Thoughts on Recent CW BBS Vertical

Discussion in 'Cellaring / Aging Beer' started by jakethesnake9z9z, Jan 6, 2014.

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  1. jakethesnake9z9z

    jakethesnake9z9z Crusader (464) Mar 5, 2009 Wisconsin
    Trader

    Opened up a CW BBS vertical a few days back, and thought I'd share a few of my thoughts on how it seemed to age:

    January 2010 - Really oxidized. The flavors are too mellow, and I couldn't really pick out anything outside of wet paper and mediocre stout.

    December 2010 - Still noticeable oxidation flavor, but there's also a nicer bourbon blast and a little dark fruit flavor. Definitely better than the January bottle, but still couldn't drink more that a few ounces.

    2011 - A little oxidation flavor, but probably the strongest and most complex overall flavor of the bunch. Hard to find a good level of bourbon though...

    2012 - Bourbon is strong, but has combined with everything else just enough to add some fitting complexity and round out the beer a bit.

    2013 - Strong bourbon, and fresh it seems that the lack of body or mouthfeel are more of a problem than when this stout is aged.


    Anello mentioned that this beer probably peaks around 4 years and then falls off sharply from there. From the opinions of my friend and me, the 2012 (1-year aged) was easily the best, followed by 2013 and 2011. Anything earlier and the oxidation took away from anything that developed with the age.

    Anyone else have opinions on how this beer tastes with age on it?
     
    #1 jakethesnake9z9z, Jan 6, 2014
    egrace84 likes this.
  2. egrace84

    egrace84 Initiate (0) Mar 25, 2012 Illinois

    I agree with your input on this... I would never age BBS any longer than 2-3 years tops. I think it reaches the point where it's undrinkable at the three+ year mark. Holding on to it that long w/out drinking it, you're doing yourself and the beer a disservice.
     
    #2 egrace84, Jan 6, 2014
  3. maximum12

    maximum12 Grand Pooh-Bah (4,686) Jan 21, 2008 Minnesota
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Interesting - I've never noticed any oxidation in any of the Central Waters beers when aged, including the stout.

    Otherwise I'd agree. The '11 we had last week was excellent, but the last '10 we popped open was going to char & the bourbon was a ghost. I believe I have one more, so we'll probably open it after I grab some of the '13.
     
    #3 maximum12, Jan 6, 2014
  4. Dupage25

    Dupage25 Savant (1,044) Jul 4, 2013 Antarctica

    Had my last 2011 about a month ago, with a 2012 the next day. The 2011 was better than it was fresh but not as good as it was last year....I still come near to drooling when I think about how amazing it was with a year on it. I didn't take notes, but I thought the 2012 by comparison was not very different after one year, at least compared to the 2011.

    I've got two 2012's left and rather than set a specific target date I think I'll probably just pull them whenever I feel like it.
     
    #4 Dupage25, Jan 13, 2014
  5. Wiscobrew

    Wiscobrew Initiate (0) Feb 19, 2011 Nevada

    I did a 5 year vertical of CW BW last year and need to agree with Anello. The 5 year had definitely gone past it's prime, but I thought 5 years was a good spectrum of how the beer develops.

    That being said, it may be the only time I let a CW go past 4 years.

    I have an 07 Y2K that I just picked up and am looking to check out as it is the oldest CW I have ever had.
     
    #5 Wiscobrew, Jan 15, 2014
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