Nerd Note: I neglected to mention the 2006 bottle I tried had an unusually high ABV (13.25%) which of course just added to the intensity of flavours. Here’s a list of the recent Old Stock Ale vintages complete with ABVs kindly ‘lifted’ from www.ratebeer.com
pre-2006 ABV: 11.4%.
2006 vintages: 11.6% & 13.25%.
2007 vintage: 11.7%.
2008 vintage: 12.5%.
2009 vintage: 11.5%.
2010 vintage: 11.7%.
It would be great to see an episode from your beer cellar with some notes about the beers you have there and how long you have cellared them and so forth.
An episode from inside the inner sanctum? Great idea Christer – now officially on the list!
Looks like you have two episodes numbered 42 here on the blog, and two episodes numbered 43 on YouTube. Kind of confusing, I say.
Well spotted! Thanks for the heads-up – fixed now
Do you think it´s fair to rate a beer after just a sip?
Good point Olle. I’m a pretty spontaneous type of person and a pretty spontaneous beer drinker too. I don’t ever claim to get everything the first time I try a beer but I do like to open bottles for the first time on camera whenever possible so you can see my initial reaction. After the camera has stopped rolling I spend a little more time with the beer (if BeerSweden Trev doesn’t drink it all up first that is) and take more detailed notes. If I feel I have missed something significant I will include it in a full written review on the blog, where I have the opportunity to elaborate a bit more.
Having said all that I’ve always been uncomfortable rating beers as there are so many external factors such as mood, food, company, surroundings etc that all play a part in making a beer enjoyable. I always say, and repeat now, that my ratings are a personal ‘snapshot’ measure of a beer but should never be taken that seriously. I would urge everyone to try as many of the beers featured on this blog as possible to make up their own minds. I do however hope the (most-of-the-time) factual information I give out about the beers, their styles and origins etc is of interest and can lead to a greater enjoyment of a beer.
Ok. That was what i thought.
It´s pretty hard to make a TV-episode where you drink 3-4 Old Stock Ale from different batches in different occasions…
(Picky mode on) Most vintages of Old Stock Ale have slightly different ABV’s, so the different intages are not _completely_ the same beers.(Picky mode off)
Anyways, I’m getting tempted to get another 2010 bottle to add to the cellar along with the two that are already there. Also, tomorrow I will hold a tasting with beer (and ciders) with desserts, with Old Stock Ale being one of the beers we’re going to try. Will be interesting for sure, I think it might even ”out-sweet” some of the desserts. I will make a post about the tasting on my blog later this week.
Johan – (picky mode on) Agree, which is why I listed all the vintages along with their ABVs (picky mode off)
Good luck with the tasting!
Oh, sorry, I totally missed that there were text there too
My bad…
Johan – it’s all good