The Session #33: Framing Beer

This month's version of The Session is about "Framing Beer". I'm not sure what Andy had in mind exactly but my mind seized on this sentence:

I have not done much blind tasting, and I would be intrigued to hear about this ‘frameless’ evaluation of beer.

Well, I have never done any blind tasting and I have always wanted to do one. This installment of The Session gives me the perfect excuse.

Now, it wouldn't be a perfect blind tasting...I was having my wife pick out 4 12oz bottles out of my cellar. I am vaguely familiar with what is in my cellar so I imagine that this colors my "blindness" during the tasting but I have enough inventory that I can't keep it all straight. My wife grabbed the 4 bottles, poured me a sample of each and did not tell me what beers she had picked until after the entire tasting was complete. Here they are in chronological order.

Beer #1

Lots of dark fruit in the nose and a bit of alcohol. Taking a sip, big flavors from this one. Pronounced alcohol is evident first. Fruity, oaky...and roasty. The roastiness comes out more as it warms with lots of sweet dark fruit in the finish. Warming alcohol as it moves down the throat.

After sipping on this for a few minutes, I am pretty certain that this is am Imperial stout. It felt like a strong old ale at first but the dark roasted malt flavors gave it away. No idea what label the beer is but if you made me guess, I'd say a young version of Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout.

The Beer Revealed: Duck Rabbit Imperial Stout

I had the style right and I was pretty happy about that. Again, the roasted malt and strength of the alcohol flavors gave it away.

Beer #2

Big caramel aromas in the nose...some faint herbal hops too. The flavor takes a 180 from the smell. The aroma was big and rich, the taste is difficult to detect. Perhaps this is because it follows the Imperial stout but I struggle to get anything from my first couple sips. The body is thin and light, the finish is fairly clean. An American wheat beer? A golden ale? That doesn't go with the smell though. No idea on this one...I'm stumped. If I had to guess, I'd say a strong Belgian pale ale.

The Beer Revealed: Anchor Christmas 2005

Amazing. Without being able to see the beer, I picked up none of the porter-like elements I usually detect in this beer. The age on the beer explains the thinnish feel of the body.

Beer #3

Big malty caramel in the nose. Alcohol too and some pronounced bitter hops. For lack of a better phrase, it smells like a barleywine. In the mouth, big fruity and caramel malt. And hops. Lots of hops followed by an alcohol bite. The hops bite too but you can detect some citrusy notes there too. Some dark fruit and warming alcohol.

It's assuredly a barleywine, almost surely American. If I had to guess, I'd say Rogue Old Crustacean.

The Beer Revealed: 2004 Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine

I am surprised that a nearly 6-year-old sample still has that much hop flavor going on. Wow.

Beer #4

Bright fruity aromas, roasted malt and no hops to speak of. Roasty dark malt in the mouth and a lot of carbonation, more than you would expect from what is almost certainly a stout. It's creamy and certainly thinner in body than the Imperial stout I had earlier. There's a character that I can't put my finger on that leads me to believe that this is not an ordinary stout. It got something extra...maybe a milk or cream stout?

The Beer Revealed: New Holland The Poet Oatmeal Stout

I love oatmeal stouts but couldn't identify that oatmeal quality beyond "something else".

Conclusion:

So what have I learned? I learned that, unsurprisingly, beers with big bold flavors are easier to identify than those with more muted and subtle ones. I was still pretty pleased that I was able to identify about 2.5 beer styles out of the 4 I sampled...I've seen blind tastings that go far worse. I am also curious what would happen if I sent my wife to the local Whole Foods with $10 and told her to bring back 4 random single bottles what this exercise would look like. Hmmmm........

For more entries for this month's installment of The Session, check out this post on I'll Have A Beer, this month's host.

Beer Hunting: Green's Discount Beverage in Atlanta

If you peruse this blog on a regular basis, you know that I cellar beer. Well, a second child and the economy in general has slowed down beer acquisitions for my cellar over the last couple years. But when my wife recently gave me some birthday money for beer, I knew there was only one place to take it...Green's.

Green's offers the delightful combination of the best selection and the best prices when it comes to beer in Atlanta. There are two locations but the Ponce location downtown is my store of choice. My goal was to get some new bottles for the cellar.

The only problem with Green's is that it's easy to get sidetracked. And that's what happened to me. Seemingly, for every beer that I got for the cellar (like 2007 N'Ice Chouffe) I found another that was for drinking now (like Sweetwater Wet Dream Ale). But really, it's a good problem to have.

