The Brew Basement

Massive Online Vintage Beer Auction For Charity!!!!

jason — Wed, 07 May 2008 02:52:17 +0000

Feel like getting your hands on some rare and vintage brews?

Feel like supporting a good cause?

Liquids Solutions (my favorite online beverage retailer) is giving you a chance to do both by hosting a vintage beer auction starting this Friday, May 9th and ending on Sunday the 11th. All proceeds will be going to a Parkinson’s charity in memory of Michael Jackson, the fabled beer author who passed away last year. Here’s the press release:

FredFest 2008 Honors Memory of Michael Jackson

Online rare beer charity auction
www.LiquidSolutions.biz/auctions

This year in conjunction with FredFest 2008 Liquid Solutions is hosting an online auction of rare and vintage beers. All proceeds going to Parkinson’s Resources of Oregon, the local affiliate chapter of the National Parkinson Foundation, this in memory of friend and famed beer and Scotch author Michael Jackson. Many breweries and private collectors graciously donated the beers for this worthy cause.

The auctions start at 3:00PM Pacific Friday May 9 and they will be closing starting at May 11 at 3:00PM Pacific then at 5 min. intervals (i.e. Lot FF01 will close at 3:00, FF02 at 3:05…). Below is a list of the beers up for sale

I’ll be posting the list of beers available in a day or two. It looks like one heck of a lineup - I’ll be bidding for sure!

Jason

Beer Cellaring Mailbag Time!

jason — Tue, 06 May 2008 02:36:08 +0000

Hello fellow beer fanatics!

I seem to be getting more and more mail lately and please trust me, I’m trying hard to answer everyone somewhat timely (unfortunately I’ve been terrible about responding to comments on the site - I promise to get better there). I have just one request for you all - please keep those emails coming! I really love hearing from everyone, so if you have a question about beer cellaring or just want to say hi, send off and email to jason@brewbasement.com! I promise you’ll get an answer. You might even get to see your email on the site!

Now on to some recent emails!

Hi Jason,

Just discovered your site today. Great work and thanks for all the interesting reads. I’ve looked around a little online about cellaring and it seems that cellaring in a fridge is not the best idea. However, in our current living situation, we don’t have much choice, so I wanted to get your opinion.

We live on the third floor of an apartment building and don’t have access to a basement of any sorts. The only real storage area in our flat are these spaces behind the walls. It is a dark space, but the temperature is not controlled. While it doesn’t get extremely hot here (in Southern England), the building’s outer walls are not insulated, so the area we’ve been using as for beer storage is getting a bit muggy as we’re approaching the summer. As far as what we’re cellaring, it’s exclusively Belgians and we only have one corked bottle (oude gueze). We will only be living in this flat for another 18 months and after that we’ll be moving overseas so we’re only keeping our beer around until we move. We tend to purchase our Belgian beers by the case since we have to drive over an hour to a shop to find the beers, so while we’re essentially storing it, with the intention of consuming the beer before we move. But, some of the beer is quite nice (such as Westvletern 12), so we’d like to keep it in good condition until the right moment comes for opening it.

With all those details in mind, do you think it would be a ok for us to purchase a small fridge and store our beer in there? If so, would 55F be a good storing temperature? And what bout the lack of humidity problem with fridges, is there anyway to get around that problem?

Thanks for your help,
Elena

Hi Elena, thanks for reading! I’m glad you’re enjoying the site. Sounds like you’ve got a lot of great Belgians - I’m definitely jealous!

Given your 18-month time frame, I’m not sure I would worry TOO much about the humidity, especially since you only have one corked bottle to worry about. The seals around the caps of your bottles can also dry out over time, but I wouldn’t be overly concerned with the drying out given the short period of time you’ll be cellaring them.

55F is a great temp for cellaring, cold enough to slow down some of the staling reactions that occur in beer, but still warm enough for the conditioning yeast to be active. It’s the temp I shoot for in my cellar.

I was researching beer aging and I found your blog which is awesome. I was hoping to get your opinion. I bought 5 Anderson Valley 20th Anniversary Imperial IPAs about a month ago with the hopes of aging them. However, with further research I’m not sure it’s really that great of an idea because is may be too light and have too much hops to be a good aging candidate. Have you had this beer? Do you have any advice?

-Justin

Hi Justin, thanks for checking out my site!

I haven’t had the pleasure of having this one yet, unfortunately. Just going by what you and others on the Internet are saying about this beer (I checked out Beer Advocate’s reviews to familiarize myself), it doesn’t sound like the best candidate for cellaring. Some IPA’s can work in the cellar, but they tend to have a big malt base which will come forward over time as the hops start to fade.

That being said, I would probably throw one bottle of this in the cellar and then drink the rest. Pop it out in a year or two and see what happens, you never know with this hobby!

Thanks again for reading.

