Name: 2007 Old Stock Ale

Brewer: North Coast Brewery

Style: English Old Ale

Bottled On: Early Spring 2007

Cellared On: August 30th, 2007

Original Tasting: September 24th, 2007

Fall is coming here in Upstate NY. The wind has a certain crispness to it that wasn’t there a month ago. I can see leafs in the shades of yellow, brown, and red popping up on my trees. It seems as good a time as any to open up a strong, warming kind of beer - like North Coast’s 2007 Old Stock Ale.

I barely had the cap off and I could already smell the sweet malts. It poured a dark brownish-amber color, with a very small head that dissipated very quickly. More sweet malty smells came from the glass. When I closed my eyes and took a whiff, I could easily mistake this for a port instead of a beer.

There’s a very complex taste to this ale. Sweet malts dominate while giving off flavors of savory fruits - raisins, figs, and dates. Great depth of flavor here. Not very carbonated at all, and it has a slightly thick/syrupy mouthfeel. Finishes sweet (there’s another sweetness flavor here I just can’t put my finger on) with a slightly bitter aftertaste.

Nine Month Tasting: May 2nd, 2008

This brew still had its sweet malty smell, but it wasn’t as quite as sweet as a few months ago. If anything it’s even more port-like in character then before. The dark fruit aroma was very prevalent.

With just one taste I could tell the months in the cellar had been good to this brew. It’s still sweet, but it wasn’t overwhelming - the dark fruit and port flavors were playing a HUGE role in this beer now. I was getting a strong, kind of savory grape flavor that I always associate with good ports to go along with the ripe figs and raisins. A touch of lingering bitterness on the finish joined the sweet malt flavors (which were more fruity then sweet).

Beers like this are the whole reason why I started this site. Just a phenomenal brew. If you’re not cellaring it now, you really, really, REALLY need to start.

Cellar Outlook: This beer was made to be laid down for a few years, so I’m sure it’ll be great in the cellar. I expect the dark fruit flavors to even develop more, and the slight bitterness will probably fade also.

Nine Month Outlook: Ok, so I was wrong about the bitterness fading, but I was right on target with my other predictions.

It’s cellaring strong so far, and I don’t see any reason why it would start to fade now.

Next Tasting: April 2008