Barley Mowat Follow @Barley_Mowat

I have a cellar, and it’s full of beer. Simply having a beer cellar isn’t enough, though, as I like to dive into it from time to time and see how my lovelies are progressing. This is why, when I buy a beer to put down for a while, I tend to buy a lot of it.

Very few breweries or beer review sites provide any information on how their beers are developing in the cellar. Heck, even the major beer review sites like Rate Beer or BeerAdvocate don’t even separate out different vintages into separate reviews, while any semi-decent wine site wouldn’t be caught dead reviewing a ’07 Cab Sauv as if it were the ’06! Imagine the confusion and chaos that might result!

About the best you can hope for is a vintage guide, for determining when that beer you’re holding was brewed and bottled. Handy, for sure, but not too enlightening as to whether you should open the damned thing and drink it now (hint: the answer is usually yes). So, in a half-assed effort to correct this problem, here is how the contents of my cellar are changing with time, and I’ll try and update it fairly regularly.

Barley Wines

Driftwood Old Cellar Dweller 2010
Cellared October/November 2010
Sampled December 2012 — Next sample ~Mid 2013
Bottles left: 7
Now: 8/10 — Potential: 8/10
Notes: Drinking well right now, with a perfect balance of hops spiciness and malty caramely sugar. Up’d the quality to 8/10 it’s that good.

Driftwood Old Cellar Dweller 2011
Cellared December 2011
Sampled December 2012 — Next sample ~Mid 2013
Bottles left: 9
Now: 7/10 — Potential: 8/10
Notes: Coming along nicely, but still pronouncedly hoppier than the 2010.

Driftwood Old Cellar Dweller 2012
Cellared December 2012
Sampled December 2012 — Next sample ~Mid 2013
Bottles left: 11
Now: 7/10 — Potential: 8/10
Notes: A near clone of the 2011; should make for a strong vertical.

Driftwood Old Barrel Dweller 2012
Cellared December 2012
Sampled May 2013 — Next sample ~Summer 2013
Bottles left: 10
Now: 7/10 — Potential: 8/10
Notes: Going to enter a peak by mid Summer, I think. It’s smoother than ever now, but still just a wee bit harsh.

Central City Thor’s Hammer 2011
Cellared December 2012
Sampled April 2013 — Next sample ~Summer 2013
Bottles left: 8
Now: 8/10 — Potential: 8/10
Notes: Spicy tones over a caramel base. This beer will likely live a long, slow decline with a few interesting peaks. Time will tell.

Howe Sound Woolly Bugger 2012
Cellared December 2012
Sampled June 2013 — Next sample ~Summer 2013
Bottles left: 4 (33cl)
Now: 7/10 — Potential: 7/10
Notes: Beautiful rounded malt-forward English style barley wine. Should develop depth and complexity over time (read: chocolate).

Granville Island Taphouse Barley Wine 2012
Cellared January 2013
Sampled January 2013 — Next sample ~Spring 2013
Bottles left: 4
Now: 6/10 — Potential: 7/10
Notes: Cloudy and bourbon-y. There is potential here, as this is a beer with rich and deep character, but with potential comes a chance of it all going sideways. Did Vern aim too high for his first barley wine? Only time will tell.

Imperial Stouts

Driftwood Singularity 2011
Cellared January 2011
Sampled June 2012 — Next sample Spring 2013
Bottles left: 6
Now: 8/10 — Potential: 8/10
Notes: Peaked for now. No improvement between last tastings, but hard to improve on near-perfection.

Driftwood Singularity 2012
Cellared January 2011
Sampled January 2013 — Next sample Spring 2013
Bottles left: 15
Now: 7/10 — Potential: 7/10
Notes: Ugh. Last bottle was dry and harsh. The bottle-to-bottle variability is off the charts. “Blended release” my ass. The good bottles are likely hiding in there and are still great, though.

Driftwood Singularity 2013
Cellared January 2013
Sampled January 2013 — Next sample Spring 2013
Bottles left: 23
Now: 6/10 — Potential: 7/10
Notes: A bit harsh on the bourbon, but hopefully that will slow down. I’m still not getting any acetaldehyde off of these, but maybe I just haven’t hit the right bottle.

