§ucaba (Abacus) - all 3 vintages

Every Abacus I buy is awesome aged or unaged. If you like aging beer, it is a phenomenal choice. Since the current newest vintage just came out and you have 2 of each vintages... I would recommend deciding whether to do a vertical now (with friends obviously.. ass ton of BA barley will fuck some shit up) or wait an entire year to extend your vertical to another year. Either option will give you a good idea if and when you should do your last vertical of Abacus. I hope you invite your friend to each and give him or her something insanely special, beer or otherwise, as a thank you. Have fun!! Please post what your decision will be. Maybe hookup a similar vertical with people that have Parabola and/or FW Anniversary.

 

It doesn't hold up particularly well beyond a year or so, though the first batch isn't exactly tasting bad. Most of the barrel overtones drop off with age, along with some of the booziness, making for a less complex (and IMO less enjoyable) beer.

 

I couldn't imagine it being nothing than amazing. I haven't had an aged one, but I'd imagine the booziness would die down. Then again, for me, the beer is all about the complexity and wild shifting and changing of flavors. Seems like a beer to have fresh.

 

I holds up very well but even better, it develops. It's absolutely amazing - A 3 year vertical would be lots of fun.
I may do one tonight.

 

Sucaba is absolutely better a year on - at least, the 2012 has turned out to be. Seems like a worthy endeavor to see how the original is faring 2 years out.

 

Had a 2012 the other night and was surprised by how good it is. I think a had a 2011 somewhat recently and was underwhelmed, though I could be misremembering. Either way, you're not going to be poisoned by it, may as well do the vertical (if you can get a few friends together).

 

This seems to be my experience with all aged FW barrel beers. I really can't understand what people are tasting that makes them think a Abacus/Parabola/Anniversary has improved. I know I won't be holding on to any longer than three months after the release.

 

For me, Sucaba has improved because more of the base beer is coming through, and it just goes really well with the barrel. FW does such a great job with their barrel-aging that the beers are excellent young, but the base beer for Sucaba has nice caramel and toffee notes, with just a hint of fruitiness that are really shining right now.

I don't know if I'd say that 14 is better now, but I opened one in December and it blew me away every bit as much as it did when I first had it. Still has good barrel character.

As for 15, I didn't care for the hoppiness up front in the fresh version. My local beer bar tapped a keg of it on New Year's Day, and it was so effing good that I went back two more times to have some before the keg kicked. The hops are completely gone, and the base beer is just unbelievably good as it's coming through with the barrel.

I think 16 will be good after a year or so, when the rye and Wookey flavors aren't as sharp. I liked it a lot, and appreciate that they were trying to do something different with it, but I expect I'll like it more when those flavors aren't so prominent.

 

Interesting. I feel like the barrel notes decline, all that good toffee and toasted coconut seems to disappear along with the wood notes.

 

Yeah it's definitely not just a Sucaba issue, all their barrel aged beers hold up poorly. I wonder if it's an issue with the blending process? Their barrel aged beers seem to oxidize extremely fast.

 

I feel like you're the only one who understands me.

Seriously though I agree about the oxidation and I wonder if some people just can't detect it? My palate sucks but its very sensitive to Summit hops and oxidation and I hate them both.

 

Add me to this group. I bought a whole bunch of Parabola about 3 years ago and then proceed to drink a bottle ever month or two. I felt like it dropped off a cliff after about 10-12 months. Never going for Parabola again unless it's going to be < 8 months old when consumed.

 

Nah, it's groupthink.

 

It holds up fine. I wouldn't go so far as to say it improves dramatically, but it certainly doesn't hold up any more poorly than comparable beers, and better than many because the original product is superior.

Please note I'm not arguing to hold them, but this "Firestone Walker barrel aged beers don't age well" myth that has somehow become orthodoxy is peculiar and silly, although understandable since the first few anniversary beers fell off pretty quick.

But it's ridiculous this notion that somehow, generally, Firestone Walker beers age particularly poorly.

 

Nah, it's a noticeable and pretty swift change in flavor and aroma that some people are apparently less sensitive to. I've done Parabola, Abacus and Anniversary verticals and I don't care for the aged bottles. Actually had a bottle of 14 tonight and was thoroughly unimpressed.

You're welcome to enjoy their older barrel aged beers all you want, but it's kinda dumb to accuse people of being lemmings for holding different opinions.

 

Just popped a 2011 Abacus tonight. Had a strange candy sweetness to it. Plus it lost most of it's carbonation, leaving it with a very flat mouth feel. Still good, but much better fresh. I also had a similar experience with the 2011 Parabola, where it just wasn't as complex as it was fresh, though still being quite enjoyable. One thing good about aging them is they do cool down quite a bit. I think it's just finding that sweet-spot, where they cool down enough but still maintain that complex character that makes them so enjoyable when they're fresh.

 

You're right, they don't hold up any more poorly than comparable beers. Most barrel-aged beers go way downhill after a year or so when the barrel character starts to noticeably diminish. For some reason, though, these are the only ones people seem to recognize it in.

 

Out of curiosity, where exactly do you think the carbon dioxide went?

 

I just opened a bottle of b1 Abacus two nights ago, hoping that this much-spoken about magical transformation to deliciousness had occurred. It hadn't. I had multiple (probably 6 or 7) bottles in year one, and according to my hillbilly palate it had absolutely peaked in that span (probably in months 0 to 4). Since then I've had one about every 6 months, and it's gotten unpleasant-er each time.

I get that shit's all relative, but goddamn if that beer wasn't the poster child of "drink it fresh, dummy!" to me.