Cellared 2013.11.17 650ml
Drank 2015.11.14
Great Divide Espresso Oak Aged Yeti
Nice roasty taste. Very strong chocolate but no coffee. It has probably faded. Thin but smooth. Low perceived alcohol. A nice beer after 2 years but probably not better than FIS.
Cellared 2013.11.27 12oz
Drank 2015.11.08
Great Divide Hibernation Ale
There is this tang to it. Interesting. Very rich and roasty scent. A very nice bitterness. A very nice smell. I would have expected this an aged American Barleywine for the bitterness. Old hop taste. It is good but I’m not sure it is worth 2 years.
Cellared 2013.11.17 750ml
Drank 2015.11.06
Weyerbacher Tiny
Initially, I thought it was OK. As I had more, one flavor pounded to the front. I couldn’t put my finger on it for a while. Then I figured it out. Aspartame. The odd taste of diet pop. I am getting that very strongly. And I don’t drink diet pop due to this taste.
This is the first time I’ve had this. It might be from the aging or the yeast. Or it just tastes like this. There is no longer any alcohol heat. And the mouthfeel is very nice. I get a bit of the aftertaste of a good stout. That roasty sweetness.
But that one very off flavor just kills this for me. I couldn’t even finish half.
Cellared 2013.11.17 12oz
Drank 2015.11.03
Flying Dog Horn Dog
Really mellowed out during cellaring. Not hot at all like I remember it. Well integrated flavors. Quite sweet. Smooth. Caramel. A bit one note. Much better than fresh. Hops are all gone if they were there.
I mostly prefer my barleywine with more complexity but I am surprised at how much this improved with age.
Cellared 2013.12.27 650ml
Drank 2015.10.09
Pipeworks Santa vs. Unicorn
I made a face the first couple of sips. It was a bit pungent and old tasting. Unpleasant. Bitter. Maybe from lots of old hops.
It got better as I got through more of the bottle. More of a traditional barleywine taste. I’m curious what this would have tasted fresh. I’ve never had it fresh. I wonder if the oddness of the taste was because of aging or if it always was like that.
Cellared 2013.12.27 12oz
Drank 2015.10.04
Great Lakes Blackout Stout
I didn’t like this when I had this years ago. It was thin and not impressive.
With almost 2 years on it, I’m liking it decently. It is very roasty. Still thin. But there is a sweetness now that I usually associate with the really good stuff. I almost want to revisit a fresh bottle. Maybe my taste buds have improved.
Cellared 2014.01.20 750ml
Drank 2015.09.12
Surly Darkness
I’ve not had this fresh. The pour looked thin. It isn’t. It has a very nice mouthfeel.
My first mouthful felt hot. I was surprised as this has been cellared for almost 2 months. But after a few sips, the heat went away. It is sweet. Not too sweet for me. It is very good. Very flavorful and rich. I like this a lot.
While I do like this a lot, the pricepoint is too high. It is too hard to get. I don’t know that I like this more than Founders Imperial Stout. And I can get cases of that very easily for a LOT less. Perhaps this is a problem only because FIS is SO GOOD. Not a real problem.
Cellared 2013.11.17 500ml
Drank 2015.08.02
Brouwerij West Mør Mør
Very strange tasting beer. The initial taste is a bit of an assault. Metallic and tart and abrasive. Unpleasant. I made a face half a second into tasting this. The bad kind. After a while, I was able to taste past that initial flavor and sweet and fruity were present. And after half a bottle, I think I was used to it.
Still, I did not liked this. I finished it. And it wasn’t too hard. I wonder if this is what oxidized tastes like.
Cellared 2013.11.17 650ml
Drank 2015.07.31
Southern Tier Oak Aged Backburner
This was very disappointing. It wasn’t as if I had great expectations but anything in a bomber should be at least as good as the the shelf turds in 6 packs. But those 6 packs are Bell’s Third Coast Old Ale on discount. And that’s a high bar.
But still. I was very disappointed. There wasn’t much taste. Just a tint of what tasted like the wood aging material. But just a tint. More importantly, there wasn’t the taste of delicious barleywine. That’s what I expect. I don’t need mind blowing. I do expect it to be very good though. Not much if any hops. Maltiness was not strong. It wasn’t light but didn’t coat my mouth. I rarely have barley wines that are this bland.
Cellared 2013.11.17 650ml
Drank 2015.07.30
Pipeworks Coffee Break Abduction
By now, I can taste that aged Pipeworks stouts all have a similar taste. This one had a touch of coffee but it absolutely had that surprisingly distinctive Pipeworks taste. I need to try one of these fresh one day for comparison. I can’t tell if that is the base taste or if this is the aging or oxidization.
One odd thing was that this was a lighter brown than I would have suspected. The mouthfeel is great still. And the alcohol is imperceptible. It is quite sweet and quite good. Quite good but not necessarily outstanding. I can’t wait for Pipeworks stout cans.