Getting ready to move out to SF at the end of June, so expect to see a lot of cellar-clearing by me in the next six weeks or so.
Had some folks over last night to open a couple older bottles...
That's four versions of Bass No. 1 Barleywine separated by almost 120 years -- from right to left, the Bass No. 1 "Best By 1 Dec 1987" (which should be a 1984 bottle), the 1929 Prince's Ale, the 1902 King's Ale, and the 1869 Ratcliff Ale.
I've had the King's several times before and the Prince's once previously. This King's was pretty middle-of-the-road flavor-wise -- nowhere near the bottle we opened on NYE, but not destroyed by any means. Some must & ash on the nose, good levels of tartness, and improved quite a bit as it warmed -- more cherry/prune flavors, a hint of peaty smoke, and some balsamic tartness particularly on the nose. The one time I've had Prince's before several of the people there who had it prior to that said it wasn't a great bottle, and that Prince's usually beats King's. This was definitely the case last night, the Prince's had a rich, syrupy texture, lots of vinous tartness on the nose and in the beer, some leathery astringency, and a very-well-balanced iodine/smoke component. Really excellent. The 1984 No. 1 was nowhere in the same ballpark as the rest with a big toffee flavor, no tartness or smoke, and a watery mouthfeel. It seems like differences in product/packaging have resulted in a beer with a lesser lifespan than the old stuff.
And the Ratcliff... this is not a bottle from the 2006/2007 auction of the White Shield find. Our understanding of the history of this bottle is that it was given to a long-time employee of Bass by Bass in the 1970s, and stored in a cellar by him until his death. We have some very nice photos of the bottle & capsule that I'll post here once they're processed, but suffice to say that the capsule (lead, wax, & cork) on this bottle was better than any King's I've ever opened or seen. We held the bottle at a shallow angle to keep the cork damp for several months and while we were not able to get it out in one piece, it didn't disintegrate and we were able to keep it out of the beer. Right after pouring, it had a huge vinous port nose and some nearly fresh fruit (plum & peach). It maintained good levels of oxidative tartness throughout the drinking process but that incredible first impression of port faded fairly quickly and we were left with the more standard raisin/prune fruit flavors. Lots of good peaty smoke and a wet tobacco flavor that became more prominent as it breathed. I got umami/smoked meat flavors (possibly amplified by the smoked elk sausage and bacon-wrapped dates that were paired with it) but no direct "soy sauce", though I will say that at this point I become thirsty for old stouts when I open a bottle of soy sauce, so maybe don't trust my impression on that one. Some folks at the tasting filled out BJCP sheets so we should have some additional impressions coming as well. Overall, up with the best King's Ales I've had, with some really interesting unique qualities. Couldn't be happier that the one time I'm going to drink this beer it was a great bottle.
Had some folks over last night to open a couple older bottles...
That's four versions of Bass No. 1 Barleywine separated by almost 120 years -- from right to left, the Bass No. 1 "Best By 1 Dec 1987" (which should be a 1984 bottle), the 1929 Prince's Ale, the 1902 King's Ale, and the 1869 Ratcliff Ale.
I've had the King's several times before and the Prince's once previously. This King's was pretty middle-of-the-road flavor-wise -- nowhere near the bottle we opened on NYE, but not destroyed by any means. Some must & ash on the nose, good levels of tartness, and improved quite a bit as it warmed -- more cherry/prune flavors, a hint of peaty smoke, and some balsamic tartness particularly on the nose. The one time I've had Prince's before several of the people there who had it prior to that said it wasn't a great bottle, and that Prince's usually beats King's. This was definitely the case last night, the Prince's had a rich, syrupy texture, lots of vinous tartness on the nose and in the beer, some leathery astringency, and a very-well-balanced iodine/smoke component. Really excellent. The 1984 No. 1 was nowhere in the same ballpark as the rest with a big toffee flavor, no tartness or smoke, and a watery mouthfeel. It seems like differences in product/packaging have resulted in a beer with a lesser lifespan than the old stuff.
And the Ratcliff... this is not a bottle from the 2006/2007 auction of the White Shield find. Our understanding of the history of this bottle is that it was given to a long-time employee of Bass by Bass in the 1970s, and stored in a cellar by him until his death. We have some very nice photos of the bottle & capsule that I'll post here once they're processed, but suffice to say that the capsule (lead, wax, & cork) on this bottle was better than any King's I've ever opened or seen. We held the bottle at a shallow angle to keep the cork damp for several months and while we were not able to get it out in one piece, it didn't disintegrate and we were able to keep it out of the beer. Right after pouring, it had a huge vinous port nose and some nearly fresh fruit (plum & peach). It maintained good levels of oxidative tartness throughout the drinking process but that incredible first impression of port faded fairly quickly and we were left with the more standard raisin/prune fruit flavors. Lots of good peaty smoke and a wet tobacco flavor that became more prominent as it breathed. I got umami/smoked meat flavors (possibly amplified by the smoked elk sausage and bacon-wrapped dates that were paired with it) but no direct "soy sauce", though I will say that at this point I become thirsty for old stouts when I open a bottle of soy sauce, so maybe don't trust my impression on that one. Some folks at the tasting filled out BJCP sheets so we should have some additional impressions coming as well. Overall, up with the best King's Ales I've had, with some really interesting unique qualities. Couldn't be happier that the one time I'm going to drink this beer it was a great bottle.
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