BONUS! Nickel Brook Bolshevik Bastard Accidentally Aged!

Bolshevik Bastard 2014 Aged 17 months

Nickel Brook Brewing Company

Burlington, Ontario, Canada
Independent Microbrewery
Bolshevik Bastard: Imperial Stout 9.0 % ABV Brown Glass Bottle 355 ml.
BB: $2.49 ($9.95 for a 4 pack) (Canadian) At the LCBO

Twitter: @NickelBrookBeer

So I came across a little discovery We are tidying up the basement as I am installing a new set of shelves and I came across this beer hidden in my Pint Jockey Beer Stash. I looked at it... I knew I bought it in December of 2014 (Its brother was featured in this 2 for 1 tasting for the 2-4 Days of Christmas HERE ) HMMM... Imperial Stout, 9% ABV, should still be good, as it was stored at "near perfect conditions." Well as near perfect as the basement gets...

From the Archives 2014

Today 2016

So to compare, here is the description from 2014:

"Pours an opaque dark brown with a tan head made up of tiny bubbles. Aroma is woodsy with toasted caramel malt, slightly bready with a hint of bruleed sugar. Wow... warming alcohol right off of the hop. deeply roasted malt and plenty of it. Slightly brandy-like... taste moves to coffee and espresso, with a slightly burnt and marginally bitter aftertaste. the hops are wedged in the middle between the bready malt and the coffee afterglow, still very green and herbal. Aeration gives us a big shot of alcohol with a hint of vanilla."

So. How do we like it now? Onto the tasting. 

Pours an oily dark brown almost black. Fully opaque. Head is very fluffy and dark tan made up of small to medium bubbles. However, head disperses very quickly and was slower to build. Nose is chocolate, whisky, and raisins. Fist sip is still very woody, but more biscuits, and lots of dried fruit. Raisins and prunes dominate. Beer is much smoother and lighter in taste and texture. Coffee still shows up at the end but much more distant. More reminiscent of a malty scotch that has been well aged, slowed down, rough edges smoothed out. The toasty, darker, sugar notes have had time to chill out and develop. The beer starts to come to life after a few minutes in the glass. I picked up a little staleness and some metallic notes on the first sip that seem to disappear as the air mixes with the beer. Aeration gives us such a warm whiskey tone with just a hint of coffee bitterness.


Final Thoughts

I can't complain. This beer held up so well over nearly a year and a half! It goes to show you that beer is a living breathing creature and sometimes it can grow and evolve into something entirely different. It certainly does make me want to select some upcoming brews for some more tightly controlled ageing.

Cheers


CJT


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