Jason
jason@brewbasement.com

Weyerbacher Insanity - Tasting and Cellaring Notes

jason — Mon, 05 May 2008 02:17:53 +0000

Name: Insanity

Brewer: Weyerbacher

Style: Barleywine

Vintage: 2007

Bottled On: December 8th, 2007 (Date printed on case)

Cellared On: March 21st, 2008

Original Tasting: April 26th, 2008

Every year, Weyerbacher takes a portion of their Blithering Idiot Barleywine and age it oak bourbon barrels before bottling. And since I’ve enjoyed aging Weyerbacher’s Blithering Idiot Barelywine it was only natural that I’d try cellaring the oak-aged one, which is called Insanity.

Insanity is a deep, dark, cloudy orange. When I hold the glass up to a light I can see a whole bunch of yeast floating around in it (my wife wanted me to make an off-color joke here but I’m resisting). Powerful smells came from my glass. Sweet malts and oak dominated, but there was plenty of ripe dark fruit and noticeable alcohol present.

Even taking just a single sip, the oak flavor comes in with a vengeance. The oak hits you right after the first bite and lingers on the palette well after the brew finishes. This brew is really sweet as well, with the malty flavors provide a ton of complex dark fruit flavors (figs and dates mostly). There’s also a noticeable, almost subtle background bitterness that really matches the flavor of this brew well. A big alcohol burn comes in on the finish (definitely some fusels here), joining the oak and sweet malts flavors.

One heavy, powerful, and complex beer, a definite sipper for sure.

Cellar Outlook:

With the magic combo of high alcohol (11.2% ABV) and bottle-conditioning, this brew is bound to hold up well. Insanity also has a lot of flavors that need a bit of cellaring to “calm” down a bit in my opinion, especially the hot fusel alcohols that were burning me on the finish.

Next Tasting: October 2008

Jason

Green Flash Trippel 2008 - Tasting and Cellaring Notes

jason — Fri, 02 May 2008 03:03:12 +0000

Name: Trippel

Brewer: Green Flash

Style: Tripel

Vintage: 2008

Cellared On: April 9th, 2008

Original Tasting: April 20th, 2008

Brews from Green Flash Brewing in San Diego are a brand new addition to the beer scene here in Upstate NY this spring. The guys over at Oliver’s Beverage tell me they’re all selling like crazy, and I can believe it. I’ve had several of the Imperial IPA’s (Incredible citrusy and floral hop flavor) and I’ll posting my tasting notes on their Barleywine in a couple of weeks or so.

Today however, I’m concentrating on their award-winning Belgian-Styled Trippel. I actually mentioned this brew months back after it won an award at the Great American Beer Festival.

This beer looks sure looked like a prototypical tripel. It was a cloudy dark orange topped with a bright white head. This a very heady beer - a virtual plethora of different aromas were in the air. There were an abundance of your typical spicy Belgian yeast smells combined with just a touch of a banana-like phenol presence. I was also getting some faint whiffs of silky vanilla. A bubbly evanescent head simmered up as I poured, but disappeared pretty quick.

Taking a taste, you quickly realize there’s no lack of flavor in this brew either. Fruity esters (cherry and peach) dominate the flavor profile of this beer, and linger all the way through the finish. They’re paired against an understated cookie-like malt presence that has a bit of a candy sugar touch to it. Somewhat surprisingly, some hoppy bitterness pops up at the end, giving this brew a more of an aggressive feel to it then your average tripel.

It’s pretty easy to see why this one wins awards. It’s a tripel with a bit of edge, and it’s a real trip to drink.

Cellar Outlook: I’m a bit worried about how the esters are going to hold up, but this brew has a chance. It’s bottled-conditioned and high in alcohol, so it just may have the legs to do it.

Next Tasting: October 2008

Jason

Presenting Clint’s Beer Cellaring Sheet and Another Vintage Beer Review

jason — Fri, 02 May 2008 01:39:21 +0000

Today I’d like to give special thanks to Brew Basement reader Clint who has generously allowed me to share his fantastic Beer Cellaring Spreadsheet with you all. I’m in the process of putting my collection over onto this sheet’s format, and I recommend it highly for keeping track of your beer collection.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to point you over to this post on the blog The Underbelly. It details a tasting of three aged beers Justine picked up from the store Bierkraft in Brooklyn NY. The brews in question are a 2006 De Dolle Special Rererve and two JW Lees Harvest Ale from 2000 and 2006.

I really suggest you check this article out, and not just for the content. Justine is a wonderful writer (no surprise she’s studying for a Masters in Journalism) and takes some pretty snazzy photos too.

Next time I’m down in NYC I know I’m heading over to Bierkraft….

