North Coast Old Stock

Commercial Beer Reviews
1

Hey folks, just opened a bottle of Old Stock 2014 from North Coast. If you like a high ABV, this one packs a punch at 11.8%. Almost bourbon-like, with wonderful flavors of fruit and molasses, intense but not overpowering, surprisingly smooth but with a gentle burn. A good cold-weather beer.

Question for the NB community, I’ve heard or read a few people saying that brandy wines and imperial stouts will often improve in the bottle for a year or two. What do you guys think? I’m really liking this old stock. Would it be a good strategy to buy some now for winter 2015? Or just buy some next year?

I’m sure it isn’t a big difference either way, but I’m curious what other people’s experiences are.

I have a bomber of Fulton Worthy Adversary I bought two years ago. Thinking I should get a couple of friends over and pop that sucker before too long.

2

Generally, yes. I have a case of 2013 Bigfoot. I missed my chance at a case of 2014, but I’ll be sure to get further years of cases. The best way to test this is to get a bunch and save a few from every year until you have several years worth of beer.

I’d assume most barley wines on the shelf aren’t aged terribly long because this ties up space and money. I’d like to think barley wines would be immensely popular if they arrived on shelves with 2-3 years under their belt. My Northern Brewer barley wine just hit 18 months bottled and has begun to blossom. Makes me think I should be brewing a barley wine every year to make sure I have plenty of stock at the right age.