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Opened this today, coffee has faded a bit to balance out the barrel character. Yum!
 
Last night I got in touch with my Shania Twain. Lit some incense, lit some bud, and took an epsom salt bath, while watching ice luge and bob sled on mute.
Cracked a KBS from 2014 for this ordeal:
Looked as jet black and syrupy as ever. No head. Smelled a bit chcolatey, not much coffee at all on the nose. Couldnt pick up any vanilla tones nor wood. Some booze though.
Tasted pretty much as bourbon as it did to start. But the nuances have all seemed to disappear; oak, vanilla, coffee, all seem to be basically gone and muddled. Its sweet too. Chocolatey sweet whisky.
It has somehow thinned out it seems too. The carbonation is basically the same. But the syrupy pour was decieving. It just doesnt seem to have the same consistency.
Overall, will not ever age this beer again. I had heard that it wasnt great for aging, but never tried my self. Lesson learnt.
 
Last night I got in touch with my Shania Twain. Lit some incense, lit some bud, and took an epsom salt bath, while watching ice luge and bob sled on mute.
Cracked a KBS from 2014 for this ordeal:
Looked as jet black and syrupy as ever. No head. Smelled a bit chcolatey, not much coffee at all on the nose. Couldnt pick up any vanilla tones nor wood. Some booze though.
Tasted pretty much as bourbon as it did to start. But the nuances have all seemed to disappear; oak, vanilla, coffee, all seem to be basically gone and muddled. Its sweet too. Chocolatey sweet whisky.
It has somehow thinned out it seems too. The carbonation is basically the same. But the syrupy pour was decieving. It just doesnt seem to have the same consistency.
Overall, will not ever age this beer again. I had heard that it wasnt great for aging, but never tried my self. Lesson learnt.

Had 13-16 from kegs earlier this year and it seems like there's a lot of batch variation. The 13 was the best, 14 infected, and 15 just didn't hold up well.
 
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I believe K15B11 is February 2011 bottle date. Almost six years on this bad boy and it's holding super well. Big dark fruits emblematic of La Trappe's quad are still prominent. Body may be a little thinner and just a hint of oxidation. Held up very well and even had solid carb. I forgot how much I love this beer and it was fun to try this with a decent amount of age.
 
A week and no cellar reviews?

Sometimes I keep the last of a 4/6 pack way back in one of the beer fridges. Sometimes its because its terrible, sometimes its because I want to keep one on hand until they remake it (Guinness 250th anniversary for instance).

Anyways, found a MGD 64 Lemonade and Bud Select 55 the other day. Being that it was not lemonade weather, opted for the 55. . .

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Tasted like old water. Like when you have that glass of water on your nightstand, and you go on vacation, and you come back and the chlorine has turned in it, and all the dust particles over that time period came to rest inside your glass of water. No malt, no hops, no yeast flavors. Just old water that someone spilled a tiny amount of beer in.
 
A week and no cellar reviews?

Sometimes I keep the last of a 4/6 pack way back in one of the beer fridges. Sometimes its because its terrible, sometimes its because I want to keep one on hand until they remake it (Guinness 250th anniversary for instance).

Anyways, found a MGD 64 Lemonade and Bud Select 55 the other day. Being that it was not lemonade weather, opted for the 55. . .

15232285_10209983437776984_4210887014757738246_n.jpg


Tasted like old water. Like when you have that glass of water on your nightstand, and you go on vacation, and you come back and the chlorine has turned in it, and all the dust particles over that time period came to rest inside your glass of water. No malt, no hops, no yeast flavors. Just old water that someone spilled a tiny amount of beer in.

i need to get my hands on that vintage! sounds like they really nailed the water-with -split-beer ratio!
i got some old beers on deck, hopefully a review or 2 soon
 
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Continuing burning through things I shouldn't really be cellaring from my cellar. This was actually pretty good. I remember this being ginger-bready when fresh. That's all gone and it's mellowed out quite well. There is some noticeable oxidation that got a lot more prominent as it warmed. I'd probably knock my Untappd rating down a bit if I had rated it when it had warmed. The oxidation is going to be a problem real soon.
 
as promised finally cracking some of those old beers i have on deck, up first
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i loved this one fresh, spruce tips really added a nice sweetness to it. the oak version was on of my favorite beers at the time

this one carries the big spruce sweetness still bit the rest of the beer is defferently a shell of its former self

gets even worse with the taste unfortunately, spruce tips is still there but oxidation has taken over, a bit too stale at this point fellas. drink em if you got it, while it still has some good flavors

cheers
 
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2011 bottle. Drank Thanksgiving 2016.

