Cellared Beer Reviews

[pen15clubmember]

Finally got around to doing my 5 yr (that turned into a 7 yr plus both BA releases) Bigfoot Vert.

Original BA Bigfoot was the standout, just awesome vanilla on this and still one of the the most
harshest most barrel forward beers I have ever had. 15 was downright silly compared to it. Can really tell that 15 is a blend of BA and reg.

17 is pretty much an IPA '12 &'13 were the best of the reg bunch, but to be honest none were amazing. Wouldn't cellar again but fun to do.

Yeah, I think the cap changeover that they did in '10 or so really did not do any favors for aging BF. I had a 2011 within the last year and it was pretty much just faded hops. Back in 2012 we had a vert going back to '07 (it's fun switching how I denote years) to present and the early ones were stellar and the rest kinda meh. I had wanted to buy at least a six pack every year several years back and am glad I didn't follow through because it seems to need at least 6 years to develop not. Oh well...not worth the trouble.

 

[libbey]

2010 Bruery Coton

A: Aggressive pour yields a small head that dissipates pretty quickly. Thick sticky legs.

S: Dark sherry notes. Tons of a dark fruit and vanilla. Leather and mahogany decadence.

T: Boozy plums and dates mixed oak. Reminds me of those leather candy strips I ate as a kid. Except this is making my face warm.

M: Thick and viscous. A tiny sip covers everything in sticky booziness.

O: I love old ales so this is my wheelhouse. This beer could go longer but damn if it's not tasting great right now.

I can see why some people would want to split this. Sorry for dem pussy palates

 

[cry me]

Had a 2011 Abacus last night. Still amazing. No pic

 

[stakem1]

2010 Bruery Coton

A: Aggressive pour yields a small head that dissipates pretty quickly. Thick sticky legs.

S: Dark sherry notes. Tons of a dark fruit and vanilla. Leather and mahogany decadence.

T: Boozy plums and dates mixed oak. Reminds me of those leather candy strips I ate as a kid. Except this is making my face warm.

M: Thick and viscous. A tiny sip covers everything in sticky booziness.

O: I love old ales so this is my wheelhouse. This beer could go longer but damn if it's not tasting great right now.

I can see why some people would want to split this. Sorry for dem pussy palates

i love you... for no reason other than that last line

 

[user 305963]

100% BA Cuir (2011) from last night

Bought from the Hoarders cellar sale in 2015. Not a hint of oxidation, all dark fruit, caramel, toffee and leather...go figure. So damn smooth. I still have a regular Cuir in the cellar that I hope comes close to this one.

 

[anteater1]

100% BA Cuir (2011) from last night

Bought from the Hoarders cellar sale in 2015. Not a hint of oxidation, all dark fruit, caramel, toffee and leather...go figure. So damn smooth. I still have a regular Cuir in the cellar that I hope comes close to this one.

Easily the best Bruery beer I've had, and probably even a top 15 barrel aged beer for me.

 

[anteater1]

Original BG&E, just about 3 years old. Way better than I remember fresh. Caramel, maple, chocolate, not overly roasty or sweet but has so much depth to it at the same time. Outstanding.

 

[Ataraxia1]

Juicy b2 (January 2015)

Two years later this is still fairly bright and fruity (apple, grape, citrus, and lemon). There is also noticeably more tartness and funk than when I had it fresh - which I recall as being more oaky and tannic.

 

[GuzzleMcBrew]

Juicy b2 (January 2015)

Two years later this is still fairly bright and fruity (apple, grape, citrus, and lemon). There is also noticeably more tartness and funk than when I had it fresh - which I recall as being more oaky and tannic.

Nice! I just did this vintage side by side with the new batch and had the same feelings. New batch is closer to b2 now than it is to b2 at release, but b2 now is drinking very very well IMO.

I also found it to be lighter in color than at release.

 

[ChairmanHoltz1]

My first cellared beer review. Let's see what happens.

Fantome Hiver 2010 (?). From a few weeks ago so going off of notes and memory etchings.

Having had only recent batches of Hiver, which have all been brown/mahogany, the color of this surprised me. It poured ectoplasmically radiant with a healthy amount of carb. It smelled like funky, bretty citrus fruit. Much pleasantness.

