More Vintage Ales

Extreme cellaring alert! My friend Alan (of Neill & Ross Brewery) is a Belgian beer nut and has amassed a sizable collection of aged beers, including some no longer brewed. This weekend we cracked open a number of them. Here are some thoughts:

First up were a couple of 1970s rarieties from Bass, the 1977 Jubilee Strong Ale & Bass Princess ale 1978. 

Both of these were well past their prime, with oxidation, wet cardboard, sod all carbonation and just not generally very nice. The Princess Ale did have an interesting touch of red fruit and toothpaste to differentiate from the former, but both drain pours unfortunately.

La Choulette Biere Des Sans Culottes 1990 is a dark biere de garde and not one I was too keen on either.

Straffe Hendrik 1990 was well past it and was a straight drain pour.

The Chimay Premier was also past its prime. I preferred the fresh version (which is so far one of the only doubles I've actively enjoyed).

So far, not so good but the better beers were to come in the form of a Felix Kriek from 1972 and Belle Vue Selection Lambic 1989. The kriek had held up fantastically and paired well with Stilton as suggested in the Vinken and Van Tricht book. A nose and taste reminiscent of rodenbach with cherries still lingering in the background. A surprising amount of condition for its age too. This beer is still produced today albeit in a much diminished form.

The Belle Vue lambic, today well known for being overly-sweetened was also a good beer. Obviously it started off sour and fairly dry, so there wasn't much more it could do to develop. Very dry, funky nose and lots of citric acid, just how I like them.

 Another interesting comparison was fresh Rodenbach to a bottle ~50 years old. Undisputably the same beer, the older bottle had lost some of the vinegar tartness and become more rounded. This worked well with mimolette, another win for the cheese and beer guide.

Another highlight for me was the 1960s Rochefort 10. Just as good as the fresh stuff and fantastic with Fourme d'Ambert.

 

A Westmalle Tripel of similar age was also sampled, but having neglected to make notes I don't recall how it had held up! A 2011 Westvletern 12 did nothing to shine, reinforcing the view that this beer is very over-hyped due to its rarity.

The big surprise of the evening for all of us was that Weston's Cider from 1985 tastes pretty much indistinguishable from fresh stuff. This makes sense as the wild yeast used to ferment it already succeeded in outcompeting any other wee beasties in 1985, so not much scope for infection and all the sugar had fermented out in any case.

A mixed batch then, as you would perhaps expect but a fun evening nonetheless.Thanks Alan and Olly for supplying most of the bottles.

Wood Aging

I started writing this post ages ago, and since then there have been a number of posts on wood-aging.

A trend that has been noticed recently is barrel ageing of beers. Usually stouts though any beer which has high enough alcohol content for ageing has probably been stuck in a barrel at some point. 

Some beers are aged in "virgin" casks; i.e., they've not been used previously whereas others may come from the whisk(e)y/rum/brandy/(insert spirit here) industries.

I seem to have built up a sizeable stash of these so thought I'd put my thoughts down here. Unlike some people I enjoy barrel aged beers. It can be overdone resulting in an alcoholic mess or oaky soup, but when done well it can enhance and complement the base beer's characteristics.

There are probably two well-known barrel agers in the UK and both based in Scotland. Their methodology couldn't be more different. Whilst Innis and Gunn was originally a waste product from the beer conditioning of new oak casks it gained a small following and the company was formed around it. Since then they've also released spirits barrel aged editions including the Irish Whisky stout reviewed below.

Brewdog on the other hand, have a large stash of whisky barrels from all over Scotland and showcased how their different characteristics come through in a standard (though by no means mundane) base stout. This is their Paradox range. They've also barrel aged a large number of their limited release products*. I have three of these coming up next month.

So on to the reviews. First up is a biggy: Great Divide's 17th anniversary Wood Aged DIPA. Pours dark amber, with fluffy beige head and aroma redolent of marmalade on toast with underlying vanilla pod sweetness. Well balanced wood, malt and hop notes flavour wise, alcohol hidden expertly. This is an example of how to wood age well and flys in the face of the assumption that it has to be a stout to be barrel aged.

The aforementioned Innis and Gunn pours dark ruby with vanilla and toffee apple on the nose. Quite highly carbonated with more toffee apple, sweet caramel, chocolate. Lingering sweet finish. Pretty well done.