Black pour, brown head, 1/3", carbonation right where it should be. Chocolate nose, bourbon, wood, great balance, no booziness. Taste didn't leave me with any oxidation notes, very smooth, easy drinking, covered heat well. Tastes like older viscosity, this time with carbonation. Its good and kind of exactly what you come to expect from a bourbon barrel stout.

I like the beer, but heaven forbid if I would ever wait in line for it. Usual "but Parabola on shelves" comparison. Parabola aside, I can still just walk into a Winco and drop $15 for a barrel aged imperial stout (scytale) that is a substitute good for this beer. Eclipse is right up the road too. Plus you know, Track 10 from the same brewery is markedly better than this one.

If I was truly ranking barrel aged stouts in California. . .

I don't think this cracks the top 20. But it is still very good, its just there are very good substitute goods out there and this does nothing unique.
 
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Etre decided to send me yet more 2014 Westy, so I opened one of the others I had. It's coming along, developing some nice fig flavors and there's a touch of caramel, but it's not all that close to where I want it. Also: super duper carbed, holy crap even for a Belgian style it was a lot.

As I said, I have a bunch of these, at least 12 now, and not very many '13/'15, so if anyone wants to do a swap, lmk.
 
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Etre decided to send me yet more 2014 Westy, so I opened one of the others I had. It's coming along, developing some nice fig flavors and there's a touch of caramel, but it's not all that close to where I want it. Also: super duper carbed, holy crap even for a Belgian style it was a lot.

As I said, I have a bunch of these, at least 12 now, and not very many '13/'15, so if anyone wants to do a swap, lmk.
I have a couple that I purchased this summer in Belgium that I believe are '15 if interested. I can double check the date if you know where to look (I do not).
 
I have a couple that I purchased this summer in Belgium that I believe are '15 if interested. I can double check the date if you know where to look (I do not).
It's printed on the cap, should be of the form DD.MM.YY where "YY" is actually "last two digits of bottling year plus 3", so a '15 would say XX.YY.18. The ink tends to rub off pretty easily, though, sometimes it's really hard to read.

And that would be pretty convenient, we could just IP that ****!
 
It's printed on the cap, should be of the form DD.MM.YY where "YY" is actually "last two digits of bottling year plus 3", so a '15 would say XX.YY.18. The ink tends to rub off pretty easily, though, sometimes it's really hard to read.

And that would be pretty convenient, we could just IP that ****!
Looks like I have a '16 then? If so and you'd like it, I'm down.

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Drank a 1989 Alexander this past Saturday it was still carbonated but the best way to describe it...it was cherry sugar water. No complexity at all. The only thing going for it was the cool factor

Good to know, slightly tempers my desire to track one down. The 1999's that lurchingbeast and myself drank at Delilah's this year for their sour fest were fantastic and had me hoping that the older ones would be as well.
 
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Stevens Point Whole Hog Barleywine

Don't know much about this one, other than I picked up a 4 pack for like $8 last year. It's either a '14 or '15.

Lots of "chunks" in the bottom of the pour. I'm assuming that they used some sort of powdery yeast that didn't floccuate very well.

Tastes like it was cut with cheap vodka. Flat out harsh and unpleasant.

Body is lean and thin for a 10% beer.

Total failure.
 
2008 Norrebros "Little Korkny"
This one is shockingly superb!
The carb is perfect, slightest of bubbles rising in the bottle upon opening.
Little to no oxidation.
Liquid caramel, toffee, dark fruits and christmas miracles!
Barley Wine Style Ale- The same words on that
A A Ron

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2013 Oude Tart w/ Cherry, consumed 12/24/16 out on the rez.

Dude, cherry battery acid, draped in leather, mild tobacco and earth. Cola looking pour can't hold a head on it. The sour cherry was never huge in terms of juiciness, but it is still there 3+ years later, albeit further acidic and sour. This is damn sour. Even more now it seems. Oak tannins still give a nice drying presence on the back end mouth feel wise. Alcohol isn't noticeable. Carbonation is high. Oxidation is nigh. As usual, even though I know this one was stored upright, can't tell a difference between this and the ones stored on their side.

Love this beer.
 
Bottle of 1935 Jubilee Ale that SeaWatchman sent him in last years SS BIF, didn't have proper glassware so went with the 1953 Coronation glassware.

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Really did not have high hopes of this being anything close to drinkable, but me and a friend both kind of enjoyed it. I have no idea how to describe the taste. would happily open another bottle of this if anyone wants to send me another one.
 

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