It goes without saying that if you have to pick one place to buy beer in Atlanta, Green's is the runaway winner. Best selection, best prices and, at the Ponce location, a climate controlled beer cellar where much of the Belgian beer is housed.

The haul:

Moylan's Ryan Sullivan's Imperial Stout (2 bombers, 1 for the cellar)
Smuttynose Big Beer Series - Baltic Porter (1 bomber)
Sweetwater Dank Tank - Wet Dream Ale (1 bomber)
Smuttynose Big Beer Series - Imperial Sout (1 bomber for the cellar)
Jolly Pumpkin Noel de Calabaza (1 750ml bottle)
Unibroue Trois Pistoles (2 750ml bottles for the cellar)
Gueuze Girardin 1882 (1 375 ml bottle for the cellar)
Terrapin Side Project #8 - Pumpkinfest (1 bomber)
N'Ice Chouffe 2007 (1 750ml bottle for the cellar)
Ommegang Chocolate Indulgence (1 750ml bottle)
Houblon Chouffe (1 750ml bottle)
Stone Cali-Belgie IPA (1 bomber)
Heavy Seas The Great Pumpkin (1 bomber)
Stone Vertical Epic 09.09.09 (1 bomber)
Sierra Nevada Harvest Wet Hop Ale (1 24oz bottle)
Brew Dog Riptide Stout (1 bomber)
Samuel Adams Imperial Stout (4 12oz bottles, 3 for the cellar)
Dogfish Head Punkin Ale (4 12oz bottles)
Weyerbacher Old Heathen Imperial Stout (6 12oz bottles for the cellar)
Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale (6 12oz bottles)

Still, it was a nice addition of "new blood" for the cellar and I'll have to re-inventory the thing to reflect the additions as well as recent subtractions.

The Session #32: Eastern Beers

This installment of The Session is hosted by Girl Likes Beer and the requirements were to select a beer brewed to the east of where you live and far enough east that it is brewed in a different country.

I am in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. So the beer I picked is technically brewed east of here...but much farther north than east I suppose. But it counts!

I am picking one of the fine beers from the Unibroue brewery in Chambly, Quebec, Canada. I selected Trois Pistoles, a dark Belgian-style ale and this particular bottle I've selected tonight has spent just under 5 years in my cellar.

Canada is best known for it's widely exported industrial lagers like Molson and Labatts but Unibroue was the first Canadian craft beer I ever tries and they were doing beers in a Belgian style, something that was rare for North American breweries at that time.

This beer pours a very dark brown with a thick and creamy light tan head. As with the beer when young, lots of ripe dark fruit in the nose. Raisins, plum and currant. Almost smells more like a ruby port than a beer.

Still a bit of alcohol in the mouth at first sip. A caramel sweetness still remains but the body has thinned out considerably and it's much drier than the last time I tried it. Still the dark fruit, still there is oakiness in the body but the flavors are harder to identify as everything has blended nicely as the age has taken effect. No unpleasant flavors from oxidation can be detected. A warming as it finishes, lightly sticky in the mouth but a fairly clean finish for such a big beer (9% ABV).

So what's different with this beer after 5 years? The spiciness that you expect from Unibroue (and that this beer displayed when young) is very muted and at most times undetectable. As a result, the malt shines through more than it once did. Not as balanced but the flavors all blend wonderfully.

Get some to drink now and some to drink later. Still fantastic after 5 years!


The blog Girl Likes Beer is hosting this month's edition of The Session. Head over there to link to more entires.

Out of the Cellar: Bell's Java Stout

Brewery: Bell's Brewery
Style: Coffee Stout
ABV: 8.1%
Date Poured: July 2009

When I had this beer fresh, it was good but I found the coffee flavors to be a bit overpowering and, at times, even astringent. I wondered if some cellaring would help mute the coffee bitterness and bit and make the beer a bit more balanced. So here is this bottle, picked up on a trip through the American Midwest two summers ago, with two years in the cellar to see if it worked.

Still pours the color of dirty motor oil, still topped by a frothy brown head that retreats to a wisp within minutes. The mocha aromas still dominate but they seem sweeter. A good sign?

Lots of bitter chocolate in the mouth and the sweet mocha flavor comes through as well. It's a little hot still, you can taste some alcohol and get the warming from this ale as it slides down the gullet. Wee bit sticky in the finish, sweet roasted malt in the aftertaste.

