From the Cellar: Unibroue Terrible

It's been a while since we pulled one out of the cellar for this blog, but with the weather getting colder there is no better time to dive into the big monsters that tend to lurk in my stash o' beer than now.

A bottle of Unibroue Terrible has calling me for a few years now, so let's check it out.

Unibroue are out of Canada, and until the American craft beer explosion they were easily one of the best brewers in North America. Hell, they probably still are. Specializing in Belgian-styles, they are matched only by brethren like Allagash and Ommegang. Hard to go wrong with anything they make.

This three-year-old bottle of Terrible pours the color of mahogany, with a thin, fizzy head that disappears almost immediately. Smells of black bread, dark sugars, and a hint of plum and grape rise from the glass. There is a candy sweetness to the aroma. Medium body, dark sugars, and very little alcohol despite coming in at 10.5%.

Age has treated it well. There is a softness here not common to ales. Whether through aging or because it was fermented on lees I don’t know, but it makes this beer drink wonderfully. (Lees is the leftover sediment from wine making, mostly dead yeast. In beer making, this is known as the trub.)

I paired this with spicy Asian cuisine and it was fantastic. I suspect it will go well with any bold meal.

Terrible has a lot in common with Trappist ales, especially after spending some time in the cellar. It drinks wonderfully smooth. TOO smooth, maybe, because it's hard to tell that it's a whopping 10.5% ABV. Since this comes in 750ml bottles, that means you should either take a few hours to sip it down or split it with a friend, otherwise you’ll be in trouble.

Unibroue Terrible is a fantastic beer when fresh, and after about three years in the cupboard it remains a fantastic beer. A little less "hot," a little creamier, but still delicious from start to finish. Thumbs up to laying a bottle of this down.

From the Cellar: Old Rasputin imperial stout

North Coast's Old Rasputin is considered by some to be the definitive American version of the classic Russian Imperial Stout style. I beg to differ, but I understand why people think that way. It's widely available, well brewed, and quite good.

It's also, like most imperial stouts, a possible candidate for cellaring ... so I sought to do just that when I bought Old Rasputin twice for my "cellar," once in the winter of 2010 and again in mid 2011. The problem? I never marked the beers, and North Coast doesn't date stamp them, so I have no idea how old this beer was. It's at the youngest about 18 months and at the oldest maybe three years. Keep that in mind when reading this. (Also keep in mind that this was enjoyed and written in autumn 2012 and is only being posted now.)

An Old Rasputin with mild age on it pours with a fizzy head of about one finger even after some time sitting around. It smells of licorice, coffee, and alcohol heat, none of it luxurious or inviting, but none of it unpleasant, either. Still, the aroma feels somehow subdued.

The drinking experience offers much the same experience. The body is thin and light for an imperial stout, lacking the rich, heavy sweetness I enjoy in the style. There is lots of coffee, mocha and cocoa, so that's nice, but oddly, the booze is not as mellow as it is when fresh. The other odd thing? There is a vaguely milky quality to it without the body of sweetness of a milk stout. Don't know what to make of that.

So did it improve over time? I think so. Overall this beer is smoother and more enjoyable than it is when fresh. Pair this with a rich cheese or dessert dish and you'll enjoy it greatly.

BEER: North Coast Old Rasputin imperial stout
VINTAGE: 2010-2011 (?)
TIME AGED: 12-24 months (?)
NOTES: Still boozy, but pleasant, dessert-like tones come out to play

VERDICT: Definitely give this beer a year in your cellar, maybe more.

From the Cellar: Dogfish Head Raison D'EXTRA

I like my Dogfish Head beers. Sure, Dogfish is hyped to death, but the fact is, I respect their reckless experimentation. It's one of the things that appeal to me as a beer geek.

Among those experiments are Dogfish Head Raison D'EXTRA, a super-boozed-up version of their Raison D'Etre. Brewed just once (as best as I can tell), the EXTRA version was a whopping 18% ABV! At the time of release, that made it one of the strongest beers in the world. In fact, even today it would rank among the strongest naturally fermented beers in the world. (The strongest beers in the world are not always naturally fermented.)

So five years after being brewed -- this was tasted and written in 2012 -- how did this mega brew hold up?

Pretty well. There was barely any carbonation on the pour. Not surprising given the ABV and age; beers this high in alcohol and/or this old rarely retain a lot of carbonation. Poured like a fine port.

The aroma was nutty, laden with almonds and fat malt sweetness. If there were ever any hops here, they're long gone. No yeast spice, either. The same holds true in the taste. This drank like a red wine, only with deep dark nut flavors. Notes of sherry abounded. The surprising thing was, despite being 18% ABV this beer was warming but not "hot." The booze was quite mellow.