Goose Island Bourbon County pours black as night with a lacing of beige and a continual eruption of small bubbles that burst on surfacing. Vanilla custard and caramel liqueur on the nose. Thick and rich and warming with chocolate, robust barley, through coffee, chicory and a long warming vanilla finish. Coffee comes in afterwards and rumbles on alongside oaky influences and a final whisky kiss. This is a fantastic beer.

Its becoming a more widespread practice within the UK too, with brewers such as Hardknott (with their Æther Blæc in four iterations this year), Summer Wine, Black Isle, Harviestoun^ and St Peters experimenting. Even the Mighty Fullers is involved with their Brewer's Reserve beers now approaching its fourth year.

*I recently reviewed Brewdog Bitch Please, another barrel aged beer
^With their excellent Ola Dubh range

The 12 Stouts of Christmas

As mentioned previously Bristol Beer Factory decided to release a special selection of 12-stouts for Christmas. They arrived this week and I've managed to drink them already (though three of them I've reviewed previously). I decided to present my review in the form of the well known Christmas carol.

12 Brown bottles sitting on my wall...

The first stout of Christmas I put in my belly 
was a stout made with raspberries 
Pours dark brown with a red tinge. Thin tan head soon collapses to a lacing. Tart and sweet raspberry nose with roast barley and a hint of oak smoke in the background. Very thick and smooth bodied with tart raspberry, rich malts and a hint of acrid roast barley. Gentle carbonation helps to prevent it from seeming too cloying. The Belgian yeast is clearly discernible too and a noticeable kiss of alcohol, which adds to rather than detracts from the beer. Long raspberry finish with chocolate lingering in the background. Would pair well with my friend’s recipe for raspberry chocolate cake. 


The second stout of Christmas I put in my belly-chili chocolate stout
Pours teak brown with a 5mm off-white head. Intriguing milk chocolate and tangerine aroma. At first very fruity followed by roasted barley and dark malt flavours. Light bodied for its ABV with a slightly powdery texture. A subtle chilli bite in the finish which builds as you go down the glass. Would love to try the chilli on its own!


The third stout of Christmas I put in my belly-vanilla milk stout
Dark black-brown with thick milky-coffee coloured head. Big sweet vanilla ice cream and lactose aroma. Lactose up front with plenty of sweetness, milk chocolate and a long sweet and roast barley finish.




The fourth stout of Christmas I put in my belly-hazlenut latte stout
Pours dark brown with minimal beige head that soon collapses to a lacing. Fruity and smoky roast coffee nose. Strong coffee up front almost detergent-like citrus comes second and a sweet finish. After the fantastic nose the flavour was a disappointment.



The fifth stout of Christmas I put in my belly-cho-o-late stout
Factoberfest 2011 Pitch black with a chocolate malt nose with spicy rasins with cocoa powder and a hint of peppermint. Very deceptive for its 5% with a chalky dry yet sweet finish.





The sixth stout of Christmas I put in my belly-stout with chocolate orange
Dark body, tan head. Spicy hops and orange pith on the nose. a little metallic at first, subtle orange, dark malt astringency and roasted finish. Would have liked perhaps a bit more orange in this






The seventh stout of Christmas I put in my belly-Imperial Stout
Midnight black with a temporary beige head. Vinous fruit, caramel, alcohol and a hint of lactose on the nose. Very thick and warming, molten chocolate with a slight lactic edge followed by a roasted barley and chocolate finish. fairly low carbonation. Its a bit brief in the finish otherwise superb.


The eighth stout of Christmas I put in my belly-Glenlivet Cask Stout
Pours red tinged black brown with a thin mocha head that disappears to a lacing after 30secs. On the nose we have sherry, vanilla, sultanas and a touch of vanilla. Fairly gentle carbonation and very thick in mouthfeel, Its very sweet with plenty of dried fruit with the whisky following on in behind bringing a warming complex slightly dry finish.

 
The ninth stout of Christmas I put in my belly-Laphroaig Cask stout
Pours brown almost black with a creamy tan head. Plenty of phenol on the aroma from the Laphroaig cask and a sweet edge. Dry barley followed by woody smoke, phenol and a complex roast coffee and chocolate finish.



The final three stouts were reviewed here.


The twelve stouts of Christmas I've put in my belly
12. Milk Stout
11. Bristol (dry) stout
10. Ultimate Stout
9. Laphroaig cask stout
8. Glenlivet Cask Stout 
7. imperial stout 
6. stout with chocolate orange
5. choc-o-late stout 
4. hazlenut latte stout
3. vanilla milk stout
2. chili chocolate stout 
and a stout made with raspberries