Jason

Stone Old Guardian Barleywine - Aging and Tasting Notes

jason — Thu, 01 May 2008 02:20:04 +0000

Name: Old Guardian

Brewer: Stone

Style: Barleywine

Vintage: 2008

Cellared On: March 7th, 2008

Original Tasting: March 29th, 2008

I wasn’t sure if this brew would make to Upstate NY or not. Not every Stone offering seems to make it this far (no sign of the Russian Imperial Stout yet), so I was pretty happy to see this in my local beverage mart. I happily bought a case, which I’m sure will keep me smiling (and buzzed) for years to come.

Much like the picture, Old Guardian pours a very clear amber with a slightly off white head. The smell is a very heady match of floral hops and sweet caramel malts.

The first thing that hits you after taking a sip is the hoppy bitterness. It’s floral, citrusy sour, and delivers the perfect amount of bite. However, the real show in this beer is put on by the sweet malty flavor. It’s absolutely delicious with flavors of caramel, raisins, figs, and brandy. It’s also perfectly balanced with the hop bitterness, just a wonderful combination. Bodywise, I would say the thick and slightly syrupy feel to this beer is a perfect match to the flavor. There’s just a faint hint of alcohol through the middle. The finish has hints of sweet caramel, but is mainly dominated by the lingering slightly citrus-sour bitterness.

Just a phenomenal beer, right up there with the Alaskan Barleywine for my favorite barleywine of the year.

Cellar Outlook: Hmmmm…… not sure here. I have no doubt this brew will keep up well, but Old Guardian is pretty well balanced right now. I’m not really seeing how this brew can change or develop in a positive way.

Next Tasting: September 2008

Jason

Some Recent Beer Cellaring Links

jason — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 02:51:16 +0000

Hello everyone! I just thought I’d share a few recent cellaring links I’ve come across! Enjoy!

For those of you looking a way to organize your cellared brews, here’s a great spreadsheet for beer cellaring put together by RunAwayJim.Org. I also have another one in a slightly different format that a reader recently shared with me, but I’m waiting for his permission before I share that one.

Stew over at Slow beer has posted some cellaring notes on a 2005 Westmalle Triple that you should definitely check out..

For a very interesting and in-depth read, look up this tremendous post from a wine fanatic over at oenoLogic.com. It’s a very long piece focusing on the current controversy in the wine world about higher-alcohol or “hot” wines. I’m linking to it here, because about halfway down the author starts discussing the preservative effects of alcohol in wine. It’s given me some food for thought about similar effects in beer.

Hops and Chops has this quick post about the Trappist beers of Westvletren, including some discussion about how their various beers age.

Thats all for now, thanks for reading!

Jason

April Six Month Tastings - Jolly Pumpkin, Victory, Brooklyn BCS

jason — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 02:52:25 +0000

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. All the beautiful fruity flavors are gone.

Jolly Pumpkin Oro de Calabaza - Pretty F*in crazy to say the least. There’s a bunch of wild flavors all trying to assert themselves - tart apple, lemony sourness, grassy Brett flavors and more. It’s a brew that’s all over the place, but still pretty damn interesting to drink.

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout - Wow. Totally delicious. Amazing chocolate, caramel, and espresso flavors. A real winner for sure.

Jason

Victory Brewing’s Baltic Thunder - Aging and Tasting Notes

jason — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 02:22:25 +0000

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 Perkuno’s Hammer, and it was beloved by many a beer geek. While not an exact clone of the Hammer, Victory’s inspired take on the classic has been very much anticipated. If your interested more in the brewing of this beer, check out Philly beer writer Lew Bryson’s impressions of several different versions of Baltic Thunder straight from the brewery.

I could see Baltic Thunder was pouring a milk chocolate brown, resulting in a very black beer in the glass. You’ll see just a trace of browness if you hold it up to a light before you drink. Much more carbonation then I was expecting (especially for a porter), it almost reminded me of a cola-like fizziness as I poured. The head subsided fairly quickly, but left some nice lacing around the edges. Deep roasted malts with hints of chocolate and toffee were noticeable when I gave this beer a good sniff.

Those same roasted malts taste absolutely delicious when you taste them. Baltic Thunder has a bit of a toffee-like sweetness to it with overtones of chocolate and bitter coffee coming into play. I wouldn’t call the flavors subtle, but they are a bit subdued - not that that’s a bad thing. I think it adds to the extreme drinkability of this brew. As the beer started to finish, the sweet toffee became even more noticeable to me, almost like it gave a little burst of flavor. Roasted malts with chocolate flavors lingered with the sweet toffee as this beer finished. The mouthfeel of this beer was also worth noting - creamy and as smooth as silk.

All in all, just a great porter to try. Other tasters (like the Drunken Polack) have noticed a dark fruit presence in this brew, but I didn’t get that at all. You should definitely see for yourself!

Cellar Outlook:

With a big abv (8%+), and tons of toasted flavors to go around, you’d think this brew would hold up well. The guys over at Victory Brewing would disagree with you however, and are only giving this beer a shelf life until next February. I guess we’ll just have to see!

Next Tasting: August 2008

Jason