Verdict? Not transcendent, but quite interesting. If I get another bottle I'll be trying it three years from, now to see how it is.

Despite being brewed just once five years ago, this beer is sometimes still available on shelves where it did not sell well. A message to any beer trading message board should net you some offers.

BEER: Dogfish Head Raison D'EXTRA
VINTAGE: 2007
TIME AGED: 5 years
NOTES: No carbonation, nuts + sherry. Pair with a meal.

VERDICT: Nice experience, but don't knock yourself out trying to find out

From the Cellar: Weyerbacher Fourteen

Weyerbacher is great.They do a lot of really amazing beer that people miss because, frankly, up until the last few months their labels were TERRIBLE.

'Cause yeah, even though we know we shouldn't, we really do judge books by their cover. I've often said that Weyerbacher would be more widely considered a great brewery if their branding wasn't so bad. They wised up, contracted a new logo, and are now in the process of rebranding their whole line. Excellent!

So what does this have to do with a three-year-old brew put out for their 14th anniversary?  Nothing at all. Just thought it would make for a good intro.

Anyway, for the Weyerbacher's 14th anniversary they brewed a spiced up wheat wine, essentially a boozed-up barleywine but with wheat as a primary fermentable grain. These beers are BIG, complex, and age well.

And this 2009 vintage fits the description. After three years, the aroma is a boozy, murky mix of bread, spices, and a touch of caramel. Drinking it, though, you'd never know it was so strong. Despite coming in at a whopping 11.8% ABV, there is little alcohol heat to speak of here. It starts to show through as the beer warms, but even then it’s much less than you’d expect from a beer this potent.

Rather than bitterness, here you get spicing, with hints of rye, pepper, and summer herbs. As the beer warms this really ramps up, too, providing a surprising spice kick. Meanwhile, the wheat malts bring a smoothness to the beer that makes it go down better than any three-year-old, nearly 12% beer has a right to.

Overall this is a big WOW. If you have one, I suspect now is a great time to open it. If you see one, get it and drink it right away. 'Cause this stuff be gooawd.

BEER: Weyerbacher Fourteen
VINTAGE: 2009
TIME AGED: 3 years
NOTES:

VERDICT: This beer has laid down pretty well. If you're lucky enough to find a bottle, consider scooping it up.

From the Cellar: Ommegang Abbey Ale

The Brewery Ommegang is arguably the best brewer of Belgian style beers in America. It's partially a cheat, of course, since Ommegang is owned by Duvel, who also provides them with their house yeast strain, practically making Ommegang a Belgian brewery located in America, but when confronted with such awesomeness that's little more than pedantic nitpicking. These folks make awesome beers. That's all you need to know.

Ommegang's flagship is probably Abbey Ale, a top-rated, super delicious beer roughly in the style of the dark Trappist beer made in Belgium. This fantastic 8.5% dark Belgian-style ale only costs about $7.99 for a corked 750ml bottle, so it's a bargain for a beer so good. In addition to price, it meets all the other key criteria for beer that is good to stash away. That's why I decided to grab one and stash it away. So after roughly a year and a half to two years in storage, how does it taste?

Pretty damn good.

The nose offers subdued notes of dark fruits (figs, etc) and a very bready sweetness, like black buns fresh from the oven. It smells distinctly like a Trappist ale such as Rochefort 6.

Carbonation has mellowed after 18 months or so -- sorry, can't pin down time; if the bottle is dated, I can't find the date -- making the beer a bit stickier than it is fresh, though it's nowhere close to flat. The taste reveals hints of caramel and barely noticeable fruit. The Belgian yeast character so noticeable when fresh is subdued here, while the alcohol is better hidden in the murk.

Overall I'm pleased with how nicely this beer matured, but feel like this experiment points to it being better fresh. That might change if a bottle was set down for, say, five years instead of two -- 18 to 24 months really isn't that long for a beer worth aging -- but I'm guessing this is a beer that wants to be consumed fresh.

Cheers!

BEER: Ommegang Abbey Ale
VINTAGE: 2010
TIME AGED: Roughly 18-24 months
NOTES: Easily available and affordable, so it's a cheap experiment. Try it yourself.

VERDICT: Okay to cellar this, as it lays down fairly well, but don't for for too long. It's better fresh.

From the Cellar: Dogfish Head Theobroma

Another entry into the From the Cellar series, this one showcases a bottle of Dogfish Head's Theobroma, a late spring seasonal beer that is part of their lineup of ancient ales. This rather unusual brew is made with cocoa powder and cocoa nibs, honey, chilies and annatto (fragrant tree seeds).

I happen to be a big fan of their forays into beer's past. They're offbeat and unusual, almost never what you expect from a beer, but they're almost always interesting enough to be worth a try.