The proof here is at the end of the glass because the coffee flavors were not overpowering right away but became evident as the beer warmed and more was consumed.

The verdict? It actually did help quite a bit. This beer is much more balanced now and the big coffee flavors, while very present, are nicely muted. Successful experiment!



Bell's Brewery

Out of the Cellar: Sierra Nevada Bigfoot 2004

Brewery: Sierra Nevada

Style: Barleywine
ABV: 9.6%
Date Cellared: February 2004
Date Poured: May 2009

I have very few beers in the cellar that are getting past five years and this is one of them. Anything that reaches five years of aging has to be sampled, right?

Pours the familiar murky brown with a thin but persistent tan head. After five years, still the distinct aroma of cascade hops in the nose. Rich and fruity maltiness too but the hops are still prominent.

Fruity and rich maltiness in the mouth. Again, still a ton of cascade hops detected and gives it a biting bitteness. A bit of alcohol in the finish. But the flavors are blending very nicely. Could still keep aging! Easily!

25 Beers of Christmas '08, Day 22: 1997 Samuel Adams Triple Bock

Brewery: Boston Beer Company
Style: Triple Bock (???)
ABV: 17.5%
Date Poured: December 2008

Samuel Adams Triple Bock was brewed in three vintages: 1994, 1995 and 1997. Even though it hasn't been brewed for over ten years, the cobalt blue bottles are still sporadically found on liquor store shelves. This was probably the first real "extreme" beer. It was brewed with maple syrup and aged for some months in oak whiskey barrels. At the time, it was considered to be the strongest beer in the world. This bottle is a 1997 vintage and was purchased about five years ago and has been int he cellar even since.

Dark brown in the glass with no head at all but nice "legs" like a port or sherry would have. Lots of oaky, whiskey components in the aroma. A hint of molasses and vanilla. Strong and sweet.

Rich malt, dark fruit and a scorching alcohol flavor. Very, very sweet. Distinct whiskey flavor. Oak and vanilla. A hint of the maple syrup in the aftertaste as well as a nice alcohol burn. Very sticky after the heat subsides.

This is a sipper, treat it like a cognac instead of a beer. I only drink this about three ounces at a time. I still like it though. I like what the age has done to it and I like the overall flavors this beer is delivering. Good stuff.


Samuel Adams

Out of the Cellar: The List!

I inventoried my beer cellar and uploaded the data to Google Docs so I could share it online.

The link is over to the right or you can click here. I'll be updating it periodically if you care to check it out...

The Session #21: What's Your Favorite?

This month's edition of The Session is being hosted by Matt over at A World of Brews.

The theme is "What is Your Favorite Beer and Why?"

Matt quickly follows the title of his theme with this comment: "Before you say I don't have a favorite beer or how do I pick just one, I say BS everyone has a favorite. "

Well, let me trump your BS with a bigger BS! It's BS that everyone has to have a favorite beer!

How would you determine that anyway? The beer you've been drinking the longest? The beer that you buy most often? The beer that you think tastes the best? The breadth of beer is too vast for that. How can I compare a great lager with a great Flemish red? How would I pick the best one? And why should I?

The title of Matt's blog says it all. "A World of Brews" It would be virtually impossible to select my favorite beer out of all the thousands of beers to choose from. So much of my preference depends on my mood, the season or what's for dinner. So I will choose a beer but don't mistake this for my absolute favorite beer.

I picked Oud Beersel Oude Kriek Vieille. It's not the best beer I've ever had but if you forced me to make a list of my favorites, this one would probably make the top 25. And since I had a bottle that had been in my cellar exactly four years, it seemed like an appropriate choice.

This beer is one of the best Kriek lambic beers I've ever tried. It's got just the right balance of brett funk and cherry sourness and while it delivers a significant "pucker factor", it's still quite refreshing and surprisingly drinkable.

It pours the color of cherry wood with a frothy pink head. The head on this aged bottle is nowhere near as big as the fresh sample I tried. But the aroma is still full of amazing sour cherry, barnyard funk and just a hint of wheaty sweetness.

The flavors have blended a bit over time and sometimes the funk and the sourness seem to be one in the same. The barnyard flavors actually seem a bit muted but the sourness form the cherries is there and builds as your drink it and as the beer warms. It's earthy and the body seems thinner than before but still retains a very champagne-like mouthfeel. The tart cherry lingers long past the finish and into the aftertaste.

