June 2014 cellar thread!

Had a September 2013 120 Minute IPA tonight. I had intended to age this guy for at least 2 years, but I still had never tried it. I figured I should crack it so I have an idea of what it's like before it's aged for long. Very sweet and boozy, but not overwhelmingly so. Much like a barleywine, reminded me a lot of Curmudgeon as I picked up on notes of molasses, cherry, and cough syrup. The mouthfeel was just a hair too thin for my liking, and I would enjoy slightly less carbonation. I know many others have aged this guy, but I'm sure given some more time the slight edges would smooth out and this would be absolutely fantastic.

 

Deschutes The Abyss (2010)
To my jaded palate the '09 version (before it soured) was the last truly elite version of the Abyss. The '10, however, was always very good & doesn't seem to have suffered, or gained much, over the past 3 1/2 years. The wax IS more brittle, but still plenty of head. Taste is great: sweet molasses, solid malts, nice roast. The bourbon element seems to have retreated a tad & is more noticeable in the sinuses than the taste, very subtle. The only negative is the ghost of astringency that's shadowing the taste, but it's distant enough not to impact my pleasure at all.

IMHO, the '08 is still going strong, I haven't had an uninfected '09 in years, & the '10 might be the best it's going to be. But hey, I have a couple more bottles, so I'm going to find out eventually!

 

Deschutes black butte 24th anniversary. I didn't have this one fresh, but it is drinking pretty well right now. Alot of dark fruit with a hunt of chocolate aftertaste. A little boozy, but still very good.

 

Just did a GI Sofie vertical from 2014 to 2010. Mind you, I'm not the best at describing taste notes.

2014: grassy, tart, lemon taste notes with a slight boozy burn feel at the end.
2013: starts developing an aroma and taste that I can best describe as "wet, old hay," taste also becomes more brighter, tartness is mostly gone, which makes it more smoother.
2012: flavor is even more smoother than 2013 as the tartness was completely gone. A fainting soapy characteristic starts to develop.
2011: The tartness reappears, but with a more sour edgeness to it. Has a brighter lemon note.
2010: Starting to lose its luster. Flavor in general becomes lighter, tartness faded, and develops a clean finish at the end. Quite flat really.

From best to worst: 2011, 2013, 2014, 2012, 2010.

 

Good to hear, was thinking of cracking one tomorrow night.

 

Nice review. My first bottle of this is arriving later today - can't wait to crack it!

 

Lander Brewing 10lb Brown, 2013. Big oozer vs the gusher that it was fresh. Still lots of carbonation and, obviously, lots of foam. Now, for the bad news: it's gone very tart so there's probably an infection going on. It was sooo good fresh.

 

tonight at a share had:

2010 Lost Abbey Red Poppy Ale - Held up great, plenty of carb in the 375mL bottle. Lots of cherry, nicely tart, pleasantly surprised.

2011 Lost Abbey Deliverance - Low carb, somewhat unspectacular. I only had maybe 1/2oz total of this bottle because I was busy working on a fairly generous pour of 2012 BCBCS and wasn't about to rush it.

2011 Schlafly Raspberry Coffee Stout - Held up great! Super jammy with raspberry in the aroma, but the coffee had really fallen off. What was left was slightly thin, but amazing for a 7abv beer with its age. The aroma reminded me of how BC Bramble Rye was drinking a few months ago, although the taste was not nearly as violent or complex.

The Red Poppy and Schlafly brews were really pleasant surprises.

2012 BCBCS was doing well, but the 2013 kicks its ass, although I greatly preferred the base beer in 2013 and think that the starting point probably was a little disparate and so the comparison is inherently unfair.

 

2012 Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter

Haven't seen this on the shelf lately so I wasn't able to do a side-by-side. 12 oz bottle poured into a Great Divide tulip I got at Haskell's for three fucking dollars. Jet black with light tan head. Still carbed, little retention, some lacing. Smells of fig, plum, some roast. Sweet and roasty, with caramel, fig, plum, stone fruit, maybe chocolate. This feels like it's starting to fall off and enter the port stage. I'd say this brew is best had within a year or year and a half. Still one of my favorite gateway brews!

 

2010 KBS

so. It doesn't suck. I know everybody says it's best fresh, blah blah blah.

Can't say either way. At 4 years it still has plenty of coffee, no doubt about that. I'm on my own tonight so I can't do a side by side with a 2014, but at 4 years this beer is smooth, smooth smooth. A certain something, can't say what, a brightness maybe in the mid taste. No noticeable oxidation that I can tell.

I've still got little more than a 4 pack left, so I'm going to let those bottles sleep on.see how far out we can take this.glad I sat on some of these

 

Old Rasputin XV tasting very nice tonight. Bourbon seems a little more balanced (still there in a big way) Lots of roasty, almost coffee flavors. Moderate head leaving a nice thin lacing. Tackling alone, but it'll be awhile

 

I did a 5 year vertical just last week on Kbs. All brews held up nicely. The best one in my opinion was the 2012. The 2010 had lost some of its coffee but mostly it's bourbon carb backbone.

 

Black Butte XXV- The Best After date is today (6/11/14), so I figured I'm safe to pop the bottle. The most noticeable difference is the slight anise/licorice taste that was present was completely gone. The beer was a cocoa nib bomb. Strong dark, bitter chocolate taste with a balance of barrell and dark fruit on the back. It wasn't nearly as strong in dark fruit flavor as I remembered, which was surprising as there was definitely some early signs of oxidation, but I will assume the dark fruit will really pop again once the cocoa starts to fade. Overall, marked improvement over fresh. It went from a 4/5 to a 4.5/5.

 

5/20/13 bottle of DFH Burton Baton:

I've done this before with a 6 month BB but wanted to stretch it out even more. Wow what a surprise. Smooth caramel and oak flavors. Hops are obviously faded but it doesn't take away from the pleasure if the mouthfeel or more importantly taste. Almost like a caramel syrup. Crazy good transformation. I'd recommend trying this out.

 

2007 Double Bastard. This wasn't personally cellared by me, so its quality is unknown. Sediment clearly visible in the bottle, but opens with a little 'pop'... so far so good. The smell is intoxicating. I would completely believe this was some barleywine that had been aged in rum barrels or something like that. Sweet, boozy, with just a hint of a sharp note. Looks like caramel in the glass—opaque deep orangey tan. The taste is toffee/caramel, extremely sweet, but with a strong bitter note. Reminds me of the St. Peter's IPA I had a while back, in the very sweet initial assault followed by a somewhat unpleasant bitterness. Unfortunately, drainpoured after a few sips, because it was starting to give me a headache, and it wasn't good enough to justify.

 

As I have not had '10, I can certainly agree with your tastes. I had a 2012 the other week and it was not good.

 

Tasting notes from last night's Matilda vertical.

2014 - Malty aroma/taste with a faint of apple, raspberry/blackberry. Light on the hops and can detect some oak. Little spice as well.

2013 - Similar to 2014, but flavors were mellowed out. Became more dryer, slight tartness develops as the sweetness is better balanced.

2012 - Flavor is even lighter than 2013. The malt hits you at first, along with an unfortunate muted clean finish. My buddy described this vintage as "carbonated water, but with less flavor."

2011 - Flavor becomes more diluted and fades even quicker at the end. Someone else pointed out an acrid or metallic taste developing.

Best to worst, 2013, 2014, 2012, 2011.

Didn't seem to age as well as I expected. 2012 and 2011 (especially) were gushers.