One year isn't all that long to sit on a beer, especially one that boasts a big alcohol content and a hefty malt bill like this one, so I expected it would hold up fairly well. The first clue that it didn't was in the absolute lack of a nose. This beer was poured a bit cold, but not too cold, so the lack of aroma is surprising. There is some cocoa in the nose but it's faint. Not chocolatey at all. There are hints of dark berries here, too.

Hmmmm.

The taste is ... well, a year has done this beer no favors. Sure, it's a robust 9% ABV, so it's got the booze to stand up to time, but the delicate balance of chilies and cocoa and honey you get in a fresh bottle is gone. There is still a nice wash of honey there, dipped ever so slightly in cocoa, but the latter is too subtle to be of note. And the ancho chilies and annatto? Gone. Both are present when fresh, adding a hint of spice that rounds out an otherwise sweet brew, but they are nowhere to be found after a year. The primary taste is a silky honey. It's not at all unpleasant, but the complexity of the fresh bottle is gone. Also, as the beer warms the lack of spice contributes to an overly sweet character. Maybe, maybe that sweetness would turn into something nice with a few more years time, but it's doubtful it would top the interesting brew that this is when fresh.

Many Dogfish Head beers lay down pretty nicely. Beers like Word Wide Stout, 120 Minute IPA, and Burton Baton are known for aging wonderfully.

This one, alas, doesn't.

BEER: Dogfish Head Theobroma
VINTAGE: 2011
TIME AGED: 1 year
NOTES: n/a

VERDICT: Do not cellar. This beer is best enjoyed fresh.

From the Cellar: Dogfish Head Burton Baton

When I pull stuff from storage for the From the Cellar series, I don't necessarily expect much. For personal reasons I'm pulling some of this stuff sooner than I normally would, so a few of these aging experiments are not showcasing the vintages I had hoped to showcase when I first stored them away.

So when I get a pleasant surprise like this one, I'm pretty damn thrilled!

Dogfish Head's Burton Baton is an imperial IPA blend made up of a fresh double IPA and an English-style old ale, both aged in oak barrels for about a month. Though old ales age wonderfully, IPAs are generally not good candidates for aging. Hops and bitterness tend to be among the first things to fade from a beer. In most modern IPAs, being as little as six months out of date can leave you with a beer that tastes like sweet cardboard left in a basement.

With that in mind, on the surface Dogfish Head's Burton Baton, made up largely of a double IPA, doesn't seem like the ideal choice for a beer to be set down for over 12 months.

Still, it's loosely modeled after -- actually, "inspired by" is the more accurate descriptor -- Ballantine Burton Ale, an ultra rare beer that had been aged for decades in oak. This beer may well have what it takes to age well.

And it does. Fourteen months into the aging experiment, pressed for something to drink, I decided to crack one open. The beer did NOT pour as expected. First of all, it poured with a HUGE, thick, creamy tan head that lingered for the entire life of the beer. Completely unexpected for an imperial IPA that was over a year old. The head did not at all dissipate over the course of 45 minutes to an hour of drinking, remaining thick as a light cream throughout that time. Wow!

The aroma, unfortunately, left me worried about how this beer would taste. It was dominated with the musty, faded out hops common to IPAs that are out of date, in this case touched by notes of alcohol and wood.

Based on the aroma, this wasn't going to be good.

I was wrong.

In that first sip you get a mouthful of woody, creamy malt; it's thick and tasting of oak. You then get hit with subdued hops that are nonetheless nicely bitter, at this point perfectly in balance with the sweetness of the malt. I mean, perfectly. It's as if a year turned this into the beer it wants to be. Fresh Burton is a blast of pine hops, quite tasty indeed, but this ... this is just a damn good, utterly balanced beer with a lot going on in every sip. It's delicious. There are hints of oak in the finish, adding a pleasantly astringent edge, and, despite the big 10% ABV, nary a hint of alcohol.

I am impressed. After a little over a year, this. Beer. Drinks. GREAT. In many ways even better than it does when it is fresh. There is another bottle in my cellar, as well as a bottle of a much older vintage. I can't wait to see how they taste with a few more years on them.

Cellar this one? Absolutely!

BEER: Dogfish Head Burton Baton
VINTAGE: April 201l
TIME AGED: 1 year, 2 months (14 months)
NOTES: This aged brew would pair GREAT with a hearty seasoned fish

VERDICT: This aged FAR better than I expected given its origins. Grab a four-pack and put two away for at least a year!

From the Cellar: Samuel Adams Imperial White

From The Cellar posts are about aging beer just like you would wine, and this time around we've got a pretty interesting one: Samuel Adams Imperial White.

