Cellared Beer Reviews

[anteater1]

Doming a 2011 Dark Lord while I'm brewing today for some reason...

I had a 2016 last weekend so I wanted to check this one out while it was fresh in my mind. 2011 is way better, this beer is not bad with five years on it. Milk chocolate, coffee, raisin, fig and port on the nose. More dark fruit in the taste, balanced well with a roasty bitterness, touch of oxidation. Probably won't be seeking out any more Dark Lord, but this was pretty good.

 

[matedog]

Coworker shared an 01/03/05/07/09 set with me last weekend. All beers were holding up really really well with minimal signs of oxidation. It was to the point that the differences were minimal at best - they all had that nice toffee old ale quality. The 01 was probably my favorite because it was less carbed (though still had some) than the others which made for a softer mouthfeel without being totally flat.

 

[adhdjon]

Stone Old Guardian 2013


Insanely mellow. Contrasted to the fresh version which was unbalanced with brown sugar malts and overly aggressive hops. After a few years in the cellar, I'm getting big candied plums, caramel sugars, dates, dried berries, maple syrup and pine nuts. This was a 3/5 fresh but the hops and alcohol are totally mellowed and the beer is still assertive and strong and malty in spite of the faded hops. Really nice sipping, honestly. Would cellar a few bottles again.

 

[kzeon]

Whatever an imperial pilsner is, whatsoever. Opened at 60F.

Green apples, no sign of oxidation. I wasn't really sure what to expect here. The pinot noir did its job, it's vineous, silky. The first sip caught me up by surprise, I coughed up super hard, like a big draft of something super sulfuric. The rest was good. Drank the whole bottle very easily, but it wasn't anything incredible either.

 

[KevSal]

no reviews for a while in here, let's give this a cellar review. i posted about this in the barelywine thread and realized it's roughly 5 years old! batch 2,
this one has help up beautifully, not sure what caraway seeds do but it has a distinct flavor exactly like batch 1. drinking fantastic, no signs of oxidation. no sign of alch, smooth silky and delicious. it's a real shame it will never be brewed again

this will hold up for quite some time for sure, definitly hasn't peaked yet so to speak.

 

[Treebs]

no reviews for a while in here, let's give this a cellar review. i posted about this in the barelywine thread and realized it's roughly 5 years old! batch 2,
this one has help up beautifully, not sure what caraway seeds do but it has a distinct flavor exactly like batch 1. drinking fantastic, no signs of oxidation. no sign of alch, smooth silky and delicious. it's a real shame it will never be brewed again

this will hold up for quite some time for sure, definitly hasn't peaked yet so to speak.

Oh but it was....


Can answer more questions in barleywine thread if necessary.

 

[KevSal]

Oh but it was....


Can answer more questions in barleywine thread if necessary.

i've been trying to track a bottle of that guy down actually. does it actually taste the same as hi fi? does it also have caraway seeds? if you happen to have an extra for trade let me know!

 

[owens99]

Opened some older beers recently. This was with some friends:

Very mixed bag. Going from left to right:

The 2008 Pannepot Reserva was a complete disappointment. It seemed like there were recognizable flavors there (in terms of reminding me of regular Pannepot), but rather than being cohesive, they had all just kind of separated/fallen apart. I don't know really how to describe it, other than this beer tasted old and bad. If I better understood what oxidation and cardboard tasted like, maybe I'd use those terms. But I don't, so I won't. I had been under the impression that Pannepot stood the test of time, but this one did not.

2012 Bourbon County Stout. This was pretty good, similar to most every non-2015 bottle I've had, but I think it's probably on the decline. Nothing stood out as unique in terms of other bottles I've had, which is a net positive, since I think BCBS is pretty great.

2013 Otto. This was probably my biggest disappointment - not because it was bad (it was certainly better than the Pannepot), but because my expectations had been so high. Minimal carb, a lot of dark fruit, no hint of peaches. It was fine, but I don't know that I'd go out of my way to try it again.

