Just posted in DDT. I have some bigger beers cellaring but a bunch of other good things (BCS, Old Stock, BCBS, Bigfoot, so on). Today I opened a Great Divide Colette with 13 months on it. I reviewed one in August 2013 and now have briefly reviewed another; both reviews are below. x-post pic.
Colette
Great Divide
20140316
12oz to Duvel snifter
7.3% ABV
Farmhouse ale/saison
Bottled 2/21/2013
This is a cellar review, I last reviewed this 6 or more months ago (same 6er). It will be abbreviated because it’s more of a checkup than a physical; analogies ftw. I have not looked at the old review before starting this review.
A – A light transparent and cloudy golden. I know that’s contradictory, but I like it.
S – A nice saison smell, you get a bit of the farmhouse and dryness but also some of that Belgian bready sweetness. It’s a little sharper, hinting at oxidation, but has overall stood up well.
T – I can more easily tell in the taste there’s some oxidation, but it’s not a huge down turn. It kind of lends itself to the dry farmhouse side of the beer. It makes it a little dryer and sharper, iirc. There’s maybe a tinge of cardboard, but it’s hard to tell with the farmhouse dryness. In the aftertaste there’s a slight vegetal quality in the back of the throat, hinting at aging of the hop acids.
M – Light and dry finishing, good still.
O – This has held up quite well. I recall liking it and it’s still very good with a year on it.
I finished the review and looked up the old one. I cracked the other one about 7 months ago. I agree with what I wrote then, and would just say it has fallen off a bit. I’d say there’s no slightly high level of sweetness now, and the aftertaste is melon but a little more vegetal, maybe like a bit of the near outer rind part was in your bite. I’m happy with the numeric rating I gave.
Here's the other review:
Colette
Great Divide
20130811
12oz to Libbey Belgian
7.3% ABV
Farmhouse ale
Bottled on Feb 21 2013
A – A hazy, pretty much opaque but quite translucent yellow-golden. Has a nice glow, and bubbles are rising vigorously from the bottom. Head is eggshell white and microfine bubbles.
S – Quite nice, some fruit, flowers, sweetness, and spices. I pick up melon and a bit of citrus, like orange peel, a floralness and a bit of hay, some sugar, and some white pepper. The smells work together nicely, no one being too much or little. The melon is mostly honeydew.
T – Interesting taste, starts with some hay and orange peel, then rolls into a sweet melon note, followed by some spice and more orange. The aftertaste brings the sweetness and melon back in. The sweetness isn’t obviously Belgian, but it has some similarities, perhaps a bit of earthiness. It works nicely with the other tastes.
M – Medium bodied, and somewhat soft, yet also slightly bubbly on the tongue. Quite refreshing, but not very. Less of a mid-summer day’s work drink, more of an end of the work day drink.
D – This is a nice beer to start the day with (in my case), or end a day of work with. I’m having trouble deciding if I’d like it a little less sweet, but I know that if there was no sweetness I wouldn’t like its take on the style. I could see myself drinking it almost every day. I also think the ABV is a good number.
4.75, 4.25, 4.25, 4.25, 4.25; 4.27.