Cellar Notes - Murray's
Wild Thing Imperial Stout
Vintage: 2008
Consumed: September 2009
Just shy of it's first birthday. And I think it's a better beer now. The shackles are coming off and the palate is starting to open up with more obvious chocolate and less astringency. That said, there's still a firmness to the 'fruit' (think bitter chocolate) which bodes well for further aging. I'd hve no hesitation leaving for another 2 years.
Wild Thing Imperial Stout
Vintage: 2008
Consumed: November 2008
Tasted on release. Fantastic looking beer (as most Imperials tend to be) with a choc orange creamy head. Thin but effective. Nose shows some chocolate sweetness, hints of licorice and a touch of roast. All quite elegant. Flavours definitely get better as the beer warms up and you could just about drink this at room temperature. Sweet malts very early, then a slightly weird tangy lemon kick, before the palate slips into dark bitter chocolates. Good length. Flavours are relatively tight and I think this beer needs a couple of years in the cellar.
Icon 2IPA
Vintage: 2007
Tasted: October 2008
Another encouraging result from my modest cellaring efforts on this beer. I actually did not try on release but did sock a 750ml away for 12 months. So, no reference point but this beer looks good. Relatively mild for a DIPA across both the nose and palate. Pours with a massive foamy head that takes forever to quit. Nose shows sweet hops and some lower key sweet malts. Hops are quite settled to taste and don’t really bite at all - impact from the aging perhaps? Quite resiny. There’s also a very interesting funky brett-like character (ie dirty wine like) that kicks in the back palate. The intensity backed off late, sapping my confidence that this beer will benefit from any further extended cellaring.
Grand Cru
Vintage: 2007
Tasted: October 2008
A minor cellaring experiment with a now 14 month old. Glowing oranage in colour and a large fizzy white head. Aromas are really something else: rich apricot, sauturnes, spice and aniseed. Very deep. Palate shows the apricot early beofre some fizz and alcohol-driven aniseed / licorice kicks in. The latter characters are quite pro-nounced. Finishes a little rough and bitter. Cellaring hasn’t hurt this wine at all but the alcohol is a little abrasive.
Grand Cru
Vintage: 2007
Tasted: October 2007
The cork removal process was an absolute bugger just like the Anniversay Ale!! Very expressive and perfumed nose; fruity esters, sweet grapefruit, soft floral characters, and perhaps a faint sugary note. The flavours are a bit more straight forward and the palate, in the early stages, is driven by a sweet malt that transforms into fruity flavours that progressively thicken. Finishes with a touch of heat and bitterness that appears alcohol driven, but that said the near 9% weight is well managed. To my tastes has more in common with the recent double IPA style releases from fellow Oz micros, rather than a abbey tripel. Whatever, I think this beer is interesting and well worth a try.
Vintage: 2008
Consumed: September 2009
Just shy of it's first birthday. And I think it's a better beer now. The shackles are coming off and the palate is starting to open up with more obvious chocolate and less astringency. That said, there's still a firmness to the 'fruit' (think bitter chocolate) which bodes well for further aging. I'd hve no hesitation leaving for another 2 years.
Wild Thing Imperial Stout
Vintage: 2008
Consumed: November 2008
Tasted on release. Fantastic looking beer (as most Imperials tend to be) with a choc orange creamy head. Thin but effective. Nose shows some chocolate sweetness, hints of licorice and a touch of roast. All quite elegant. Flavours definitely get better as the beer warms up and you could just about drink this at room temperature. Sweet malts very early, then a slightly weird tangy lemon kick, before the palate slips into dark bitter chocolates. Good length. Flavours are relatively tight and I think this beer needs a couple of years in the cellar.
Icon 2IPA
Vintage: 2007
Tasted: October 2008
Another encouraging result from my modest cellaring efforts on this beer. I actually did not try on release but did sock a 750ml away for 12 months. So, no reference point but this beer looks good. Relatively mild for a DIPA across both the nose and palate. Pours with a massive foamy head that takes forever to quit. Nose shows sweet hops and some lower key sweet malts. Hops are quite settled to taste and don’t really bite at all - impact from the aging perhaps? Quite resiny. There’s also a very interesting funky brett-like character (ie dirty wine like) that kicks in the back palate. The intensity backed off late, sapping my confidence that this beer will benefit from any further extended cellaring.
Grand Cru
Vintage: 2007
Tasted: October 2008
A minor cellaring experiment with a now 14 month old. Glowing oranage in colour and a large fizzy white head. Aromas are really something else: rich apricot, sauturnes, spice and aniseed. Very deep. Palate shows the apricot early beofre some fizz and alcohol-driven aniseed / licorice kicks in. The latter characters are quite pro-nounced. Finishes a little rough and bitter. Cellaring hasn’t hurt this wine at all but the alcohol is a little abrasive.
Grand Cru
Vintage: 2007
Tasted: October 2007
The cork removal process was an absolute bugger just like the Anniversay Ale!! Very expressive and perfumed nose; fruity esters, sweet grapefruit, soft floral characters, and perhaps a faint sugary note. The flavours are a bit more straight forward and the palate, in the early stages, is driven by a sweet malt that transforms into fruity flavours that progressively thicken. Finishes with a touch of heat and bitterness that appears alcohol driven, but that said the near 9% weight is well managed. To my tastes has more in common with the recent double IPA style releases from fellow Oz micros, rather than a abbey tripel. Whatever, I think this beer is interesting and well worth a try.
Labels: Cellar Notes
posted by Stewart Went at
9:29 pm
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