2013 Bourbon Abominable. This was the biggest pleasant surprise. No noticeable negative effect from age, just a delicious beer with a still-big barrel effect that I would identify as a stout if I were tasting it blind.

Then, this weekend I opened this bottle:

Although this vintage got excellent reviews, I was not really excited to open this bottle. I originally bought 2 bottles at the same time, and when I tried the first one a couple of years ago, it already seemed like an over-the-hill mess. I was completely disappointed and, considering they came from the same place, I had no expectations this would be any different.

It turned out to be a very pleasant surprise. Like the Bourbon Abominable, I would have identified this as a (delicious) stout if I were tasting it blind. Looking at the composition, that's not surprising, since it's about 40% Parabola. So basically, this beer was great for all the same reasons Parabola is great. The only downside was that I opened this at like 4:30pm (expecting that I'd be dumping most of the bottle after trying it), so I was pretty heavily buzzed by 5, and still responsible for cooking the family dinner. Other than that, great success.

 

[montrealbcr89]

Doming a 2011 Dark Lord while I'm brewing today for some reason...

I had a 2016 last weekend so I wanted to check this one out while it was fresh in my mind. 2011 is way better, this beer is not bad with five years on it. Milk chocolate, coffee, raisin, fig and port on the nose. More dark fruit in the taste, balanced well with a roasty bitterness, touch of oxidation. Probably won't be seeking out any more Dark Lord, but this was pretty good.

Rutager ...you ****** up, bro.

 

[Rutager]

Rutager ...you ****** up, bro.

I still have one. We can do a chug video on the youtube sometime, really put ourselves on the craft beer map.

 

[flexabull]

Coworker shared an 01/03/05/07/09 set with me last weekend. All beers were holding up really really well with minimal signs of oxidation. It was to the point that the differences were minimal at best - they all had that nice toffee old ale quality. The 01 was probably my favorite because it was less carbed (though still had some) than the others which made for a softer mouthfeel without being totally flat.

Nice, I still have a few 01s kicking around the cellar.

 

[GreenMtnMike]

Accidentally aged a '14 KDS. It's a total licorice bomb, but in a good way.

 

[thechrislife]

Not sure if I should post here or the barleywine thread.

Didn't mean to let this go 8 years, but here we are.

Great, full mouthfeel with lots of carb still. Mix of sherry and paper with some spice on the finish. Alcohol not present in nose or taste, just a warming sensation after you sip. Past its prime, but not bad.

 

[Gonzoillini1]

3/10/2014 bottling of Pannepot that has been in a couple storage areas in it's time.

Dark fruit and rich Munich malt / melanodin character dominates, subtle spicing, gently warming alcohol, very little hop presence at this point with only the lightest bit of oxidation creeping in at the moment. Still has legs to go a few more years, but drinking just about perfect at the moment as well.

 

[stupac2]

Well, I'm a bit sauced, but some beers were drunked and they're appropriate for this thread.

Obligatory '13 Foumosa:

You can really taste the age compared to when I last had these in 2015.

Cellarman B2: Somehow didn't take a picture, but whatever, this beer is tits. Trade for it, preferably with me for waelz. (But seriously, it's really good.)

2005 and 2016 Cantillon Kriek:

The 2016 isn't actually a year old but **** off I'm putting it in here anyway. The color difference between these beers is astounding. The 2005 was sour sour sour, you could barely taste anything else. The 2016 was what you expect, jammy fruit and just enough acidity.

2013 Oude Kriek van Schaerbeekse Kriken (35%): First, are these actually different from regular 3F Schaerbeekse kriek? Second, this beer is good. Nice kriek trifecta.

2013 Hommage and 2008 Rose de Gambrinus:

The 3F raspberry beers have always tasted like olives to me, and, yup, this one still does. I don't get it but it's pretty okay. Don't think this guy's getting any better. The RdG was surprisingly fruity for its age, not quite what they are fresh but definitely enjoyable.

2014 Churchill's Finest Hour:

Remember when this was a crazy whael? Yeah, those were the good ole days. Toasted coconut and milk chocolate, really quite nice and better than I remember any of these being.

