The Bar Towel

A good thread to pull out the good stuff:

Rochefort 10 - not the oldest bottle I've had but great. Archetypal Trappist.
05 - 2021

Kasteel Donker - developing some nutty flavors and a more delicately sweet subtle fruity-toffee palate VS the overwhelming sweetness of this beer when fresh. It's allowing the gently woodsy overtones a chance to express. Has lost some carbonation but very intact & elegant beer, worth ageing these to get this almost wine-like experience.
06 - 2009

Pulled a bottle of St-Ambroise Vintage Ale from 2012 the other night. A lovely beer that held up nicely after half a decade of ageing, despite going through about 4 moves in that timeframe. Sweet fruity notes, vinous quality reminiscent of sherry or brandy. Alcohol is present and mingles with the fruitiness to yield an impression of brandy soaked fruit. Sweetness was balanced by what seemed to be a bit of hop bitterness, with some herbal and spicy notes rounding out the profile. Carbonation was quite low and there was maybe a hint of oxidation, but all in all it was a surprising treat.

I have a lot of beer on long term cellaring. Tonight I'm on the same beautiful Rochefort 10. From the last big batch of Rochefort released by the LCBO in 2010. BB date of Sep 2016 so almost 7 years old and it's aging wonderfully. Still lots cellaring and I'm looking forward to them.

I asked this elsewhere but maybe it is better suited here... what are your thoughts on long term cellaring? Found this article for Rochefort 10.
http://www.beerscenemag.com/2010/10/a-t ... ring-beer/

Cheers!

Over the last couple of months I've been having some 5+ year old bottles of Rochefort 10 and 8, Westy 12, St. Bernardus 12, Chimay Blue and Red, Orval, and Peche Mortel. I find most of them are doing very well. I think the Orval is brilliant. The Peche Mortel, however, has shown no benefit as a result of aging, IMO.

Belgian wrote:A good thread to pull out the good stuff:

Rochefort 10 - not the oldest bottle I've had but great. Archetypal Trappist.
05 - 2021

Kasteel Donker - developing some nutty flavors and a more delicately sweet subtle fruity-toffee palate VS the overwhelming sweetness of this beer when fresh. It's allowing the gently woodsy overtones a chance to express. Has lost some carbonation but very intact & elegant beer, worth ageing these to get this almost wine-like experience.
06 - 2009

That beer was way to sweet for me fresh. I should find some and try aging it.

Just drank a year old Peche Mortel tonight. The heat (which was never that pronounced) has dropped out but so has the currant like fruit I remembered. Tasted quite astringent, with more of a coffee bitterness. I bought a four pack over the summer with a Feb bottling date, the last one I had was just before Christmas and i feel that this has moved quite a bit since then. Will look to drink the last 2 in the next month or so.

Fun to keep a few old Chestnuts around but I don't think I'll ever have a big cellar.

Just opened 3 bottles of Thomas Hardy's Ale, 2x the 2006 and 1x the 2008.

This ale does get more drinkable over time, as promised it is transforming the initial brashness and harshness that once did compete with the generous complex sweet-tangy fruit and toffee-bread-caramel richness. Both are really good! More drinkable that I thought also. But different beers as it turns out.

The 2008 is notably more rooty-spicy and puts the fruit forward. It appears to be hitting an approachable maturity much quicker than the older edition, making it quaff very comfortably like a superior Belgian Trappist Abt or similar.

The 2006 (which is a few % ABV stronger) is also so much different than when new, yet still remains a bit more challenging and probably the more distinctive of the two bottlings. Definite stronger personality, perhaps more of a Scotch drinker's TH. It offers a more firm woody, herbal dryness not nearly as present in the '08. The '06 will be the Hardy's Ale to keep cellaring for over another decade, if I can leave it be that long.

An exceptional experience.

Thx for all the feedback. Strangely enough, I have all the beer mentioned here since my last post in Feb. Great info. Actually on second look, I don't have the Chimay Red.

I have some Peche Mortel that have to be around 8 years old now. I have no idea how it's going.

I'm excited about my cellaring Orval beer. I don't have tons of experience with them though I remember when quite young it was just ok to me. However, I did find that as Orval beer ages it completely transforms.

Anybody have feedback on sours? I have a bunch, and many lambics as well.

My general take on sours, provided you mean really sour and not funky Bretts, is they cellar just fine, but don't really improve any. There's no heat to mellow out or harsh egress to take off, nor do they gain anything from Sherry like oxidation notes.

Alvinne Phi - My final bottle from the last batch the late Peter @ Esprit imported in 2016. This has got to be 2+ years old (BB Jan 2019). Still gushing aggressively, drinking very well. Sweet honey-like barrel, balanced sourness, fruity, medium finish. Very nice brew.

Enjoying a Hardy's 2008 and then a 2006.

Both very enjoyable right now. They seem closer in overall profile than I remember.

Anybody tried the Asahi brewed version of the past three years?