Its a miserably cold day here in DC. Worse, I have some tedious memos to write on some esoteric topics. My solution? Have a few old beers from the cellar in front of the fire while I type. I need to be mindful of not overdoing it lest the quality drops too low and, more importantly, my wife gets annoyed with me on Valentine’s Day.
First up, 2004 Bigfoot
Surprisingly good. Still some carbonation which is a good sign. The nose shows a little age, hops are pretty much nonexistent but nice mild malt flavors. Again, nothing off-putting at all. The first gulp is lots of brown malts, some almost burnt caramel and toffee plus lots of really nice spices. Maybe a bit of fig. And amazingly some really nice tight hops in the finish. Takes a little bit to notice it, mostly after a minute or so you realize you can still taste some hops. Long, long, long finish on this one with lots of flavor changes going on. Folks, we have a winner here. This is the reason why you age Bigfoot. Nothing quite like it. The subtlety of the aged malts is superb. I’m not much for points, but this would be a 97.
Anyone else want to play along?
I’m reading along!
Thanks Brian.
Next up, 2000 Sierra Nevada Celebration.
I’m not particularly optimistic about this one, not sure why I held a sixpack of this for so long.
So at least I’m not disappointed. On the bright side, its not oxidized. Not a whole lot left in this one. Fairly flat, quite watery with some mild malt and light touch of hops. I can’t complain since its not a beer that I would expect to hold up this long. I put this one in the category of saved because I just didn’t drink it as compared to intentionally cellaring. I will say though that some I’ve had after a year of aging have been great. 15 years is a different story. Again, looking for the positive, I will say that I am pleased it has not been damaged by any of the things that ruin old beer.
May not finish this one. Probably cost me $1.00 back in the day. Add in various costs over the years (rent, utilities, a few moves) and I’m probably out $1.25. No reason to drink beer that doesn’t do anything for you. I’m not 18 anymore.
Photo to prove it happened
Probably the last one for awhile:
2011 Celebration - To prove to myself that these do taste good with a little age on them I popped a 2011. Also to celebrate that the generator I’ve been messing with for the last 3 months seem to be working as its supposed to during a brief trial run. We are supposed to get some strong winds tonight so I didn’t want to get my hopes up unnecessarily if the power were to go out.
Back to the beer. Really nice. Dried out a bit but still has a really nice hop bite. Mellowed a bit so a bit more balanced than on release. No flaws that I can find. Nice hop mouth coating. All in all, happy with my Sierra Nevada stash. One of the originals and still making excellent beer.
Picture with a bottle of Carlisle for my wife. She wanted a little tipple while I go ice skating with our daughter.
a 2000 Celebration?!? Yowza.
Title changed so perhaps others will list aged beers they are drinking.
I love aged beers and have a pretty nice stash. I recently had a 2012 Hopslam vs a 2013. The '12 was DOA, but the '13 lost the huge hop presence to reveal the delicious malt character.
Wife wins this thread, hands down.
Andrew, we are mixing it up tonight. She gets 2007 Arcadian Westerly syrah and I get 2009 Boon geuze Marriage Parfait. Much closer call if you asked me. I know the Marriage Parfait is supposed to be consumed on the earlier side, but it is a really enjoyable beer with 5 years on it. Love the geuze particularly with some age on them. Nothing quite like it. I find it hard to compare since they are all so unique.
I’m sitting on a few old Hopslam that I think I will pull together for a vertical. My experience is similar to yours. You can get a year out of the big hoppy monsters and then they go to crap. I have an original 120 Minutes from DFH somewhere. The label with the guy hammering a nail up his nose. I opened one a few years ago and it was nothing like the original. Not bad, but more sherry like than anything. Looking to pull together a Hopslam vertical this week but I imagine it will create similar results to yours.
Boon, ftw!
I’m kind of where you are Brian. Love the Arcadians but that wine will probably be better in a few years. On the other hand, I think the Boon is probably in its sweet spot. Sure went down smooth. And the beauty is that I will get to drink some of the Arcadian tomorrow after an evening of breathing. It will be much harder to match up with a beer tomorrow during sledding runs with the chilluns.
Have a few 2008 Boon in storage. Need to pull one and give it a try. Remember the alc really sticking out on the last one I had about a year ago.
Great thread James.
It’s a snow day, which means shoveling, sledding with the kids and a big bowl of pappardelle with some homemade venison ragu. It also means another trip to the cellar. I’m thinking a nice old brown for lunch followed by some barley wines or maybe a sour or two. Perhaps get the neighbors in on it and have a tasting.
Old brown and barley wines sound perfect, James. Don’t know how you’re not popping something Rhone(ish), though!
Does the recipe for Hopslam change each year?
Paul, I can’t seem to find anything from Bell’s indicating they change the recipe but I agree with others that this years batch is much better than last year’s. I think the basic recipe is probably the same e.g. the use of honey in the mash but they may tweek it a bit. They are also making a lot more of it which might impact the resulting beer.
Brian, we ended up finishing off the Arcadian syrah with the ragu. Really nice. I then pulled a 2007 Tribut Beauroy Chablis for no particularly good reason except it sounded good after an hour or so of shoveling. It really hit the spot. My wife is on the way out the door so the aged beers will be with kids’ baths, the Caps v. Pens game, etc… I’m hoping for an early sleep for the chilluns after a day of sledding. Of course, I won’t be far behind.
First up is an unlabeled New Belgium. I think its an older, maybe 2003, triple but the color is throwing me. The color is more of a dubbel but I don’t think dark enough. The flavor is definitely more triple with candied sugar on the nose and flavor profile. As you can see from the photo the carbonation is still over the top. Doesn’t seem to be infected and no oxidation to speak of. Really nice. It has dried out a bit but still has nice malt flavors. I’m wondering if this is some winter style beer but I don’t recall buying any. I really think its an early 2000 triple but the color just seems wrong as I recall New Belgium triples are much lighter. This was purchased back in the day when there were very few bottled triples made in the US, or at least ones that were easily accessible. Don’t think I would buy one again and haven’t in a decade. Not because it isn’t a well made beer its just there are others that I like more if I feel like a triple. Anyway, decent beer. I’m glad I saved it. A decade later and still quite enjoyable.
