December Cellar Reviews

Sorry to hear your bad experience with C. Wonder if batch variation is an issue. I've only tried the 2/15/13 batch, which I thought was good fresh and great with about a year on it. Still have a few that are coming up on two years. From what you say, that might be the outer limit.

 

Abacus is drinking great right now.

 

Aged Older Viscosity is fantastic. I opened a 2010 bottle in 2013. From my notes:

Aroma of whiskey charred oak. Very pleasing. The taste is similar with lots of coffee, vanilla, and a touch of anise. The whiskey and coffee flavors are very prominent. The coffee essence is outstanding.

 

2010 Abyss - Drinking amazing right now. Glad I held on to it for so long

2010 World Wide Stout - This beer fresh I can't really drink but, this was my first aged bottle at a little over 4 years old and it was amazing. Easy sipper for an 18% brew. I have one more '10 that I'm going to save for another 2 years.

2012 Mad Elf - Cherry bomb, solid but not too much has changed.

2012 Olde School - Never had this fresh but it was really good with 2 years on it. Smooth not overwhelming, fig came through. Nice sipper

 

2011 Abyss-all of the favors have come together so smoothly

 

2009 Bigfoot. Very nice, with the aroma standing out as the best part. Flavor was rich and full and an incredible amount of hop bitterness lingering. Sherry flavors have developed from oxidation with little negative (cardboard) effects. I can't believe how much hop presence there still is after 5 years. My only complaint is a bitter herbal aftertaste that I don't really enjoy. Overall, this bottle was excellent at this age. Nice thick mouthfeel for not originally being all that sweet.

2008 Samichlaus Classic. This and the 2007 Helles I had earlier in the month were my first experiences with these beers, and I am truly impressed. The classic seems to me to be slightly less clean, but display a greater depth of aged/oxidized malt flavors. Blackberry, currant, and concord grape in the aroma, with complex sherry, port, raisin, brown sugar, caramel, and plum in the taste. Very sweet but not overly so. Just a wonderfully developed beer. Very impressive.

 

2014 Mocha Wednesday, basically it's first birthday right about now.

Contrary to,some things I've heard, rumor of its demise are greatly exaggerated. Plenty of coffee left both on the nose and on the taste, all laying on top of that BT GOODNESS. mmmm.....mmmmm...mmmmm.....

Unlike some BA coffee stouts where the coffee seems to blend with be part of the underlying beer, here the coffee and cacao almost seems layered on top,of the beer, an entirely different flavor that just adds to the overall complexity of the beer.

 

Deschutes The Abyss 2010

This is the last year that The Abyss really touched the status of an elite beer, though it's no 2008, which was borderline perfect. The barrel has really begun to fade in this version, & the licorice has come roaring to the forefront. Sweet, with all the edges sanded off, no roast, no heat. Still excellent, but hasn't hung onto the barrel notes as well as the older vintages did.

 

2011 Third Coast Old Ale, snifter. A good deal of raisins and a bit of leather, both from the oxidation. Very little bad oxidation (paper/cardboard) flavors. A large (and for me unpleasant) amount of hop bitterness remains, honestly a bit shocking at this point. Much drier than I expected. I won't be touching my remaining 2011 bottles for at least two years now in the hopes I eliminate the stale hop bitterness.

 

2011 Dogfish Fort- Had high hopes for this beer hearing that a few years on it did wonders, bright ruby colored faded to maroon, more of a dried raspberry flavor now, the alcohol is still very present, almost tastes barrel aged. I think this beer would've been perfect with a slightly dry/tart finish but I couldn't drink more than a small glass. Overwhelming berry sweetness dominated over everything.

2010 Avery Samael- Still one of my all time favorite beers to age, packed full of graham cracker, gingerbread, caramel cheese cake, dried fruit, very little alc presence, amazing

 

2010 Hair of the Dog Matt - Pours incredibly dense without a trace of head; viscous in appearance, thick and slightly oily; dark, burnt caramel color. Giant sweet aroma with caramel/toffee, big malt, slight amount of peat, vanilla/charred oak, and hints of alcohol. Taste is similar but more complex with massive malty sweetness, lots of woodiness and vanilla, burnt sugar, molasses, dark candied fruits, subtle jam elements, and hints of roasted nuts/peat. Carbonation was very light - not surprising after four years in the bottle - velvety smooth and slick, viscous and dense. Overall I thought it was amazing; another incredible offering from HotD. No one does high gravity beers that age as gracefully!

 

My mouth started watering while reading your post. Love that beer!

 

If only I had moar!!! Damn fine brew but I expected nothing less

 

Firestone XVI

*have a bit of a cold so my taste buds are a bit off*

Smell and taste are both primarily of milk chocolate, with a hint of vanilla. Barrel character is very well integrated, not standing out on its own as when it was fresh, but instead complementing the full and rich malt character. Incredibly smooth mouthfeel with only a slight trace of alcohol warmth. Did not detect any remaining hoppiness from the Wookey Jack or agave qualities from the PNC, but the latter might have nudged through if my olfaction had been on its game. Very well integrated, but maybe diminishing in complexity (but as stated before this might just be due to my taste and smell being a bit handicapped right now). No determination on whether this is on its way up or down, but I have a couple bottles left so I will chime in come 2015 to see if this is a drink now or hold onto longer type situation. Definitely doesn't need to age any longer to diminish heat or prominence of barrel character if that was of concern to anyone.