At four years, this beer is developing nicely and it's status as one of my favorites is certainly cemented! If you like a sour, traditional but drinkable Kriek lambic, this is one you look for.

Brouwerij Oud Beersel

Check out more contributions of The Session over at A World of Brews. I'll post the exact link once Matt does...

(edit: The link to all contributions to The Session are now here.)

Out of the Cellar: Saison Dupont

Brewer: Brasserie Dupont
Style: Saison
ABV: 6.5%
Date Cellared: July 2004
Date Poured: November 2008

In July 2004, Georgia officially raised the 6% ABV limit on beer to 14% ABV. Soon after, I bought this 750ml bottle of Saison Dupont. Yes, even this beer of modest strength was kept from the shelves under the old Georgia law. I didn't mean to keep it quite this long but I thought it was about time I cracked it open after more than four years in the cellar.

Deep hazy orange with a voluminous snow white head. Big chunky lace on the glass and lots of sediment settles at the bottom of the glass. Lots of citrus in the nose. Lemon and orange rind, some understated coriander.

Body has thinned out a bit. Bitterness present throughout, a sweet spiciness but muted from when fresh. Some lemony and orange rind citrus. Lightly earthy and yeasty. No longer crisp, the body has softened. Sweet spice in the finish.

Overall, this beer held up very well. Did it improve? Not really. Based on this bottle and other experiences, I'd keep this beer up to 18 months but no longer.


Brasserie Dupont

Out of the Cellar: Middle Ages Tripel Crown Part II

Brewery: Middle Ages Brewing Company
Style: Tripel
ABV: 10%
Date Cellared: October 2004
Date Poured: October 2008

The last time I tried this beer, I thought it could use another year in the cellar. I missed that date obviously but sampling this in October gives me an even four years in the cellar so it seemed like the right time to crack it open.

Still pours a hazy orange but seems to be a darker orange. Creamy and persistent ivory head but quite thin. Sheeting lace.

Smells of spiced apple and pear, some vanilla and other sweet spice. Hint of alcohol in the nose.

Very sweet in the mouth, very fruity. Lots more toffee and caramel flavors, almost no spiciness as noticed in earlier tastings. Oaky and vinous. Lots of rich maltiness. Still, still, a lot of alcohol in the mouth. Not unpleasantly hot but still quite evident. The alcohol helps dry out the mouth, balance the sweetness. Some bitterness in the finish. Can't tell if its the meager hops profile breaking through or if it's a side effect of the alcohol.

Overall, still really tasty. No need to go any further in the cellar in my opinion.


Middle Ages Brewing

Can The Brick Store Actually Get Better?

The Brick Store Pub in Decatur, GA is already one of the best beer bars on the east coast. It's getting better still.

Owen Ogletree, a writer for Southern Brew News, posted this video on YouTube. It's Dave Blanchard and Mike Gallagher, owners of the Brick Store, showing off their new beer cellar under the pub and detailing their plans for cellaring beers for the pub. Great stuff!

Out of the Cellar: Aventinus Weizen Eisbock

Brewery: Weissbierbrauerei G. Schneider & Sohn
Style: Eisbock
ABV: 12%
Date Cellared: October 2004
Date Poured: April 2008

My notes from 2004 describe this as a very rich and complex beer but also hot, hot, hot! It wears all of its 12% ABV on its sleeve when young. More than three years later, I decided to crack open another one to see if time has reigned this wild one in.

Pours a very dark, nearly opaque brown. Very thin tan head. Aromas of dark fruit and toffee with vanilla and oaky notes. Just a hint of pipe tobacco and a hint of ripe banana.

The alcohol in this monster has really calmed down. It allows deeper malty, dark fruit, banana, cherry and ripe banana flavors to shine through. It's still boozy but does not dominate the palate. Very sticky mouth and huge body. Finish is not cloying (thank in part to the alcohol) but a long sticky sweetness lingers forever.

This beer takes 3.5 years in the cellar like a champ. It mellows and develops lots of crazy flavors. Easily age this one at least three years for best results. I would imagine it could go a year or two more.


Weissbierbrauerei G. Schneider & Sohn

The Session #18: Happy Anniversary

For this 18th edition of The Session, the theme was selected by Ray of Barley Blog. It reads:

For August, the theme is “Happy Anniversary”.

