O'Hara's Imperial Stout

Origin: Ireland | Date: 2016 | ABV: 10% | On The Beer Nut: March 2016

A new era begins on Stash Killer! today. The beers that had been languishing in the attic to no particular purpose have mostly been consumed and reviewed. There are duplicates of some which I'll come back to in a few more years, and there are some new additions to the stash which I'm leaving to mature a while to see if anything interesting happens to them. But my intention now is to use this blog to try the beers I thought needed a bit of maturation when first tasted.

This one is a direct sequel to last month's post. That was the stout Carlow Brewing made to mark their 10th anniversary brewing in 2008. O'Hara's Imperial Stout came out in 2016, commemorating 20 years as a company. I thought at the time it would benefit from waiting until the brewing anniversary rolled around, and so here we are.

The metallic kick I picked up two years ago has certainly softened, leaving just a gentle minerality. In the centre there's a mix of blackcurrant and dark chocolate, and then a very slight savoury autolytic twang on the end. It hasn't quite become as complex as I hoped, but is a lot better than when it was fresh, so mission accomplished.

And with that, I'm putting this blog on indefinite hiatus, until the next time I fancy something from the stash.

O'Hara's Celebration Stout

Origin: Ireland | Date: 2008 | ABV: 6% | On The Beer Nut: March 2008

Back in 2008, a new-release Irish beer was a real special occasion, enough to warrant a blog post saved for the national holiday. Ten years ago to the day I reviewed the brand new O'Hara's Celebration, the beer brewed for the brewery's 10th anniversary that would later evolve into accessible classic Leann Folláin. Of course these days new Irish beers arrive at a rate of several a week. 2008 seems a very long time ago where our nation's beer scene is concerned. I wonder how the beer is faring a decade later.

There's a satisfying snap when the swingtop is popped, though little signs of carbonation on pouring, a thin off-white head eventually forming. The folly of ageing beer in swingtop bottles is apparent from the aroma: a definite sherry whiff from the creeping oxygen. The flavour carries that too, and a slight musty staleness. But there's a solid layer of chocolate beside that, pleasingly dark and bitter, as well as a mild umami note. The texture is surprisingly light, much more so than heavy old Leann Folláin when it's fresh, and the beer is simpler, less complex, than I expected.

I'm a little disappointed that this hasn't transformed into a masterpiece the way the Porterhouse one did. It's fine, but does not taste like a stout with ten years on it. I blame the ABV: I guess you need to go higher to get the real benefit.

Eight Degrees Russian Imperial Stout

Origin: Ireland | Date: 2013 | ABV: 9% | On The Beer Nut: December 2013

I'll be interested to find out what happens to it after a year or two of cellaring I wrote about this tropically hoppy imperial stout. Here we are now, after a little over four.

The aroma isn't hoppy but is still fabulous, all strong coffee and treacle sponge. The dark roast is the flavour's main component, and there's a liquorice and tobacco bitterness. Both are very much on the down-low, and whatever fresh hop character there used to be has faded gracefully into the background. I struggled to find any real distinguishing features before I realised that the lack of them is the beer's real strong point.

Often with aged beers you get new flavours emerging, bitterness accentuating, Brett growing stronger, hot phenols and sherry oxidation coming to the fore. This has none of that: it tastes perfectly fresh and is ridiculously smooth and easy to drink. Perhaps it's a little plain for a beer of this style, at this strength, cellared for this long, but it's hard to be unhappy with it. My glass emptied much faster than they usually do for this blog.

Chimay Bleu

Origin: Belgium | Date: 2010 | ABV: 9% | On The Beer Nut: October 2007

One of the genuine oldies of the stash this, brought fresh from Belgium during a time my wife was travelling there for work a lot, and then completely forgotten about. It's a beer I drink a fair amount of from year to year, and always enjoy. A bottle with nearly eight years on it is therefore intriguing. For the record, the good brothers of Scourmont tell me I should have quaffed this before 2015 was out, so around the time this blog started, then.

It didn't gush, exactly, but on opening a plug of foam began leisurely making its way up the short neck to the lip of the bottle. It seemed thin as it poured, crackling in the glass and completely failing to form a head.

There's a sour note to the aroma, a touch of prune or damson in with the normal fruitcake. I was expecting a tangy flavour on foot of that, but no: if anything the fruitcake is concentrated. It's remarkably sweet, like a moist tea brack or even a gooey caramel square. The texture is definitely lighter, resulting in a much quicker and cleaner finish than usual. If it weren't for the busy fizz this would be downright quaffable, like an English old ale, or a glass of tawny port. The sparkle makes it difficult to relax with.

While not madly different from the original, this bottle has been enhanced by the ageing process. Whether it needs more or less time in the bottle I cannot say, but buying a few bottles cheaply the next time you're in a Belgian supermarket and putting them away somewhere would be a shrewd move.