The Brew Basement

Name: Baltic Thunder
Brewer: Victory
Style: Baltic Porter
Vintage: 2008
Cellared On: March 3rd, 2008
Original Tasting: April 13th, 2008
This is one brew with a history - that’s not something you can usually say with a new brewing!
In this case, Baltic Thunder is Victory Brewing’s take on a well known brew by the now-closed Heavyweight brewing. The beer was called […]

Name: Jah Va
Brewer: Southern Tier
Style: Imperial Stout
Vintage: 2007
Cellared On: March 3rd, 2008
Original Tasting: April 4th, 2008
The very first stout I tasted for this website was Dogfish Head’s Chicory Stout. Despite being a very tasty coffee-flavor brew, it just hasn’t been holding up well in the cellar. I have a bit more confidence in Southern […]

Looks like Stone Brewing is giving us all a St.Patty’s day present this year!
One of America’s favorite stouts, Stone’s Imperial Russian Stout is being released this year on March 17th. This brew is a consistent winner from year to year, and gets great respect from both the BeerAdvocate and Ratebeer review boards.
Since Stone’s RIS is […]

Name: Imperial Baltic Porter
Brewer: Southampton Publick House
Style: Baltic Porter
Vintage: 2007
Bottled On: N/A
Cellared On: February 7th, 2008
Original Tasting: February 29th, 2008
Baltic Porters are strong and dark beers brewed in the style of a porter but fermented with the use of lager instead of ale yeast. This particular porter was brewed by Southampton, and I figured if […]

Name: Imperial Stout
Brewer: Saranac/Matt Brewing Company
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
Vintage: 2006
Cellared On: November 23rd, 2007
Original Tasting: January 9th, 2008
A lot of us who’ve grown up here in upstate NY have fond memories of Saranac beers. Back in the day if my buddies and I decided to go for quality over quantity on any given evening, […]

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 […]

Name: Imperial Extra Double Stout
Brewer: LeCoq
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
Vintage: 2003
Cellared On: October 30th, 2007
Original Tasting: November 20th, 2007
LeCoq is a somewhat polarizing beer in cellaring circles. A recent thread in the beer cellaring and aging forum on beeradvocate.com shows exactly why. Some people praise this beer for it’s uniquely slightly sour taste, while others point it […]

Name: Black Chocolate Stout
Brewer: Brooklyn Brewery
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
Vintage: 2007
Cellared On: October 19th, 2007
Original Tasting: November 10th, 2007
Since I enjoyed the tasting of my first cellared Brooklyn beer (Local 1) I decided to come right back with a second Brooklyn offering. The eagerly anticipated Black Chocolate Stout (or BCS) is Brooklyn’s late fall/early winter seasonal […]

Name: Storm King Stout
Brewer: Victory Brewing
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
Vintage: 2007
Cellared On: August 30th, 2007
Original Tasting: September 26th, 2007
Every Victory beer I’ve tried in the past has been fantastic, so I’ve been really looking forward to trying their Storm King Imperial Stout.
Let me tell you, this is one dark beer, even for a stout. No hints […]

Name: Chocolate Stout
Brewer: Rogue
Style: Chocolate Stout
Cellared On: August 4th, 2007
Original Tasting: September 9th, 2008
You can almost see the thought process here: Hmmmm…..I like chocolate…..and I like beer……why not chocolate beer?
Rogue’s Chocolate Stout is the first Chocolate Stout I’ve tried, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the style. It poured very dark, with […]