Use this as an excuse to celebrate. Open a limited release anniversary beer from your favorite brewer. Enjoy that special beer you normally only open on your wedding anniversary or birthday. Either way, tell us about it. Why is it a beer you may only drink once a year? Why is that brewery’s annual release the one you selected?

Only open on a wedding anniversary or a birthday? A beer I only drink once a year? Perhaps I am not sentimental enough but these concepts are foreign to me.

I wouldn't even celebrate my birthday if not for my wife and kids sake. I find it self-indulgent and silly for a grown man to get all worked up over his own birthday. And wedding anniversary? That's for sharing with my wife and while she likes beer too, a bottle of wine is usually what we end up splitting.

I guess it all boils down to this: Any day is a good day to break out that special beer.

I have a nice collection in my cellar. I could crack open something "special" everyday for a year or two and not run out of beer to drink. The specialness these days is finding the time to relax and indulge myself in, for example, a good aged barleywine. Kids do take up your time and energy you know.

So that leaves me to pick out something that was a one-off or a limited edition beer. While Unibroue is not my favorite brewer, they are a long-time favorite. So I decided to crack open a bottle of Unibroue Edition 2004. Why? I have quite a few of these bottles left!

It pours an orangey almond with a wispy ivory head. Some floaties (yeast) in the beer. Truly wicked fruity aromas emanating from the glass. Spiced apples and plums. Pears. Sweet spices like coriander and nutmeg with just a hint of cinnamon, toffee and vanilla. Some lightly sour green apple in the nose as well.

Explodes with flavor in the mouth. Very spicy earthy yeastiness and a decadent fruitiness form the malt. Ripe pears, plums, nutmeg, coriander and green apples underpinned by oaky toffee and vanilla. Just a hint of alcohol in the finish helps to dry the body out a bit but leaves a sticky sweet aftertaste in the mouth.

So while I'm not a "special occasion beer" guy, thanks to Ray for giving me an excuse to break out a beer that is worthy of a special occasion.

More entries for The Session can be found over here at this month's host, Barley Blog.

Out of The Cellar: Cherish Kriek

Brewer: Brouwerij Van Steenberge
Date Cellared: October 2003
Date Sampled: June 2008
Style: Kriek Lambic
ABV: ???

This is one of those inadvertent cellarings. It's a beer I bought for my wife years ago but it has languished in the cellar for over 4 1/2 years. I'm not crazy about the more "commercial" examples of Kriek Lambic but I was curious to see what would happen to it after all this time. I was pretty sure this is a pasteurized beer but did any of the brettanomyces survive? Would there be any added funk or sourness imparted by the age?

Logically, I know the answer is probably not. But what's done is done. Let's check it out.

It pours a a deep copper color with a hint of red and is topped by wispy thin ivory head. Smells of tart cherry and just a slight hint of toffee.

There's a lot of tart cherry flavors with just a twinge of toffee. The body is much thinner. There's sweetness but it's not that sweet. It finishes with a light sticky aftertaste.

Firstly, there was no funky brett character at all. The pasteurization is complete and thorough! Second, the tart fruitiness does seem to be stronger in the flavor profile but I would imagine that is some of the fruity oxidation flavors blending with the cherries.

Chalk it up to experience. An interesting accident but nothing more.


Brouwerij Van Steenberge

Out of the Cellar: Hooker Imperial Porter

Brewery: Thomas Hooker
Style: Imperial Porter
ABV: 7.8%
Cellared: February 2007
Poured: April 2008


Even though I didn't buy or cellar this bottle until 2007, there is a label pasted over the flip-top cap that says 2006. The beer is usually released in late Fall so I'm going to assume the beer is actually 18 months in the bottle.

It pours opaque brown with nary a head even with a healthy vigorous pour. It has legs like wine when you swirl the glass. A little bit of alcohol in the nose surrounded by dark ripe fruit.

I am bracing myself for a flat blast of alcohol but am relieved that a very mild carbonation can still be detected on the tongue. The dark fruity flavors dominate (ripe plum and black currant) the rich maltiness with hints of vanilla. There's a lightly smoky flavor in the finish and hints of alcohol but not of the strength I was expecting.

I have to wonder about the wisdom of aging beers in these flip-top containers. I have only tried it twice in recent memory; the first was a Sweetwater Festive Ale which I aged for two years and it was flat and infected, so bad I couldn't even blog about it. The second is this beer which, while not horrible, is pretty unappetizing to me. I don't mind diminished carbonation but this beer is not helped by it at all.

