Cellared Beer Reviews: June 2014

[stupac2]

A few days ago was my "bachelor party", which basically involved drinking a bunch of great beer. So here's some reviews:

2000 Lou Pepe Gueuze. Unfortunately for me I opened this when I was pretty wastey-faced, though I definitely remember loving it. That's not really saying a lot. Fortunately I have another that I'll need to open when I can actually taste it.

2012 Eclipse Grand Cru (3 Liter), enjoyed with my good friend Jean Van Roy (and yes, someone did manage to toss a ring onto the penis). I was pretty underwhelmed with this blend when it first came out, but it has actually aged really well. The 3 Liter is no exception, it was great.

Iced Eclipse (2011). It's solid, but it's nothing spectacular, just like always. I'm actually not sure this has changed much since the last time I had it, which was 2 years ago.

Bourbon Vanilla Dark Lord (2013). There have been recent reports that this has gone downhill, but I totally disagree, I think I liked it better with a year on it. Regardless, this bottle was still excellent, in that way that makes me wonder why FFF bothers to make anything else since it's all garbage.

There were a few others that we had, but after the 3L (I drank a pint...) I was pretty solidly gone, so I won't bother listing them.

 

[matedog]

Congrats. Sounds like what mine would be like. Only with more inflatable penises. Or is it penii?

 

[CommanderofAwesome]

Well I cracked a 2012 Double Bastard tonight. It's what you think, solid but not amazing.

I should give the Eclipse series more of try next go around. I've yet to think the few I've tried to be anything beyond avg, but ppl seem to love them.

 

[barleywinefiend]

A few days ago was my "bachelor party", which basically involved drinking a bunch of great beer. So here's some reviews:

2000 Lou Pepe Gueuze. Unfortunately for me I opened this when I was pretty wastey-faced, though I definitely remember loving it. That's not really saying a lot. Fortunately I have another that I'll need to open when I can actually taste it.

2012 Eclipse Grand Cru (3 Liter), enjoyed with my good friend Jean Van Roy (and yes, someone did manage to toss a ring onto the penis). I was pretty underwhelmed with this blend when it first came out, but it has actually aged really well. The 3 Liter is no exception, it was great.

Iced Eclipse (2011). It's solid, but it's nothing spectacular, just like always. I'm actually not sure this has changed much since the last time I had it, which was 2 years ago.

Bourbon Vanilla Dark Lord (2013). There have been recent reports that this has gone downhill, but I totally disagree, I think I liked it better with a year on it. Regardless, this bottle was still excellent, in that way that makes me wonder why FFF bothers to make anything else since it's all garbage.

There were a few others that we had, but after the 3L (I drank a pint...) I was pretty solidly gone, so I won't bother listing them.

Thanks for getting this started.

 

[barleywinefiend]

2012 Founders Bolt Cutter: Syrupy, very sweet, lots of faded hops but the body seems to have bolstered a bit, heat is down but a lot once prominent citrus hop profile remains.

2012? East End Gratitude. Wow. This is drinking very well as expected. The pour is hazy and a bit of sediment came out on the last pour. Lots of dark fruits, light booze, chocolate and toffee. Waaaaaaaaaay to easy to drink!

2011 Hoppin' Frog BA Naked Evil. F'n sugar coma, still. I did not finish this bomber, most of it but I was in a diabetic coma. Still very sweet, a bit sticky with lots of Belgian candy and fruits. Sit on this ****!

2013 Pelican Mother of All Storms. I have never been a big Pelican Mother man but this 2013 changed my mind. Previous years, ranging from Perfect Storm Batch 1 forward have been thin and oxidized rapidly. The 2013 is more robust, complex, well rounded and IMHO the best to date(even back to the Perfect Storm days). Lots of toffee and chocolate covered raisins. The barrel influence is mellow and complimentary. Glad I have a case of this shart!

 

[barleywinefiend]

2011 Lost Abbey Bourbon Angels Share. Carbonation was low. A nice tan head at first with a sluggish pour which quickly faded. Very much an English style bwine/Old Ale by appearance and flavor. A lot of bourbon, still, lots of chocolate covered raisins. Flat mouthfeel. Let it go for more....

