2008
Driftwood Old Cellar Dweller 2008 vs 2009
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010 | Beer | 2 Comments
Driftwood’s Old Cellar Dweller Barley Wine is one of my favorite seasonal release BC beers and definitely my favorite barley wine. It’s an American style barley wine that uses three times the grain and five times the hops than you’d use to make a normal beer. If you aren’t a hophead you needn’t worry; the higher levels of malt, and the resulting higher alcohol content (12% ABV), balance out the hops nicely.
Last year was the first year Driftwood made their barley wine, coincidentally it was also the first year they existed. I bought two bottles, drank one, and put the other in the cellar. When the 2009 version came out this year I thought it would be cool to try the 2008 version aged a year in the cellar and compare it with the fresh 2009 version. As far as I know, the recipe didn’t change at all.
I recalled the 2008 version, consumed fresh last year, as having a wonderful hoppy aroma of citrus and floral notes. The same aroma was only faintly present in the aged version. We found the aged version to be much more subdued than we recalled. All of its younger and harsher characteristics had mellowed over time. The bite of the alcohol and the sweetness of the malt had blended into a deeper caramel and molasses like richness. We liked the aged beer, but we were reminded of why we loved this beer last year when we tried the fresh 2009 vintage. Powerful aromas, potent hops on the tonggue right after a sip, then a lingering and complex sweetness for the finish.
While our experiment was fun, we learned that Old Cellar Dweller, despite its name, doesn’t belong in the cellar. The hops in this barley wine make drinking it relatively young an experience you can’t pass up.
Cheers,
Chris
Review: Fuller’s Vintage Ale 2008
Friday, December 26th, 2008 | Review | 1 Comment
This years 2008 Fuller’s Vintage Ale is the eleventh annual release of it’s limited edition bottle conditioned ale. I’d seen them in stores and in Erik’s cellar before, but this is the first year that I bought one. Being a bottle conditioned ale, yeast remains in the bottle in dwindling quantities, meaning the beer changes (gets better) over time. Fuller’s states on the box (yeah, it comes in a cool box) that they can only legally recommend aging the beer for three years, insinuating that this delightfully crafted ale will last much longer and improve with advanced age. I showed absolutely no patience or self control by opening mine last Tuesday. How could I resist not opening my individually numbered bottle, one of only one hundred and forty four thousand, for any length of time?
It felt good to take a beer bottle out of a box and peel off a “limited edition 2008″ label to get at the cap. It was also comforting to know that this level of snobbery is the exception and not the rule when it comes to beer. Upon opening the box, I also noted that there was a pamphlet enclosed describing the previous ten vintage releases. I thought that was pretty cool. The beer itself had a lovely medium brown, amber color and produced minimal head. What I noticed right away was the delightfully rich malty, fruity smell. This is by far the best and most powerful smelling beer I have had the pleasure of sniffing. The taste was similar to the smell, with a rich malty and fruity flavor. What struck me about the taste was that the high alcohol content really came through. I really enjoyed the taste at first, but after a few more sips all I could taste was the alcohol, which lessened my enjoyment of this beer. Upon reading the enclosed pamphlet, I learned that the alcoholic taste would smooth out over time, like say a year or two of aging.
I can tell for certain that Fuller’s Vintage Ale 2008 will be much improved in 2010, which isn’t to say that it isn’t drinkable or enjoyable now. Hopefully by then I will also have garnered the self control needed to save drinking a Vintage Ale for two years down the road. Luckily for me, Erik bought me another one for Christmas. I do believe I will abandon my childish ways and adopt his practice of buying each year’s Fuller’s Vintage Ale and saving it for two years before drinking. Check out Beer Advocate’s tips on beer storage if you, like me, have also never had enough patience to save beer for any length of time.
Cheers,
Chris