I'll not be aging these flip-top bottles again and I would recommend drinking this Imperial Porter sooner rather than later.


Thomas Hooker Brewery

Out of the Cellar: Unibroue Trois Pistoles

Date Cellared: March 2004

Date Sampled: February 2008

ABV: 9%

Straight out of Quebec, one of the great North American breweries is Unibroue. They specialize in Belgian style ales and one of their best ales is Trois Pistoles. The beer is named after a village in the Les Basques region.

I have had mixed results aging Unibroue beers and the shelf life on this one is only supposed to be 3 years. Let's see what happens.

It pours an opaque brown with a huge creamy tan head. The aroma is dominated by the signature Unibroue yeast. Ahh, that spicy Unibroue yeast! Bready and earthy, rich dark malt, sweet, lush candy sugar.

Surprisingly smooth body, lightly dry considering the sweetness of this beer. Some breadiness in the malt, some peppery spice, still a hint of alcohol and the body has thinned out a bit from when fresh. Sweetish finish some alcohol warming. Lightly bitter in the finish.

Success! This one ages beautifully. I have more so we'll check it out again in a few months.

Unibroue

25 Beers of Christmas, Day 25: N'ice Chouffe 2004

One last entry in this series and for the last entries I picked one of my all-time favorites. According to the bottle, this winter ale is brewed with spring water, barley, hops, dried orange peel, thyme (?!?) and "a lot of candy sugar". Guess that candy sugar helps boost the alcohol content up to 10% ABV. The bottle also suggests that this beer may be aged up to 5 years. This version is from 2004, three years of age on it.

It pours an opaque nutty brown with a enormous, frothy head. Tons of thick lacing. A very spicy nose and not just sweet spice. There a bitterness and peppery quality to the aroma.

Although this is a big beer, there is nary a hint of alcohol in the mouth. Nor is this beer overly sweet like so many big ales from Belgium. The body is thinner than you might expect, though not too thin, and the spice and hops really shine through. It's a nice balance that makes this enormous beer quite the easy drinker. The spice and hops create an interesting bitterness, especially in the finish. Is it the thyme? I think so. The orange peel flavor is there to giving that dryness to the body. It's a really interesting beer and takes awhile to wrap your head around.

One thing for sure is that this one's a one of a kind ale. Go get some.


Brouwerij Achouffe

25 Beers of Christmas, Day 20: Anchor OSA 2003

The final edition of this mini-vertical within the greater Christmas beers focus.

No need to describe the appearance. It's the same as all the other editions! Plus, I have a picture posted right?

Smells of sweet dark malt, some nutmeg and clove aromas.

Fruity malt, some bituing spice, allspice and ginger flavors. Faint citrusy flavor, lemony. Odd oxidized finish. Some piney flavors especially in the aftertaste.

This one is still good but just a tad haphazard with the flavor profile. It shows signs of being just about ready to fall apart.

Anchor Brewing

25 Beers of Christmas, Day 19: Anchor OSA 2004

Yet another version of Anchor OSA, this time from 2004.

Like all the other versions, it pours opaque brown with a thin tan head. More pine in the nose for this version and a touch more of that sweet spice.

There's still lots of pine in the mouth and some clove and nutmeg spice as well. Sweet dark malt and a sticky and resiny finish and aftertaste. It's real good.

Of all the years sampled thus far, 2004 is holding up the best by far.

Anchor Brewing

25 Beers of Christmas, Day 18: Sierra Nevada Celebration 2003

Against my better judgement, I put a bottle of Celebration in the cellar for a number of years. I have heard of other people doing this and while I don't typically don't lay down IPA's, my curiosity outweighed my prudence. It does have nearly 7% ABV and is bottle conditioned so you never know. This bottle has been in my possession for 4 years.

It pours a reddish copper with a quickly dissipating head (from the age I presume). Still quite hoppy in the nose with slight fruity malt and some aromas from mild oxidation.

The hops have faded revealing some lightly fruity pale malt. The body is quite fizzy, perhaps from bottle conditioning creating more carbonation. Some light oxidation and lightly stale cascade hops. Lightly sticky finish.

It's not great but I was expecting a mess. It actually aged quite nicely for the style. Not recommended but an interesting experiment.

Sierra Nevada Brewing