This is an odd one to cellar. Traditionally, witbiers are not good candidates for aging. You want to drink them cold and fresh in order to get the nice notes of orange peel and coriander. This Imperial White, however, is a high alcohol monster that Sam Adams allegedly brewed with aging in mind.

I should hope they had aging in mind with this one, because frankly, when fresh this beer is a mess. It's big, hot, malty yet spiced up, and trying to do too many things at once. It doesn't know what it wants to be -- it's neither refreshing like a great witbier nor hearty and satisfying like a big alcohol brew -- and it's not something I'd recommend.

But what does some time do to it?

The bottle I opened was about two years old, stored in a covered mile crate in the corner of a bedroom. It remained at about 65 - 70 degrees the whole time and saw no light.

The beer pours a deeply hazy orange, with a light, fizzy head that dissipates pretty quickly. There is a surprising amount of orange in the aroma, shockingly up front despite the beer's age and having come directly from the fridge. (Lower temperatures inhibit aroma, which is why the "cold, cold, cold!" push of Bud, Miller and Coors is so idiotic; most of what we perceive as taste, after all, is actually what we're smelling.) As Imperial White warms to room temperature, however, it begins to develop an aroma note that is almost akin to window cleaner. Oof. This beer wants to consumed slightly on the cooler side -- which makes sense, since wheats tend to be preferred at lower temperatures.

Thankfully, it tastes pretty damn good. After two years, plenty of orange and some coriander remain in this uber-powered witbier. The malts have developed into a more complicated mix of crisp wheat and heady sweetness. Whereas fresh this beer was a mess that didn't quite know what it wants to be, with some time under its belt this is a surprisingly interesting beer. There is a note on the back end that is just this far into "funny," but for the most part the wheat and spice have evolved into a more complex brew than when first purchased.

The alcohol has really mellowed after all this time, too. This beer comes in at 10.3% ABV, which is HUGE for a wheat beer/witbier, yet after two years you'd never know it was as potent as it is. The beer drinks smooth. Not quite refreshingly smooth, but smooth. Which isn't to say this beer drinks easy. It doesn't. There is a lot going on here, and halfway through the glass you begin to get some fatigue. But overall, this beer is FAR better after being laid down for two years than it was fresh. And just to back that up, I had quite a few bottles on hand and tried them at roughly six-month intervals. I can say unequivocally that this beer gets better over time.

If I have another bottle on hand -- I don't recall offhand if I do -- I'll be trying it at three years to see how it is.

BEER: Samuel Adams Imperial White
VINTAGE: 2010 (estimated; Boston Beer Co., please date your Imperial series)
TIME AGED: About 2 years
NOTES: Would probably pair very well with a meal

VERDICT: Put this beer away for a while and enjoy, this one gets better with age!

From the Cellar: Founder's KBS

Starting with this post, I'm going to periodically pull something from my beer cellar and report how it has aged. (Yes, you can age beer; check this post for more details.) Sometimes I'll touch on beers that have been aged for several years or more, other times the beers will be as little as a year old. Whenever possible I'll touch on something I've reviewed before as a Quick Sip so as to compare where a beer started and where it ended up.

We begin with a very special beer indeed. Founder's KBS (which stands for Kentucky Breakfast Stout) is a highly sought-after, hugely tasty imperial stout aged in bourbon barrels. Read my initial impressions in this post from last year. This bottle comes from that same batch and was purchased at the same time. It has been stored since purchase, boxed in the back of a dark closet, and kept between 65 and 70 degrees during that time.

So how did it hold up?

Fresh from the fridge, the beers pours with only a faint sliver of head, no more than a thin layer of chocolate tan foam. The beer itself is as black as used motor oil. You might find dinosaur bones preserved in this thick black liquid. The aroma has hints of bourbon, but it falls well short of the overpowering bourbon nose of this beer when it's fresh.

The taste of bourbon hasn't faded, at least. This is still one potent brew, with the beer immediately hitting your mouth with powerful bourbon, then shifting to a complex mix of rich, roasty malts, and finally finishing on yet more bourbon with hints of vanilla from the oak aging thrown in for good measure. The oak comes on stronger than I recall first time around, especially in the finish. Despite a year to mellow out, the robust 11.1% ABV is still clearly noticeable; this brew is warming, but not "hot." As the temperature begins to rise -- and that will happen, since this is a beer you'll sip for an hour -- the booze becomes even more apparent both in the taste and the aroma.

After a year, Founder's legendary KBS remains a delicious, supremely satisfying beer. However, in my view the fresh bottle was the better bottle.


BEER: Founder's KBS
VINTAGE: 2011
TIME AGED: One year
NOTES: None

VERDICT: It's okay to cellar this, it will hold up well, but don't wait too long before you drink it. It's better fresh, and after a year no new complexities are revealed in this beer.