A&T:

Cork dented my ceiling, by it's okay because I love this beer. The essence of 3F perfection.

2012 Cuvee St Gilloise:

For whatever reason I just don't love this beer. With some age it improves, but it always tastes soapy to me.

2013 Iris:

Another Cantillon that gets a lot of love that I just can't get behind. I'm not sure this is meaningfully different from fresh.

1986, 1987, 1988, and 1989 Thomas Hardy's:

At this age it's all about luck, and ours was just average. The 1986 was phenomenal, everything you want a beer this old to be, aged sherry, caramel, plums, and no sign of sour or cardboard. The 1987 was everything the '86 wasn't, oxidized to ****, sour, cardboard, just bad bad bad. The '88 was in the middle, sour but not very cardboardy, I had a hard time getting past the sourness but jedwards loved it. The '89 was oddly bitter, like it was a completely different beer (which given the change of format it might be), it was good if you could get past that.

2008 OGV:

I had heard such good things about this lately that I was planning on opening one, and then someone else went and brought one so I guess I'm off the hook. Anywho, given what I'd been hearing this was underwhelming. Still great, but when I hear that an OGV is drinking exceptionally, I expect more. This is not touching '02 or '03, this bottle at least.

When a 15-year-old gueuze pours with a pillowy head you know something's gone right, and when a Cantillon has a cork like this:

...Well I guess you don't know anything, because that could be from this year's Bio Gueuze. Anywho, this was oddly soapy to me, but otherwise very good, the last '00 LPG I had was perfection, this one was a bit shy. Bottle variation!




And yes, I know what you're thinking, my farts could now kill satan himself.

 

[davey101]

2015 Bourbon GBS thanks to civicsitodamax. Really nice mellow mix of chocolate, bourbon and subdued ginger. I think I actually prefer it aged over fresh. Really tasty.

 

[CommanderofAwesome]

I opened a BBA Sucre over the weekend. My goodness, this continues to conform my thoughts from the onset, that Sucre is by far the best Bruery Anniversary beer. This beer was damn near perfect, Caramel Raisin bomb. Loved it.

 

[thewimperoo]

Lots of old beer opened up on Saturday. SecretSquirrel OHLRangers braconid SwedishJesus can also provide thoughts if they want, but here's mine.

2010 Sofie - This held up quite well. A little sweeter than fresh, but other than that good stuff.

Ithaca LeBleu E!32, Brute E!37, Luminous - LeBleu seemed to be the unanimous winner of the 3. Luminous had a sweet tart candy thing going on. Brute is fading. It's still good, but age is reducing the funk and complexity.

1987 JW Lees - Thanks to braconid for the beer and glass to proper. I don't dabble in beers this old so not much of a mental Rolodex to compare to, but I thought this was really nice. Dark brown sugar, caramel, maple. A non offensive amount of oxidation. Mostly in the aroma

2012 & 2015 Vigneronne - Thanks to SecretSquirrel for the '12. The '12 was my favorite of the two. More carb, nice balance between funk and sour. From previous experience aged Vig has gotten overpoweringly acidic. This bottle was nice. The '15 was fine but nothing really stood out.

2009 Dark Lord - This was my last bottle of '09. I remember it being pretty bad (lot of green apple) fresh, settled into a decent place 4 or 5 years ago, but this bottle sucked. Pretty much everything you hate about Dark Lord. Sweet, sweet soy sauce. Drain pour

2007 Thomas Hardy's - Wanted to proper one of my Hardy's since braconid brought the glass. Even at 10 years old, this didn't seem like it was going anywhere anytime soon. No real oxidation to speak of, but nowhere near as complex as the 30 year old JW Lees.

Didn't get pictures of them, but OHLRangers put a dent in his never-ending supply of Jolly Pumpkin beers. Outside of the Madrugada, they were all pretty tasty.

