I'm a pleasure delayer, lol. Just wondering how well it ages and if it gets greatly better with time (as some beers do), or if it's pretty consistently great regardless of age (i.e. no heat, no flavor fade, etc.).
Cool. So it’s not just me.
Decided to eat sausage, Vermont cheddar, and maple syrup for dinner, and figured an HF beer would be an appropriate pairing. CD 19, first time I've had it since around release (which I don't particularly remember):
Carbonation is fairly low and dissipates quickly. I'm on my final glass from the bottle with all the dregs (obviously much less clear than the pour in the photo) and it's almost got a still quality, but not quite. Huge amounts of wine barrel character in the taste on this one, almost to the point of overpowering everything else. Sharp, tart, and oaky, with some cheesiness. Not much funk at all. Very nice, but a bit one-dimensional. I have one more bottle left, I think I'm going to forget about it and see how some time treats it. If you're a fan of very wine-ish HF beers (or Lost Abbey blonde sours), you'll like this one a lot I'd guess. I preferred the bottle of 3/2015 Anna I opened the other night, in comparison.
I dont know if it was oxidation but there was something that didnt click for me. It had similar taste notes to de dolles beer and dry sherries that i often attribute to oxidation so thats why I assumed that played a role in the CD. When I first opened it I got minerally green apple and this cinnamon orange note but as it warmed it got this cardboard and this caramel and dried fruit/nut. It just seemed disjointed and flat-it was carbonated but it had that left out open overnight beer taste. Also the head was streaked with a rusty brown but that I assume was just sediment.
I agree I loved CD19 no oxidation issues and don't worry I opened BGE a bit ago (april) and didn't compare to 2014 bottle. Was real sweet thought I could sit on 2nd bottle. Gonna open the 2nd bottle this month likely.Those Mary cans tho.
Will be up this Thursday, likely early afternoon. Staying in Waterbury for the night. If anyone wants to share some bottles or have a beer in Waterbury lemme know!
Also, opened a CD19 at a share last night based on the above - I thought it was absolutely perfect and everyone at the share enjoyed. Loved it at release, but it's developed well. Well balanced, not overly tart, huge carb. Just a beautiful beer IMO.
Other recent HF ticks, BG&E last Sunday as a marathon celebratory beer. Very good, but wish I opened sooner. The maple was subtle, but it was a chocolate, oak, honey, and barrel-forward offering. I don't think I liked it as much as the 2014 batch, but I also had that last in 2015 so comparing isn't exactly fair. Very enjoyable overall. That's all from me today.
This is the beer I dream of sharing with Punks.“Good news Vasili! We’re sending you on a trip to Europe to pour our beer!”
“...er, is there a catch? What’s the bad news?”
“Well...”
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