November Cellar Reviews

Thanksgiving night and the night after that and the day after that for OSU/Michigan (GO BUCKS!!):

1. Aventinus 2006: First and foremost, I consider Aventinus one of the best weizenbocks on the planet. That said, I was not impressed by the long barrel aging and subsequent long time this beer spent in the bottle prior to it being consumed. Brewed in '06 and then spending 3 years in a barrel did not do anything spectacular to it. It was overly dry and quite flat as opposed to how it is fresh.

2. '11 Founders Blushing Monk: This stuff is awesome!!! Poured into a wide-mouth red wine glass, fresh raspberries provide a wonderful bouquet. Tastes like the best framboise out there and has a lucious mouthfeel. This brew has definetely stood up to time and is as good as it was fresh. Not sure if it is the type of beer that will benefit from extended cellaring but we held on to it just to see.

3. Alesmith Decadence 2011: This year's version was a smoked barleywine brewed with maple and bourbon barrel aged. Poured into a flute-like 4.5 oz sampler glass at a temperature near 40 degrees F, this beer initially was pure smoke and quite abrasive at the served temp. However, I allowed this one to warm up to near room temperature (recommended serving temp per Alesmith is 50-55 degrees) it opened up quite nicely and, like every other barleywine, was better warmed up. The maple did come through but was still slighted by the bold smoke. The highlight for me was the warmth of the bourbon and oakiness that prevailed over time. Overall, a solid unique and quite complex barleywine with distinct layers of flavor over the evolution that was created in the 15-20 degree difference from serving temp through warming.

4, 5, and 6: '13 FW '13 Sucaba, Deschutes '12 The Abyss, and JK Weasel Rodeo: All of these brews are solid as we all know. Sucaba is plain and simple one of the finer barleywines on the market. Get some!! A note on The Abyss is the anise that lingers on the back of the palate. Came through a lot more than the previous '11 Abyss I have tried. Weasel Rodeo is a solid coffee stout but the coffee has faded, as one would expect with this style. Overall, worth a shot!

Cheers!

 

I had a three year vertical of Ten Fidy several years ago and couldn't detect much difference between the three.

 

We just drank Firestone 15, 16 and 17 one after another and its very clear that these don't do very well with age. 15 was quite malty though somewhat interesting, and 16 was a bit better but still falling off, and 17 was very good.

 

Drank a batch one Sucaba (when it was still Abacus) last Saturday. Thought it was drinking perfectly right now; I loved it and wouldn't sit on it any longer personally. Will probably open a batch 2 in 6-9 months.

Last night we had a Central Waters 1414...while I liked it, it was still VERY hot. Definitely a sipper and tons of bourbon and alcohol throughout the nose and drinking it. I'd recommend holding off on it for a while and hope it mellows out a little bit.