Lambicus Dexterius
'07 Luciernaga
'07 Madrugada Obscura
'10 Collababeire - Special Holiday Ale
Biere de Mars of some vintage that I didn't catch

2008 La Folie was delicious too. Not overly sour or vinegary.

2014 Goose Island BCS Props is still full of cinnamon. Love it.

 

[matedog]

Lots of old beer opened up on Saturday. SecretSquirrel OHLRangers braconid SwedishJesus can also provide thoughts if they want, but here's mine.

2010 Sofie - This held up quite well. A little sweeter than fresh, but other than that good stuff.

Ithaca LeBleu E!32, Brute E!37, Luminous - LeBleu seemed to be the unanimous winner of the 3. Luminous had a sweet tart candy thing going on. Brute is fading. It's still good, but age is reducing the funk and complexity.

1987 JW Lees - Thanks to braconid for the beer and glass to proper. I don't dabble in beers this old so not much of a mental Rolodex to compare to, but I thought this was really nice. Dark brown sugar, caramel, maple. A non offensive amount of oxidation. Mostly in the aroma

2012 & 2015 Vigneronne - Thanks to SecretSquirrel for the '12. The '12 was my favorite of the two. More carb, nice balance between funk and sour. From previous experience aged Vig has gotten overpoweringly acidic. This bottle was nice. The '15 was fine but nothing really stood out.

2009 Dark Lord - This was my last bottle of '09. I remember it being pretty bad (lot of green apple) fresh, settled into a decent place 4 or 5 years ago, but this bottle sucked. Pretty much everything you hate about Dark Lord. Sweet, sweet soy sauce. Drain pour

2007 Thomas Hardy's - Wanted to proper one of my Hardy's since braconid brought the glass. Even at 10 years old, this didn't seem like it was going anywhere anytime soon. No real oxidation to speak of, but nowhere near as complex as the 30 year old JW Lees.

Didn't get pictures of them, but OHLRangers put a dent in his never-ending supply of Jolly Pumpkin beers. Outside of the Madrugada, they were all pretty tasty.

Lambicus Dexterius
'07 Luciernaga
'07 Madrugada Obscura
'10 Collababeire - Special Holiday Ale
Biere de Mars of some vintage that I didn't catch

2008 La Folie was delicious too. Not overly sour or vinegary.

2014 Goose Island BCS Props is still full of cinnamon. Love it.

Interesting (but not unexpected) variation in the feedback from you and stupac2 's post right above.

 

[stupac2]

OMG I want this glass. Are they hard to come by? I have only looked to see if JW Lees still made one and they don't currently. Any idea how hard they are to come by?

Interesting (but not unexpected) variation in the feedback from you and stupac2 's post right above.

For what? We had none of the same beers.

 

[matedog]

OMG I want this glass. Are they hard to come by? I have only looked to see if JW Lees still made one and they don't currently. Any idea how hard they are to come by?

For what? We had none of the same beers.

Oops, I'm a moron and confused JW Lees and Thomas Hardy in my head. Eventhough it's literally the immediate preceding post.

 

[nebuck]

1986, 1987, 1988, and 1989 Thomas Hardy's:

At this age it's all about luck, and ours was just average. The 1986 was phenomenal, everything you want a beer this old to be, aged sherry, caramel, plums, and no sign of sour or cardboard.

brother_kenneth and I got to try a 1986 Thomas Hardy not too long ago. It was absolutely stellar. What a great beer!

2015 Bourbon GBS thanks to civicsitodamax. Really nice mellow mix of chocolate, bourbon and subdued ginger. I think I actually prefer it aged over fresh. Really tasty.

I'm not really fond of old BA GBS. Aged a 2015 to try side-by-side with a 2016 and the 2015 did not hold up great, IMO. Kinda kicking myself right now, actually, because I still have a 2016 in the fridge that ain't getting any better.

 

[Snarf1]

OMG I want this glass. Are they hard to come by? I have only looked to see if JW Lees still made one and they don't currently. Any idea how hard they are to come by?

X2

 

[thewimperoo]

I've been looking for one of those JW Lees glasses off and on for the past 2 or 3 years and haven't had any luck. So in my experience they're hard to come by.

