New stash rule: if a beer looks explodey, it gets opened immediately. This tart porter with cherries certainly did, though the can seamer has proved fit for the task of keeping it all in. It was put away only two years ago, though is already of historical interest as Metalman has since folded. It's quite poignant that Decade was created to mark ten years in business when they had so few left.The can was just shy of a year past its best-before and poured extremely fizzily, unsurprisingly, though in fairness it didn't gush out. It still smells properly roasty, and rich with it, in a way I don't think this beer did when fresh. Dryness is still a core feature, but it tastes mellow, not sharp: chocolate and mocha, rather than pure coffee beans. I also get more of the cherry than I did before, representing as a sweet jelly or jam, right on the finish. Amazingly, the fizz doesn't get in the way and it doesn't feel over attenuated.
I think this beer has rounded out nicely over the two years. All the benefits are preserved and what were once subtleties of flavour are more pronounced. That it doesn't taste drier than I remember it seems to be in defiance of science, but it's far more likely that my memory is at fault. Either way, if you have surviving cans of this and they don't look about to blow, they're worth drinking, or possibly even ageing further.
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