Up from the Cellar – Page 4 – Beer Search Party

March 30, 2014September 5, 2018

Up from the Cellar – Mission Street Anniversary 2012

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As mentioned with the 2011 review, this is a Firestone Walker beer and it is a blend of three different beers so it’s sort of a baby version and extremely baby version at that of the anniversary beers that they release each year. It is called an Imperial brown and I don’t know how much longer Firestone will actually brew this particular brand but if you can get your hands on the 2014 it is out and you should get it.

The ’12 pours a hazy red brown color. Very thin head that dissipates quickly. The aroma is bourbon on ice. And the initial taste is almost bourbon and coke. Light bourbon mixed with a sweetness that is just a touch too much for me. And at the back end the brown ale taste lurks around and then fades off. It still has some good carbonation to it as well that starts the whole thing off.

The Verdict: It certainly doesn’t taste bad but the residual sweetness gets a bit cloying the more you drink of it. I don’t know if another year would do wonders or if a year earlier would have had other notes that have now dropped out but it seems off the mark so I have to rank this as a really minor failure considering that it is an under 10% beer and under $5 beer too.

March 11, 2014September 5, 2018

Up from the Cellar – Mission Street Anniversary 2011

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It is great to have a Trader Joe’s across the street from you especially when they have the Mission Street line of beers and some of their other private label brands that are very inexpensively priced for the quality of beer that you are getting.

This is a Firestone Walker beer and it is a blend of three different beers so it’s sort of a baby version and extremely baby version at that of the anniversary beers that they release each year. It is called an Imperial brown and I don’t know how much longer Firestone will actually brew this particular brand but if you can get your hands on the 2014 it is out and you should get it.

2011 pours a black with reddish tint. The initial smell from this is big caramel notes with a little bit of oak and a touch little bit of bourbon to it but definitely a caramel sweetness has sort of taken over the whole beer at this point.

It is still zippy though even though it does have much more of a silky mouth feel to it. The alcohol definitely is also more prominent then you would expect from an 8.5% beer but that is more than likely why you shouldn’t of gone past the three years that it has been aging

The verdict probably a year maybe maybe year and a half tops but three is definitely a bit on the long side for holding onto this one. I should’ve opened this much earlier.

February 23, 2014September 5, 2018

Up From the Cellar – North the 5th from Fort George

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This bottle is from quite a few years back. I was out beer shopping with my patient parents while I would trek from place to place looking for seasonals and other beers that I couldn’t get in SoCal. If I remember correctly, we were at Woodstock Deli when I picked out this winter release from Fort George. So a raise of the glass to my Dad who is probably scouring all the bakeries in heaven and to my mom who still takes me out beer shopping when I return home.

We have a gusher! Quick action saved pretty much the whole bottle but boy does that get the heart rate up. “North” pours a dark orange color. The first aroma that I get is an oak wood barrel note. I am also getting a little of the promised fruitcake. Mostly citrus and a touch of pineapple. First on the palate are notes of caramel and cola but what really amazes is how bubbly it is. Very bright for such an old beer. Then I get a bit of dark chocolate covered orange and more of the oak mix together pleasantly. And believe it or not, I think I am getting some hoppy bitterness at the very back end of the beer.

Verdict – I should have brought this up a couple Christmas’s ago. I believe that I would have gotten a bigger hit of fruit notes and more of that hoppy spice would have tied this together into more of a holiday fruitcake seasonal. But it did hold up incredibly well for a beer that was only 7.5%

February 11, 2014September 5, 2018

Up From the Cellar – 2010 Old Boardhead from Full Sail

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This bottle was picked up in Lancaster, CA after a visit to Kinetic Brewing. On sale for $4.99! Was it cared for before I bought it? Let’s see….

First some math, this was the 2010 Reserve from Full Sail. It is now 2014. And this beer is under 10% ABV. Back in 2010, I sampled the 2009 version and had this to say, Not a huge barleywine fan but I can tell this one is done well. This was the 09 version and it wasn’t overpowering in alcohol. Still had some nice hop kick to it. Will be interesting to see how it ages.

Well, now I appreciate the barleywine much more.

Boardhead pours an amber brown color with little to no head. Not much lacing either here. The aroma seems astringent with notes of apple. Reminiscent of British type beers. There is not much in the way of hops here. Medium to high dryness. More of the apple type taste comes through but not sweet at all. This does warm the cheeks though and I get a certain bourbon-esque quality too. There are still some bubbles but it also has a touch of silkiness to it as well.

