June Cellar Reviews

cracked open a 2008 bourbon county the other night with a buddy, still tasting amazing, no oxidization whatsoever.
nice and smooth, the bourbon is melding nicely.

 

The 2009 batch is drinking like a champ right now.

 

Popped an Allagash Vrienden last night and was pleased with how this beer has developed in the bottle over the last 14 months. The bugs have gone to work on this beer and the beer is becoming a bit funkier and definitely more tart. Not super sour but a nice balance and the abv is not even noticeable although I believe it is 9.3% you would never know it form the taste. It is drinking great right now, but I think it could stand some more time in the bottle as well.

 

Popped a few things in the fridge to try during an impromptu cellar venue change over the weekend.

2008 Three Philosophers. Interesting stuff, lots of vinous and leafy, almost tobaccoish flavors have developed. The fruit is quite subdued at this point. This isn't a beer I keep onhand or cellar regularly, but it was a pretty successful experiment.

2008 Bigfoot. I'm a big fan of fresh Bigfoot, but this stuff has a long way to go before turning into the smooth sipper folks have in mind when putting some away each year. Surprisingly bitter with a harsh mismash of soapy and medicinal hop flavor. As it warms and the substantial carbonation settles down, caramel warmth creeps in. A good sign of things to come, but for me, the rule with Bigfoot seems to be really good fresh, really shitty for a few years, and eventually good again. I'm not sure that it's worth the wait, and may well stop purchasing Bigfoot for cellaring purposes. Compare and contrast with...

2009 Gnarlywine. At what should be a similarly awkward age for a barleywine, this has aged much more gracefully. Smooth, viscous and warming with pleasant sourwood honey and baked apple flavors. I'm very seriously considering devoting Bigfoot's cellar real estate to Gnarlywine in the future.

2010 Old Ruffian. Another barleywine that's surprisingly drinkable in the 'tweener' stages. Pleasantly sweet with a faded, but still potent hoppiness.

 

Parabola 10-12 (From yesterday's tasting)
'10: Nice melding of flavors, chocolate malt, leather and tobacco are showing through more but barrel character has turned into some muddled tannins by now. Still hotter than expected but I could easily finish a bottle.

'11: Unanimous favorite of the night. All flavors are well integrated, but with just enough of the coconut/vanilla creme flavor from the barrel still hanging on. A bit sweet still, but I'd say this batch is peaking within 6 months.

'12: Found out they knocked the ABV down a tiny bit, and it shows. Drinks a lot smoother fresh than the other batches, has that nice rich body and fresh barrel character, but too sweet for me to drink a full bottle for now.

Most people ranked them 11-10-12, with 12 being surprisingly close. I think this new batch will be perfect in a year or so.

 

2008 Old Foghorn: cardboard juice. slight notes of sherry and some very minimal dried fruit character, but overwhelming amounts of trans2nonenal. the high amount of hops and lacking malt bill were not kind to this beer. and this bottle it spent it's whole life in refrigerated storage.

 

1958 John Smith Founders Ale: pours flat. Strong notes of sherry, leather and tobacco. A little bit of earthy autolysis as well. the taste still has some pleasant malty sweetness along with notes of Amontillado and leather. the autolysis flavors lurked inn the background, but it was still quite enjoyable. a definite sipper.

 

2008 Cascade Kriek. Plentiful carbonation in spite of the near silent cork removal. The tart cherries are still fairly potent, but less so, and the musty/dusty characteristics are somewhat more powerful. More cherry pit than fruit now, and there's a bit funk in the finish. I'm not sure I'd say it's improved with age necessarily, although I wouldn't be surprised if some huge fans of the Flanders Red style disagreed. At a minimum, it's held up very well, and gets an easy "thumbs up" from me as a cellar candidate.

2009 Abyss. I've had a significant number of these over the past couple of years. (Fun story: I stocked up on them for in-person "trade bait" before moving across the country from Portland.) Some have been infected, some not. This one falls into the former category, although, consistent with my previous last few experiences, the infection doesn't seem to be getting "worse", in that it's not more sour. There's definitely a tangy flavor, especially as it approaches room temperature, but you can almost imagine that it's a tangy roast thing vs. a nasty infection thing. Plenty of char and dark chocolate. I'm cautiously optimistic that choking down my last few won't be too much of a chore.

 

Sprecher czar bourbon barrel stout 2007 one of 1200 bottles.

Didn't have a whole lot of hope for this one being a swing top. Though it opened with a pop, there was no head upon the pour. Sweet malt, cardbourd, sherry, and very dark roasted flavor. Little to no bourbon taste. Past its prime but still drinkable. Best part is the cool 1 liter swingtop bottle.

 

Deschutes Black Butte XXI. The coffee and pepper aromas have faded dramatically at this point, background players behind a rich roasty and sweet nose with a touch of bourbon. The pepper flavor is bolder than the aroma lets on, but is mainly a flash of momentary heat up front and a reminder in the finish. The ratio of chocolate and bourbon to roast is just about perfect. Impressively smooth with notions of dark fruit and caramel. A fantastic beer. Right up there with '07/'08 Abyss, Adam and Fred among my favorite cellar experiments.

 

French Broad Wee Heavy-est. Haven't had it fresh, but age has not treated this odd hybrid brew kindly.
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/2455/39744/?ba=PDXHops

North Coast Old Stock 2010. The sherry/marsala/raisin combo is somewhat overwhelming, and the finish somehow seems less smooth and warming than it once did. I'll take my Old Stock fresh to a year old, thank you. I have no clue what sort of aging Old Stock undergoes at the brewery, but this seemed like a more 'finished'/ready to drink brew when it was bottled.

 

Batch E!031 of Ithaca's White Gold

Wow, the brett. has really taken hold of this beer. Fresh it is full of tropical fruits/pineapple, but now there is some serious grassy brett. taking hold. Still plenty of tropical fruit, but now it is kind of like a wild wheat saison.

 

Enjoy a 1999 JW Lees Harvest this evening. Very strong sherry flavors in both the nose and taste. It plays well enough with the dark fruits and makes the taste complex, but I'm forced to conclude that my bottle was a bit too oxidized. I wish I had a fresher bottle for a side-by-side to give a more fully-informed opinion.

As a side note, if anyone in Philly would like some 1999, I'd be willing to do some IP trades. (Clearly my review is not designed to hype up the value!).

 

They didn't put pepper in XXI. http://www.deschutesbrewery.com/brew/black-butte-xxi-porter.

 

Saves me from opening an bottle bro!

 

I know they didn't put pepper in XXI, but I also get a peppery flavor from that beer - it might have to do with the coffee they added.