The Brew Basement

OK, so they look the same, but how do they taste?
The minute I saw the 2008 vintage of North Coast’s Old Stock Ale on the shelves earlier this spring, I knew this article was coming soon. I just couldn’t wait to pour one of my 2007’s to see how it was matching up with this […]

Here’s my latest round of six-month tastings! It’s amazing what seems to happen on these vintage tastings - there’s always a mixed bag of success and failures.
Jolly Pumpkin La Roja - Big disappointment here. Diminished sweetness has left this brew wildly unbalanced and extremely sour.
Victory Weissbier - Just forget it - drink this fresh only. […]

Hello everyone! I’m taking a break from my recent writing about smoked beers to bring you the latest results from the cellar. This batch is comprised of mostly six month tastings - except for the Chimay Grande Reserve, which is a 2006 vintage. Enjoy!
Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin Ale - The spiciness of this brew is still […]

Hello everyone! How about that Siena beating up Vandy in the NCAA tourney last Friday!
Here’s my latest round of six-month tastings. Not a bad bunch of aged brews here, I must say. One disappointment, but the others are going strong!
Corsendonk Abbey Brown Ale - A nice enough little brew, but it seems like it’s not […]

If there’s one thing I learned after this February, it’s this: I bought a hell of a lot of beer last summer! Here’s the last of my six month tastings for February. On to March!
Stone 7/7/7 - Holding up great so far! A nice spicy bite and some slightly sweet biscuit malt is matched up […]

And now for the bad news.
Two of my precious brews just aren’t doing well. Such a shame, since I had such high hopes. I’m sure the folks over at Dogfish had high hopes too, because both of the beers crashing and burning right now in my cellar are from them.
Dogfish Head Black and Blue - […]

Here’s the latest updates to my tasting notes. For this round, I’ve updated the notes on nine different cellared brews, encompassing a pretty wide range of styles. Here’s the links - starting with the first four that held up the best.
Unibroue 15th Anniversary Ale - Big fruity flavors showing no signs of slowing down, fantastic!
North […]

It was another mixed bag of results for my latest round of six-month tastings:
Weyerbacher Blithering Idiot - Six months have been incredible for this beer. The huge sweet flavor has calmed down and made this into a an extremely drinkable beer.
Schneider-Weisse Aventinius - Another brew that’s just too easy to drink. Still very flavorful and […]

Hello everyone! I’ve posted six month tasting notes for a few beers I cellared back in July. The brews included in this update are Stoudt’s Fat Dog, Dogfish Head’s Aprihop, and Ommegang’s Abbey Ale.
The results were a mixed bag. The Ommegang and Fat Dog beers showed some interesting changes, while the Aprihop’s flavor deteriorated in […]

What a surprise I had waiting for me at a Christmas party last weekend!
The party in question was being thrown by a co-worker and friend of my wife’s. I was looking forward to going; I knew there would be a lot of fun people there. What I didn’t know was that one of those fun […]