The taste was very complex. Citrus fruits, mandarin oranges. A light, musky funkiness. Underneath all the byproducts of age lurked a classic Fantome saison that held everything together. The swallow seemed to trigger a new round of kaleidoscoping flavors. Nothing offensive, nothing out of balance. It was outstanding. My underdeveloped beer vocabulary really can't do it justice.

To date, this is the oldest ghost I've let inhabit my corpus. And I'm glad I did.

 

[davey101]

Local shop marked these down to an insane level. Had to grab a couple. I love regular old stock but I don't recall ever having one of their 500mls due to the price. As far as I can tell this has always been in their cooler. Opens with a small hiss and pours suprisingly lively with a head that sticks around for a few minutes.

Nose is huge toffee, butterscotch, dark fruit, oak and some pleasant oxidation/leather. Straight bourbon soaked dates. Taste follows the nose. Smooth notes of caramel, dark fruits, leather and bourbon. Very smooth and has some carb to it that makes it really drinkable. Lingering alcohol warmth. This isn't overly complex but it is really good, and at this price kind of a steal.

 

[user 305963]

Picked a couple of these up from a friend, and cannot certify cellar conditions. Still a bit boozy, a tad caramel forward, not sure if it's oxidation though. I'm no cicerone. Rich and sweet, lots of chocolate and bourbon. Drink 'em if you got 'em? I don't know what I'm doing.

 

[davey101]

Picked a couple of these up from a friend, and cannot certify cellar conditions. Still a bit boozy, a tad caramel forward, not sure if it's oxidation though. I'm no cicerone. Rich and sweet, lots of chocolate and bourbon. Drink 'em if you got 'em? I don't know what I'm doing.

I had a 2012 and a 2013 last week and 12 was a bit off compared to 13.

 

[Der Fuchs]

Local shop marked these down to an insane level. Had to grab a couple. I love regular old stock but I don't recall ever having one of their 500mls due to the price. As far as I can tell this has always been in their cooler. Opens with a small hiss and pours suprisingly lively with a head that sticks around for a few minutes.

Nose is huge toffee, butterscotch, dark fruit, oak and some pleasant oxidation/leather. Straight bourbon soaked dates. Taste follows the nose. Smooth notes of caramel, dark fruits, leather and bourbon. Very smooth and has some carb to it that makes it really drinkable. Lingering alcohol warmth. This isn't overly complex but it is really good, and at this price kind of a steal.

At 6$ I might buy all of those. Still sitting at 25$ here. Love the beer.

 

[davey101]

At 6$ I might buy all of those. Still sitting at 25$ here. Love the beer.

They only had three, but yup! Cleaned them out.

 

[user 305963]

I had a 2012 and a 2013 last week and 12 was a bit off compared to 13.

I have one each of 12/13/14 left. Will compare eventually, for science

 

[stupac2]

They only had three, but yup! Cleaned them out.

Good man. I had a friend buy me a bunch when he saw them for $16, at $6 definitely buy them all. North Coast doesn't get much attention any more but that one is stellar.

 

[KevSal]

drinking the recent batch and the ba version. decieded tonbust this one out!

oxidation kicking in already but a real nice fruit character is coming through. plus a lot more chocolate than the fresh batch, and just enough coffee.

i don't see this one improving, drink or trade at this point fellas

 

[stakem1]

Loved the '93 and hated the '12. The newer one was meaty feeling with minerals, faded herbal hop character, raisons and neutral alcohol. The '93 is vinous, rich with chocolate, oaky and smoked. Minimal soy-ish oxidation on this with lingering flavors of port, leather and tobacco. The longer this sat in my glass, the more the nose evolved with a spiciness reminding me faintly of burning incense and/or cedar. What a brew.

 

[Snarf1]

Loved the '93 and hated the '12. The newer one was meaty feeling with minerals, faded herbal hop character, raisons and neutral alcohol. The '93 is vinous, rich with chocolate, oaky and smoked. Minimal soy-ish oxidation on this with lingering flavors of port, leather and tobacco. The longer this sat in my glass, the more the nose evolved with a spiciness reminding me faintly of burning incense and/or cedar. What a brew.

