November Cellar Review

2013 BCBCS.

Not much time in the cellar, happy almost first birthday to it.

Still plenty of coffee on the nose, and in the flavor. Slightly hot still, but delicious.

just another example of how this beer, and it's variants, never let's me down.

 

2013 BCBS vs. 2013 BCBS

Last year I got 2 different batches of regular BCBS. The batch bottled on 8/20/13 comes in at 14.2%. The batch bottled on 11/7/13 comes in at 14.9%.

Both are tasting more similar with age, but the 14.9% is still noticeably hotter still.

Good stuff.

 

2006 Westvleteren 12

Crossposting from the Westy 12 thread
I had an eight year old bottle a few days ago. No idea how it had been stored. It tasted somewhat porty, but nowhere near as strong as the seven year old Chimay blue I had this summer. Still very carbonated. Seemed easier to pick up the alcohol. Nice complexity, but I think I prefer the fresh to the eight year old, as some of the plum character had disappeared.

 

Just pulled out of bottle of blend 1 and blend 2 of CS Persica.***Disclaimer...yes these are the CS beers that had a massive diacetyl infection going on when this was fresh. Followed the instruction of several homebrewers that dabble in making wild ales as a beer hobby. Thanks to all of you that gave me advice (you know who you are). The advice you gave definately got rid of that nasty diacetyl off flavors and all that buttery nastiness. Cheers!

Blend one has gotten substantially more sour than it was fresh. It tastes of lemon and watermelon oddly enough. No peach flavor at all. Low carbonation levels. Still pretty tasty, but blend 2 is what I prefer now.

Blend two has retained a nice earthy peach nose and flavor. It smells and tastes of substantial, earthy peachiness. Low carbonation level; not much dryness is noted in this beer.

 

2010 BB4D is drinking spectacular, flavors so well integrated now, nectar of the gods. Lighter amount of barrel, still good carb. Heat is dialed all the way down now, almost too dialed back. Can it get better than this? I am not expert enough to answer, I do wonder if this is good as it gets.

 

2008 Stone Old Guardian.

I didn't actually mean to open this now, but in shifting things, I accidentally dropped a box and broke a 2008 Double Bastard. The bottle next to it was an Old Guardian and I decided to try it. It is coming along very nicely. I think it is best left another 5 or 10 years. The hops falvors are still present and there is too much bite to the bitterness. Still a very good beer, though. I think it will be much better in a few years, but it is enjoyable now..

Lots of caramel, almond, vanilla. Medium thickness on mouthfeel. Very good, a bit bitter. I believe it will get better.

 

I cringed a little when I read this.

 

Opened my last Mother of all Storms '10. Blown away. Probably in the top 10 bottles I opened this year. Makes me extremely happy I keep a vertical going of this been.

 

2013 Revolution Death's Tar bottled September 2013 stored in chest freezer cellar. No longer hot, lots of vanilla from the barrel and Chocolate up front. This mellowed out perfectly.

 

Anchor OSA 2007
It's winter here in MN (and an early one at that), so time to bring out the holiday beers. For a smaller beer this old it is quite amazing how little oxidation is showing in the smell. The aroma is quite amazing - like a dark fruit (figs) cake, with spices (allspice, nutmeg) and molasses. Really impressive. Still looks spectacular too. Rich full dense dark head with good stamina and lots of lacing. Dark brown color and garnet highlights.
The flavor did not hold up as well with fading of intensity and a start of cardboard quality. Probably good I'm drinking it now and I'll see if I have any more of this age as I don't think it'll hold up much longer.
However, the aroma was well worth the price of admission. It is spectacular.

 

2012 Santa's Little Helper - the age helped this one tremendously. No heat whatsoever for a 12% beer. Very smooth yet still roasty, with plenty of bourbon character still. Glad I sat on it. Very enjoyable Probably would not let it go much longer.

 

MY PEOPLE

 

2008 Struise Tsjeesee Belgian Style X-Mas Ale

Drank with the sun going down at freezer temp as the beer warmed, sitting outside with my dog and just out of my view, cars rushed by.

Semi-sweet, like a lot of semi-aged beers seem to have; boozy and with little hints of spice still left but really enjoyable, especially if it would've been Christmas. Reddish gold color with little flakes of ingredients dancing within the mixture. I'm sure the original beer is nothing special but now... we're talking.
Personally, with every single beer I have, I believe, it could always go longer.
I have two left and I can spare one.

 

Just opened a 3 y/o Guinness Foreign Extra stored properly. I wasn't sure that the beer originally had the weight and power to hold up to aging, but banked on the idea that the stronger hop presence would add enough margin to the flavor to allow this to turn into something nice. It was good, with surprisingly textured and layered chocolate character, a little vinous, and slightly thin overall. Better than fresh? Most people would say no (the hops are gone), but I very much like aged beer in many cases. So... not better, but not worse. A success in my opinion.

 

Had 2013 Abraxas on tap last week. This is not one I pictured improving much with age, but it was A-mazing. The cinnamon had calmed down enough that all the flavors melded perfectly. Between Abraxas Vanilla, 2014, and 2013, the 2013 was the clear winner and was the first keg to kick.

 

Lakefront 25th Anniversary Stout

This is a bottle from a 4 pack I found a year after its release on a random store shelf. Not Refrigerated.

Pours super black with no head what to speak off. First taste has hints of sour/tartness. As it warmed the tartness seemed to subside. Any harshness it may have had fresh is completely gone. Seems to be past its prime.

Will have to see if my one bottle, properly cellar-ed, has the same results.