Old Cellar Dweller
(has 1 batch)
Driftwood Brewery in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada 🇨🇦
Barley Wine - Barley Regular|
Score
7.21
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This ale shows huge malt body, with notes of caramel and toffee, complemented by ample hop bitterness to support it. When young, it is a hoppy treat with plenty of citrus and pine; cellared for a few years and Cellar Dweller gracefully ages into a rich, round reward for patience, hinting at flavours of tawny port.
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7.9/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
2012. Pours ruby clear with great head of foam and good lacing. Aroma of hops, caramelized malt and some prune and dark fruits. Booze as well in finish. Soft carbonation. Finishes bittersweet. Well-balanced and well done overall. Texture thick but not too syrupy. Bottle from Cook Street.
Tried
from Bottle
on 19 May 2013
at 19:40
8.1/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Sampled the first time on cask from '09 at GCBF '10, then many bottles since. Pours orangey amber with a medium beige head. Aroma of orange peel, hops, caramel / toffee, and dried fruits (apricot, cherry). Flavour of dark dried fruits, caramel, and a heavy alcoholic kick at the end. Quite a complex palate and a nice slow sipping treat. 2018 vintage. 650mL bottle, pours a clear copper golden with a small white head. Aroma is fairly pleasant, with a somewhat perfumey note, caramel and floal hops. Flavour beings okay, with resinous hops and caramel malt, but then it falls apart, transitioning to metallic notes, very bitter floral hops, and some phenols. This is really offensive. Sad to see the deterioration of a once great barley wine (and brewery in general). I'll keep my original rating up, but this really is a terrible beer now. 6 3 4 2 9 2.5/5.
Tried
from Cask
on 19 Feb 2013
at 22:34
8.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 9
Texture 6
Overall 9
650 ml bottle. 2011 vintage. Pours a clear garnet red/brown with no head. Strong aromas of roasted malts, caramel, and alcohol. Sweet and bitter. Flavors of toffee, orange peel, malts and pine. Hot. Big alcohol kick. Can keep in the cellar for some time longer... 2013 vintage. Pours a clear copper with light head. Aromas of pine, toffee and alcohol. Flavors are same; a hop bomb this year but will some caramel malts in the background. Hot. Got to say I liked the previous years better as there is nothing much in the 2013 to distinguish from other’s DIPAs. 2014 vintage sampled in 2014. Pours a clear dark copper with moderate head that settles quickly. Aromas of grassy hops, oranges, and alcohol. Flavors of dried oranges, varnish, sweet malts, and a little spice. And lots of alcohol. Rough but that’s usual. 2015 vintage sampled in 2015: Pours a clear orange amber with light head. Aromas of evergreeens, resin, and dried tangerines. Flavors of pine, lots of pine, toasted malts, resin, and white pepper. 2016 vintage sampled in 2016: Pours a clear copper color with moderate head. Aromas of evergreen/fir and sharp toffee. Flavors of toffee and pine, with notes of orange rind, toast and alcohol. 2017 vintage sampled in 2017. Pours a clear light copper color with moderate head. Big aromas of forest floor (pine and fir) with dank resiney notes. Flavors of same without the toffee/malts of previous years. Very Sartori Harvest with maybe a big more mouthfeel and ABV. Not too impressive. Maybe needs to sit a bit. 2018 vintage sampled in 2018. Pours clear copper with light head. Aromas of resin, toffee, and orange and sweet toasted malts. Flavors of orange toffee, pine resin, and sweet malts. Less ABV than previous years, but the malt is back. Still very Sartori Harvest. Maybe this will dissipate with age. 8/4/8/4/15 2019 vintage sampled in 2019. Pours a clear amber with light head. Aromas of sulphur, resiny pine, dank hops, a bit of sweet toffee and toasted malts. Flavors of dank Sartori hops, sugar, sweet toasted malts, and possibly a bit of orange peel. More Sartori that last year. Going downhill. I miss the cheaper rougher first couple of years... Not worth buying more to cellar. 7/4/8/4/14 2020 vintage sampled in 2020. Pours Pours a clear amber with light head. Aromas of pine, dank hops, sugary fruit, and sweet toasted malts. Flavors are pretty much the same as the 201, dank Sartori hops, sugar, sweet toasted malts, and possibly a bit of orange peel. Another triple IPA. Where went the Cellar Dweller? 7/4/7/4/14.
Tried
from Bottle
on 19 Jul 2012
at 16:55
7.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Bomber from Malt & Vine. 14% Pours dark ruddy copper with a beige smear for head. Nose tingling aroma. Seems to be a mix of roast malt, citrus and treacle. Full bodied. There’s a little heat. Not much. Flavor is brown sugar with some slightly dark fruit - tho maybe that’s a citrus treacle combo. It is very tasty, and finishes thick and mildly sweet. Very warming! Rerate/rethink in 60 secs. It’s really a pretty hoppy finish. More so than many barley wines. Gets tastier as it warms.
Tried
on 05 Apr 2012
at 15:20
7.8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Bottle 22fl.oz. @ [ Fastelavn Smagning - Carnival Tasting - Ulfborg ].[ Courtesy of fiulijn ]. [ Vintage 2011 ]. ABV: 11.8%. Clear medium to dark red amber colour with a small to average, frothy, fair lacing, mostly diminishing, off-white head. Aroma is moderate to heavy malty, caramel, moderate to heavy hoppy, citrus, grapefruit, orange - citrus, riped fruit, dried fruit. Flavour is light heavy sweet and bitter with a long duration, caramel, dried fruit, hops, alcohol warm. Body is medium to full, texture is oily, carbonation is soft, finish feel is moderate alcoholic. [20120218]
Tried
from Bottle
on 29 Feb 2012
at 09:18