Thursday, November 5, 2015

Unlabeled Mystery Beer of Mystery

I found a couple of unlabeled bottles of homebrew in the basement so I decided to give one a shot. Turns out it's a bottle of Festivus Feats of Strength from a few years ago and it's certainly changed.

Appearance: A little bit of a pour explosion. It was at cellar temp but probably needed some time in the fridge to tame it. Dark brown with a thick off-white head. Cloudy, most likely stirred up sediment, and slightly transparent on the edges.

Aroma: Raisins about with some muted spice. Most of the spices have dissipated with time but I'm still getting some clove and cinnamon.

Flavor:  A bit astringent from the spices with a hint of a metallic taste. Huge candy sugar and molasses. Where did this come from?! Checking my notes from before suggests the raisin and fruit have become more of a molasses. Slightly smoky even. I'm thinking the metallic aftertaste and the molasses is suggestive of some oxidation, not surprising for such an old beer.

Mouthfeel: This one is still thin and has gotten more so with age. Definitely the week point. Maybe some wheat or oat would help.

Overall: Aged pretty well for a 5 year old beer. There's a lot of oxidation but not all bad, that molasses is quite nice. I've got one more bottle but I don't think I'll save it another year, it's past its prime for sure.

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