 

[barleywinefiend]

2011 HoTD Fred. Waaaaaaay to much carbonation. Of course , carbonation being my major complaint about HoTD besides the ridiculous price points, inconsistency, and who gives a **** attitude from Alan about his carbonation issues....I digress...
Sweet, Pils malt is upfront, a bit syrupy but still pleasant once the head faded...ten minutes later..

 

[Max]

2010 hunahpu!

yes, yes… let's get past the NEVER AGE THIS BEER reactions. now that we've got that behind us, they're absolutely right, haha. this is drinking fine, it's not super oxidized or anything… it's just that it tastes like your normal, run-of-the-mill imperial stout. no heat from the chilis, no real chocolate presence, cinnamon is also unnoticeable.

all in all, i'm still drinking it. it's just nothing what it used to be. much as you probably predicted before reading this rather truncated review.

 

[buzzword]

2011 HoTD Fred. Waaaaaaay to much carbonation. Of course , carbonation being my major complaint about HoTD besides the ridiculous price points, inconsistency, and who gives a **** attitude from Alan about his carbonation issues....I digress...
Sweet, Pils malt is upfront, a bit syrupy but still pleasant once the head faded...ten minutes later..

batch 87 was notoriously overcarb'd, and then batch 88 was super flat! go figure.

 

[stakem1]

I banged a 21 year old tomer at the grrrz release. Go ahead, get mad. Zero ****s are given that I used a glass with a typo on it to share this unique experience.

Cork came out solid with a pop. Pour was brilliant clear copper with a persistent white cap unlike any other Fantome of this era. Nose was mushrooms and papery oxidation and earthy fantome funk/brett. Taste was mildly fruity with a bunch of residual maltiness before breaking into the brett funk and oxidation. Feel was pretty superb for a 21 year old saison. Clearly well over the hill but was a fun one to share.

Edit - guess i should have mentioned that this '93 vintage was D'Erezée Automne

 

[barleywinefiend]

Both 2012 and both are holding very well. Especially BORIS. Heat is still present and buttloads of cocoa in both. Twas a good day.

 

[barleywinefiend]

2012 Event still has a lot viscosity to it. That honey and thick motor oil like malt base just clugs out of the bottle but it does appear to have thinned a little. It had a light green/funk skunk to it, very light on the finish but it was still delicious and all chocolate, roasted coffee and a light honey sweetness. Still has plenty of heat.

 

[Jon1]

Opened up a few special bottles last weekend that I had been saving for my birthday:

'07 Hommage bottled 2/14/07 vs. new bottling of Hommage from 6/13 (not pictured):
'07 batch was incredible and much better then the '13. The fruit held up amazingly and tasted really fresh with a nice balance of funk. Definitely a top 5 beer for me. The '13 on the other hand actually wasn't as fruity and had more of a syrupy fruit presence, there was a lot more mustiness that had the "band-aid" quality that I've heard more people attribute to the '07 batch. I'm assuming there's some bottle variation?

1989 Westvleteren XII (my birth year) compared with '05, '07, '12, and '13:
Cap was in great condition (no rust at all), was hard to pry off, but came off without any hiss. Pour was completely flat but was a nice clear beautiful brown. Age really turned this beer around creating more of a smooth nutty liqueur, there was some definite oxidation but it balanced nicely with the beer and wasn't very noticeable. Overall it held up extremely well for a 25 year old beer. The '05 we had was starting to develop similar flavors without much noticeable oxidation. Overall (disregarding the experience of the '89) I'd probably rank them in the following order: '05>'89>'07>'12>'13

1988 Chimay:
I was starting to feel it a bit more at this point but I remember it being very similar to the '89 Westvleteren- flat (although cork came out with a nice pop), liqueur-like although not quite as nutty or overall flavorful, and like the Westvleteren this was an absolute treat to have aging extremely well without too much oxidation taking over.

 

[stlunatic15]

Some recent ones from this month:

2005 Old Stock
Very mellow and delicate. The body was still there but definitely thin. Booze still had some presence. Lots of raisin, plum, fig, with a roasty and nutty amaretto-like finish.

