Double Bastard

Oldest I've had one is at 2.5-3yrs. It was...drinkable, way too oxidized though. Not going to turn into a barleywine by any means. I think it might be interesting around the year mark.

 

I'm going to express the opposite view - I think all of the Bastards age quite well. And I do think it turns into barley wine. I've had it at up to 8 years old, and thought it was great. Oxidized, yes, but in a good way IMO. Now, if it's the hops you're after with DB, that's another matter.

Also, I was at Stone in Escondido a few years back and they had various vintages on tap, including some barrel-aged versions (new oak, not bourbon). So evidently they think it's worth drinking with some age on it.

 

Liked it best fresh. Aged, not so much....

 

Four years and it's a malty bomb of a barleywine. I love it. Fresh it's just too damn hoppy.

 

had it fresh a while ago, the hops definitely make a difference. had 2012 draft last night & it was a monster. strong ale barely does it justice. was good, but super heavy. im gonna give mine a few years more.

 

Ihave 8 years going right now for a vert. Its great for various reasons on the way. Cheap worthwhile experiment.

 

Good to hear. I have 2x 2009 Bourbon Barrel aged bottles from their QM series sitting around waiting to become delicious(er?). I had a BA old Guardian not too long ago and it was way too hot so I have been letting these go for a while.

 

im sitting one for next year just out of curiousity. its only about $7 and easily obtainable when its out. so its not too hard of a hit if it fails

 

I just had a '10 and thought it was fantastic

 

I like mine with 6 months on it.

 

IMHO a wall of mass that with cellaring becomes...a thinner wall of mass.

 

I can't stand it fresh, but I had an '08 earlier this year and it was phenomenal. A great beer that really benefits from aging.

 

If you look up Double Bastard on Untappd, people have entries for verticals going back to then and they say it has dropped off a lot by that time. They seem to agree that 3-5 years is when it's at its best. I actually just picked up a 2008 Jeroboam for $50. God I love that store, they have no idea what they got sometimes. But keep on aging it to see for yourself, though I thought I'd give you a heads up. I mean DB has changed ABVs over the years, no idea what it was before 2007.

 

Did an 09, 11, 13 vertical last night for comparison sake. We had some peculiar results. Based on ABV counts does anyone know if they changed this years batch? both 09,11 were 10.5 and this years was 11.2. So as we went back in time from 13 through we noticed that the 11 had the best mouthfeel, aftertaste, balanced profile. The 13 was a hoppy and resinous brew as expected but with the 11 it smoothed out evenly. The 09 was where it got strange...there was a huge hop presence? I'm curious to know if perhaps the lupulin oil separated itself with so much age and resided at the top of the glass (oil and water), i'm not a brewer so I figure that it's best to ask for opinions. You could tell the beer was older because the flavors were very subtle and the carbonation was pretty flat but the hop presence confused me. The 11 had all hops benched but yet with some more age they come back? Personally I felt the 11 was the best of the three so I am curious to see what a single year would do.

 

@craftaholic Love the picture because it highlights one of my questions from my DB jeroboam thread: which is how has the bottle changed over the years?

Am I right to assume that the bottles go in their respective order (09, 11 and 13)? If not, could you tell me which ones are which.

 

@craftaholic Thank you for your tasting notes. I bought a single bottle a few weeks back and have been debating whether to let it sit for a few months to a year or drink it fresh. I'll drink one now for a baseline, but may follow you and see what a year does as well.