The remake is never as good as the original. Thanks for the reminder. I see the newer ones around and think about buying them, but then remember I only have so much beer money and buy something I know I'll like instead.

 

[brother rebus]

I had a FIS from 2015. It was tasty. Some things to note- despite larj amounts of settled out (unpoured) particulate, it seemed thicker than usual. It also tasted boarderline unpleasantly oxidized for the first three sips when cold cold, but by sip 4 that flavor was gone. The carb was more subtle obviously, but was still plenty. So smooth.

 

[robertgoulet]

The Vapeur Pipaix was a best before April 2016. I really liked this one as the herbs and spices have definitely started to subside and there is a lot more funk than I recall when having this batch fresh. It's still got that woody and dark fruit thing going and something that kind of reminds me of tea.

I really like the JK shelf stuff and I was really interested to see what some time did to that Texas Hill Country yeast. The Miel was a May 2015 bottle date and was another good one. Bretty honey, herbal and floral. Sorta peach and apricot funky fruit.

 

[stupac2]

Newest bottle I've been able to find and it's two years old. Oh well, it's still delicious! Not as much oxidation, but still has that delicious toffee/caramel sweetness.

 

[PurityControl88]

The Vapeur Pipaix was a best before April 2016. I really liked this one as the herbs and spices have definitely started to subside and there is a lot more funk than I recall when having this batch fresh. It's still got that woody and dark fruit thing going and something that kind of reminds me of tea.

I really like the JK shelf stuff and I was really interested to see what some time did to that Texas Hill Country yeast. The Miel was a May 2015 bottle date and was another good one. Bretty honey, herbal and floral. Sorta peach and apricot funky fruit.

I remember having an older bottle of that Biere de Miel and being impressed by the brett character. Really nice deep mustiness that didn't overshadow the rest of the beer.

 

[iong516]

Meant to hold on to this longer, but it was V day and my roommates were cooking with Buckwheat... with all the glowing reviews lately I couldn't resist checking in on this. Has changed quite a bit since release. Shoulda taken better tasting notes, but damn. The clean pour had a crisp/funk duality, nice citrus character and light barrel presence. The last sips weren't as impressive maybe due to lots of dregs, or maybe I was just tired of tasting tart beer and had palate fatigue. Looking forward to trying this again sometime and seeing where it goes.

 

[iong516]

Also does anyone know the bottling date? Label says 2015, but there wasn't a stamp.

 

[davey101]

This is coming up on 7 years old. The stout was always my favorite but this is the last of my stash. Last had a bottle about 3 years ago and thought it was going downhill. If anything it's better now.

Opens with a loud pop thanks to being nitrogenated. Pours a clear dark amber/red with a thick and frothy tan head. Nose is caramel, chocolate, and pine. Taste is also heavy on the toffee, chocolate, resiny pine, and some decent oxidation. I much prefer this to Bigfoot with a few years on it. It still has that distinctive aged american barleywine quality where the hops never fully fade. But it's muted and smoothed out by the other elements. Who doesn't love aged Celebration or Pale Ale? Suprised how enjoyable this one still is.

 

[KevSal]

crap how did i forget this guy. found it while digging through a few of my brews. got a lot of beer i need to drink.

this has got to be the best blend i've had. looking at the blend it doesn't look like it would be this tasty. definitly delicious, great aroma and buddy. fw falls off fast but this still has some time before dropping

cheers fellas

 

[KevSal]

been reaching into te cellar, grabbing the ones i love before and cracking them before they are no good. damn have i really been in the beer game this long??

this was probably my favorite beer of 2012, i wish i got to it sooner.

this beer is still excellent but definitly showing its age, but it's help up pretty damn good considering this is pushing 5 years. tons of cognac and that classic thick cigar city base. this has peaked, time to drink em or trade em fellas!

 

[KevSal]

working down my cellar, made a list of beers to get to. next on the list brau bros whiskey ba quad

this is one ugly beer, oh man, almost as bad as it's label lol. i think the label is what made it take to long to finally open it. good news is it's delicious. i kinda wish i got to this sooner to get a more vibrant barrel, never had it fresh tho so i'm not sure if this has fallen off. drinking good now tho

cheers tb