Unibroue Édition 2005
Bottled November '04. Dark fruit, leather, and subtle spice notes. Very thin mouthfeel, but still tasty. Slight oxidation but was still drinkable.

2008 J.W. Lees Harvest Ale (Calvados)
Extremely sweet - almost tasted like a fortified wine. The alcohol was still pretty present but the intense sweetness helped cover it up. Poured very flat with plenty of chunks of sediment at the bottom of the bottle. It made a nice nightcap, but I wasn't blown away.

 

[barleywinefiend]

RR Temptation Batch 4 is drinking oh so well. Too bad it was my last one. Nice and dry, a little horse blanket with a good measure of tartness, wheat, oak , white grapes and lemons. A little bit of wood left on it as well. I wish RR would go back to the 750mL's and come back to WA.

2006 Drie Fonteinen Oude Kriek fresh from the motherland of Belgium. Dolla' billz ya'll. A little pop on the cork, plenty of red cherries, funk, acid, low carbonation on the mouthfeel, sordove grassy and dry with a prominent vinegar note

2011 Cantillon Rose. Wow! Not my first Rose Rodeo but man, this batch is like a raspberry puree pie with a hint of dryness and funk.

The King! Holding it's own, defending it's rightful title as the "King of Bwines". Lots of toffee, a nice cocoa presence, booze has rounded off a bit and it's f'n smoooooooooooooooooth!

 

[barleywinefiend]

2012 FW DDBA. One of my favorite English Bwines of all time! $$$ Still pretty sweet but loads of vanilla and toffee coming out in this beer. I had this at it's first release back in 2009 @ FW-Buellton and it was fantastic. Everything about this beer is amazing.

 

[barleywinefiend]

2011 Uinta Labrynth is doing pretty good. I noticed a tad bit of green funk or borderline infectious taste, some souring, but still overrun by barrel, heat and black licorice. Not bad!

 

[barleywinefiend]

Opened up a few special bottles last weekend that I had been saving for my birthday:

You were born in 89? Jeezus man. I was trading Bo Jackson baseball cards and jacking off to Baywatch back then.
'07 Hommage bottled 2/14/07 vs. new bottling of Hommage from 6/13 (not pictured):
'07 batch was incredible and much better then the '13. The fruit held up amazingly and tasted really fresh with a nice balance of funk. Definitely a top 5 beer for me. The '13 on the other hand actually wasn't as fruity and had more of a syrupy fruit presence, there was a lot more mustiness that had the "band-aid" quality that I've heard more people attribute to the '07 batch. I'm assuming there's some bottle variation?

1989 Westvleteren XII (my birth year) compared with '05, '07, '12, and '13:
Cap was in great condition (no rust at all), was hard to pry off, but came off without any hiss. Pour was completely flat but was a nice clear beautiful brown. Age really turned this beer around creating more of a smooth nutty liqueur, there was some definite oxidation but it balanced nicely with the beer and wasn't very noticeable. Overall it held up extremely well for a 25 year old beer. The '05 we had was starting to develop similar flavors without much noticeable oxidation. Overall (disregarding the experience of the '89) I'd probably rank them in the following order: '05>'89>'07>'12>'13

1988 Chimay:
I was starting to feel it a bit more at this point but I remember it being very similar to the '89 Westvleteren- flat (although cork came out with a nice pop), liqueur-like although not quite as nutty or overall flavorful, and like the Westvleteren this was an absolute treat to have aging extremely well without too much oxidation taking over.

 

[tectactoe1]

2011 HoTD Fred. Waaaaaaay to much carbonation. Of course , carbonation being my major complaint about HoTD besides the ridiculous price points, inconsistency, and who gives a **** attitude from Alan about his carbonation issues....I digress...
Sweet, Pils malt is upfront, a bit syrupy but still pleasant once the head faded...ten minutes later..

can i borrow some of that carbonation to use it for my flat-ass bottles of '11 bourbon fred ftw?

 

[barleywinefiend]

can i borrow some of that carbonation to use it for my flat-ass bottles of '11 bourbon fred ftw?

There may be no help for that beer....