The Verdict – This falls under the category of “probably should have opened earlier”. A category that I think will be packed. It is not bad but I think that I had popped it in 2012 that more notes would have been there to combat the apple that is the most dominant part of this beer.

January 29, 2014September 5, 2018

from the Cellar – Widmer Galaxy Barleywine

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For 2014, I will be pulling up some bottles from my cellar and reviewing them. Not to be pessimistic, but I don’t have lofty expectations. Though my beers were light protected and kept at a consistent temp, beer can be fickle and some may have been better last month or next month. That being said, I am really excited to dig into the beers and see what time has wrought.

The second beer pulled up from the depths of the cellar is the Widmer Bros. Galaxy Hopped Barleywine ale But before that, the backstory on the beer from the brewer, “Limited Release #4. Spring 2011. Ale brew with huskless malt and Belgian candy sugar. Galaxy Hopped Barleywine is a new take on an old favorite. This beer pours a dark crimson, almost mahogany color. The yeast & galaxy hops deliver a big bang of red and yellow fruit aromatics like banana, pineapple, cherry, and strawberry. The experience begins with a taste of toffee and darkened sweet caramel overlaid on subtle tones of vanilla. All to be punctuated by the floral and citrus dry hop character.”

This beer pours a dark reddish brown. I got a strange whiff when opening the bottle and was worried because this is a hopped beer from 2011! But I figured that the high ABV of 9.5% and the candy sugar from Belgium would offset that. The initial aroma once in the glass is a bit of caramel, a little Werthers wrapped candy. But I also get a quick hit of bitterness and at the back the faint aroma of sawdust.

The taste is surprisingly good. This beer did hold up! There is a good sparkle to it. A little caramel which must be from the candy sugar and then a good bit of bitterness that holds on for a while. I’m also getting some notes of citrus juice too. The end dries up the palate a bit but then the next sip begins the re-hydrating process anew.

The final cellaring verdict: This was one of the beers that I was worried most about. I really feared that I had held it too long. Going on 3 years! But it held up. Because the hops probably dropped out fairly quickly, I think anything over 3 or 4 months would have been at about the same hop level as now. As it stands the candy sugar takes center stage along with the alcohol to make a pleasing glass. Maybe Widmer will make this again so I can try a fresh version to compare. Which may affect this review.

January 15, 2014September 5, 2018

from the cellar – Bottleworks 13th Anniversary Ale

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First up is a Stone Brewing collaboration with the esteemed BottleWorks of Seattle Washington. But before that, the backstory on the beer from Stone, “Bottleworks, Seattle’s legendary craft beer store captained by Matt Bonney and Matt “Vern” Vandenberghe, celebrated their 13th Anniversary in March of 2012. Since bottle shop owners can’t make their own beer, “The Matts” commission a different brewery each year to help them create their anniversary brew. This time they wanted an especially big beer (they were aiming for 13% abv), so naturally they turned to us for help. Here you see the delicious fruits of our collective labor: a 13-grain, 13-hop imperial porter that packs a wallop.”

The beer pours with a big head of espresso that you could put a barista design into easily. I catch a slight bourbon-esque whiff as I pop the cap. A little sweet raisin note and a bit of alcohol heat also rise up out of the glass. Not totally what is expected but this beer sorta defies style though it is called a porter, it probably could just have easily been called a strong ale or barleywine due to the hefty malts and hops in it.

Now the taste is very complex. He’Brew has done the whole double digit malt and hops thing and I have liked the idea better than the execution but this beer is quite enjoyable and different. I get notes of tobacco, coffee, caramel and milk chocolate that start and finish a sip as the sharp raisin note takes over the middle. Coffee notes at the end linger for a bit too. The time wore away the hop aroma and bitterness. Though that may be for the better. Probably more akin to an English Barleywine with the fruit notes. For all the big flavors, the consistency is a bit on the thin side. And for it’s high ABV, it isn’t hot on the palate or cheek warming.

The final cellaring verdict: This beer held up well but I think that if I had pulled this a bit sooner (maybe 5 months ago) some of the more jarring raisin notes would not have been there and this beer would have been even more balanced. But overall this experiment in aging gets a thumbs up.