Sucaba

Same experience for me last night. Much better than when I first bought them back in June.

 

meow.

fine, i'll bite. please tell me more about the fresh hop character of this barrel-aged english barleywine.

 

Go back and read my post; I didn't say "fresh hop character," but you'd have to be crazy to have not tasted a decent amount of hops in this one. Or maybe you're right and Firestone forgot to throw the hops into the last batch.

 

call me crazy then. i tasted a lot of caramel, vanilla, bourbon, and oak. no hops stood out at any point when the beer was fresh or aged. i mean, it's already aged for cripes' sake. sure, the hops are there, but contributing any aromatics or hoppy flavors? hell no. some mild bitterness for sure, but even that is weak against the barrel flavors (ibu 42).

the last sentence is idiotic, so i'll ignore it.

 

I have a few bottles of Sucaba. I never had Abacus. I've had Sucuba but intended to age a few. In my experience with FW barrel beers after a year the coconut / vanilla really shine. Is this coming through with Abacus right now? Wanted to figure out if I should age my Sucaba. The coconut/ vanilla is my favorite aspect of FW.

 

is this from experience?

 

Yes, after numerous bottles, side by sides, vintages, verticals, and horizontals. Many threads from the like have been brought up prior to the sites update as well.

 

The first batch came out a year ago. How do you know it won't age well future man?

 

I think I had my third 2011 about two days before and thought it was hands down the best beer I drank in 2011. The bottle I had in November was also amazing. Both of those bottles tasted significantly better to me than when I had the beer the previous spring.

 

I was mainly basing it upon experience with their other beers such as all of the anniversary beers and Parabola batches. FW spends a lot of time on making sure when the beer is out its pretty much at its peak. They run a good BA program. I don't find any of their BA beers hot or too much barrel when fresh. First batch of Abacus was awesome fresh but definitely took a change within 3 months to 6 months of its bottling date especially a year after its release and having it side by side with the fresh one is very noticeable to me.

I just wouldn't sit on this one for too long. If it was hot and boozy from the get go then it would definitely need some time in the cellar before consuming but this is not the case. To me its better fresh when all the flavors are present just how the brewer intended.

 

Just had a year old Parabola and it's insane right now.

 

When I had Abacus for the first time last June, I loved it. It was my 'top beer of 2011' for a while. Had another bottle in July, and it was still stellar. Next one was in September, and I noticed a significant drop off in taste - I just attributed that to a bad bottle. Next one I had was November, and it was again, noticeably worse than the previous bottle. I still had four bottles (I liked iit so much after first tasting I scrambled to trade for a quantity), so I figured I would keep periodically trying it just to see what it would do. This thread prompted me to crack open another one the other night, and it was not a pleasant experience finishing it. It smelled decent, but the taste was just muddled, mouthfeel was too thin, and it had an astringent aftertaste.

 

Yeah, I agree with the thread's general consensus towards aged Abacus. But I'm with you that a year on Parabola does good things (at least in my one experience).

 

I drank mine last weekend and i thought it was pretty impressive

 

I have a bottle coming in my next trade, I am looking forward to seeing how a fresh bottle compares to one with a year on it!

 

I have drank about 9 bottles of Abacus solo, not counting the ones i drank at tastings.
It is best fresh.

Stoutfest is dead on the money correct, as usual.

 

ok if you have had 9 bottles, are they drinking real coconuty right now like Parabola? i get the vivrant barrel aged thing. im just wondering if the they typical FW characteristics take over?

 

I have about a half dozen bottles of Abacus, and a like number of Sucaba. Plan on doing a side by side here very soon.

 

Has anyone had any experience with Parabola past a year? I have a 2011 bottle that I am still holding onto and I wonder if I should let it sit another year or drink it now

 

I will likely be cracking a 2011 Parabola this coming weekend and will report back!