Deschutes Abyss 2010
Cellared: January 2011
Sampled: December 2011 — Next sample ~Spring 2013
Bottles left: 1
Now: 8/10 — Potential: 8/10
Notes: Hops nicely balanced with the brew now, but the whole didn’t pan out as great as I’d thought. Still an outstanding beer, tho.

Deschutes Abyss 2012
Cellared: December 2012
Sampled: December 2011 — Next sample ~Spring 2013
Bottles left: 1
Now: 8/10 — Potential: 8/10
Notes: Great fresh version of Abyss. Should age marvellously.

Parallel 49 Russian Imperial Stout 2013
Cellared January 2013
Sampled June 2013 — Next sample ~Spring 2013
Bottles left: 5
Now: 7/10 — Potential: 8/10
Notes: Upping potential a bit; balancing out well.

Parallel 49 From East Van With Love
Cellared March 2013
Sampled June 2013 — Next sample ~Summer 2013
Bottles left: 5
Now: 7/10 — Potential: 8/10
Notes: An upgrade on the vanilla RIS. Should age a bit better.

Stone Imperial Stout 2012
Cellared: July 2012
Sampled: October 2012 — Next sample ~Soon
Bottles left: 1
Now: 7/10 — Potential: 9/10
Notes: Great Imp Stout with lots of upside.

Sours

Driftwood Belle Royale 2013
Cellared: March 2013
Sampled: June 2013 — Next sample ~July
Bottles left: 1
Now: 7/10 — Potential: 7/10
Notes: Coming to the end of a good run. Lots of astringency over a nice cherry tartness.

Deschutes Dissident 2012
Cellared December 2012
Sampled December 2012 — Next sample ~Summer 2013
Bottles left: 3
Now: 6/10 — Potential: 9/10
Notes: An intriguing and complex beer that’s still far too young to consider drinking. This will vastly improve as it matures.

Driftwood Bird of Prey 2011
Cellared: November 2011
Sampled: June 2012 — Next sample ~Spring 2013
Bottles left: 3
Now: 4/10 — Potential: 7/10
Notes: And… we’re peaked. The oakiness overwhelms the thin body producing a beer that is but a faint shadow of its former glory. Time to wait for the next peak.

Driftwood Mad Bruin 2012
Cellared October 2012
Sampled May 2013 — Next sample ~Late Spring 2013
Bottles left: 6
Now: 4/10 — Potential: 6/10
Notes: Improving slowly, but still has a long way to go.

Upright Late Harvest 2012
Cellared January 2013
Sampled n/a — Next sample ~Spring 2013
Bottles left: 3
Now: ?/10 — Potential: ?/10
Notes: I only got three bottles, so I’m sitting on this until Spring. If past years are any indication of what to expect, that should be just about right.

Belgians

Westlveren 12 2012
Cellared December 2012
Sampled December 2012 — Next sample ~Fall 2013
Bottles left: 5
Now: 8/10 — Potential: 10/10
Notes: Raisins plums and a smooth body hide the double fist kirk hammer of booze. This beer will mature beautifully for years.

Lighthouse Belgian Black 2013
Cellared: January 2013
Sampled: June 2013 — Next sample ~Summer 2013
Bottles left: 10
Now: 9/10 — Potential: 10/10
Notes: Bam. Coffee and chocolate show up to the dark fruit malt party. This amazing beer just got better.

Driftwood Spring Rite 2011
Cellared May 2011
Sampled May 2013 — Next sample ~Summer 2013
Bottles left: 1
Now: 8/10 — Potential: 8/10
Notes: Wham. Spicy and darned near perfect. It took two years, but we’re there folks. I might leave this last one a few months to see what happens, but if you only have one pop it now.

Unibroue Grand Reserve 17
Cellared March 2013
Sampled May 2013 — Next sample ~July
Bottles left: 9
Now: 8/10 — Potential: 9/10
Notes: Massive complex Belgian at a great price. Should develop well for years.

Misc

Vancouver Island Hermanator 2012
Cellared October 2012
Sampled May 2013 — Next sample ~July 2013
Bottles left: 21 (33cl + 1 65cl)
Now: 7/10 — Potential: 9/10
Notes: Yes. I said it: potential of 9. Maybe even more. This year’s batch has all he malty body that last year’s was missing. This little beauty will improve for a long, long time.