' discriminating beer drinkers...

 

I'll dig the bottle out this evening and let you know. It wasn't Casey Stengel or anyone I recognized.

 

Bruce McGorrill. Never heard of him, but a quick Google search reveals that he was from Maine and was in radio and television. Died in 2006.

 

I drank a few ounces of J.R. Ewing's Private Stock last week at a bottle share and I am still alive. Can confirm that 1980 is a non-lethal vintage.

 

That's not really how the Ballantine Burton Ale worked. Yearly, certain batches of their India Pale Ale were chosen for longer aging and additional dry-hopping (1 year was the aging period for the standard IPA) - those became the "base" beer of the Burton Ale. When bottled, it was blended with "fresh" IPA and more IPA was then also added to the aging casks to top them off - sort of the solera method of aging.

So, "Brewed on May 12, 1946" on the labels of the Burton Ale from 1955 on, means that the '46 IPA is the oldest beer in the blend of that year's BBA. And, in theory, each year's Burton Ale was slightly different because of the complex blending of old and fresh IPA.

Bruce McGorrill was on the BBA recipient list for several years in the late 1950s-early 1960s - I always assumed he might have done sports announcing of games sponsored by Ballantine (which had a big market in New England states) or otherwise involved in local radio/TV advertising for the brewery.