 

[regularjohn]

OMG I want this glass. Are they hard to come by? I have only looked to see if JW Lees still made one and they don't currently. Any idea how hard they are to come by?

yes

 

[OHLRangers]

Lots of old beer opened up on Saturday. SecretSquirrel OHLRangers braconid SwedishJesus can also provide thoughts if they want, but here's mine.

2010 Sofie - This held up quite well. A little sweeter than fresh, but other than that good stuff.

Ithaca LeBleu E!32, Brute E!37, Luminous - LeBleu seemed to be the unanimous winner of the 3. Luminous had a sweet tart candy thing going on. Brute is fading. It's still good, but age is reducing the funk and complexity.

1987 JW Lees - Thanks to braconid for the beer and glass to proper. I don't dabble in beers this old so not much of a mental Rolodex to compare to, but I thought this was really nice. Dark brown sugar, caramel, maple. A non offensive amount of oxidation. Mostly in the aroma

2012 & 2015 Vigneronne - Thanks to SecretSquirrel for the '12. The '12 was my favorite of the two. More carb, nice balance between funk and sour. From previous experience aged Vig has gotten overpoweringly acidic. This bottle was nice. The '15 was fine but nothing really stood out.

2009 Dark Lord - This was my last bottle of '09. I remember it being pretty bad (lot of green apple) fresh, settled into a decent place 4 or 5 years ago, but this bottle sucked. Pretty much everything you hate about Dark Lord. Sweet, sweet soy sauce. Drain pour

2007 Thomas Hardy's - Wanted to proper one of my Hardy's since braconid brought the glass. Even at 10 years old, this didn't seem like it was going anywhere anytime soon. No real oxidation to speak of, but nowhere near as complex as the 30 year old JW Lees.

Didn't get pictures of them, but OHLRangers put a dent in his never-ending supply of Jolly Pumpkin beers. Outside of the Madrugada, they were all pretty tasty.

Lambicus Dexterius
'07 Luciernaga
'07 Madrugada Obscura
'10 Collababeire - Special Holiday Ale
Biere de Mars of some vintage that I didn't catch

2008 La Folie was delicious too. Not overly sour or vinegary.

2014 Goose Island BCS Props is still full of cinnamon. Love it.

#killthecellar
#nothingcomeshome

Glad we could be a part of the fun last weekend thewimperoo

 

[jbeezification1]

2015 Anchorage Galaxy White IPA

Cork exploded through the cage after one twist of the cage knot thing. Weird cause only like an ounce or two gushed.

Smells like grapefruit and funk. It's got that chewing on a rubber funk, dry peaches, brett, and a bit of that dry hop.

 

[Hornet]

Works of Love-Anchorage 2015
Perfect carb on this bottle, settled quickly after pouring.
Poured at 50ish degrees.
Apple skin and pear on the nose.
Beautiful balance with this beer, so gentle and soft. Slightly tart, apple sauce goodness!

Anyone know the variety of apples used in this one!?

 

[BulkCarrier]

Aromas seems to have melded between tobacco earthy almost dead hops toying with some ash and vanilla. Subtle grassiness. And then some sweet licorice. Caramel and toffee malts. Dark fruits.
Flavor definitely leans towards the sweet side touching the earthiness nicely. Dark fruits again. Some grassiness in the taste. Tobacco/earthy to vanilla and malty aftertaste. Wet vanilla sort of lenient tobacco dry finish.
Mouthfeel still sits at a medium on the body keeping some sipping quality sliding over my tongue with a nice becoming smoothness. Barely any carbonation felt right now. ABV seems just a touch under than projected by the brewer.
Overall, yes, I can see that this was once an American styled barleywine. Glad I opened on a night where I knew I didn't have to go to work the next day.

 

[KevSal]

2015 well water, man this guy is great. it's got a bit of harshness in the after taste that about another year or so will smooth out. might be the dry hoppying. this is my only one and it's enjoyable. very reminiscent of hi fi. this definitly can go for a lot longer

cheers fellas