Beoir#1

Origin: Ireland | Date: 2014 | ABV: 9% 
On The Beer Nut: April 2014 | On Stash Killer!: September 2017

Over on the other blog I write daft puns and oblique references for the post titles. Here, I don't do that (it's exhausting) but if I did, this one would be called "To The Faithful Departed". I have reviewed Beoir#1 here before, but a few years after that I inherited a couple of extra bottles from Andrew Moore, the man who orchestrated the beer's creation and distribution but didn't live to drink all of his own allocation. This is one of those.

By way of background, it was created on foot of a crowd-funding project by Black's of Kinsale and had been an attempt to make Ireland's first double IPA, though was beaten to the punch by Galway Bay's now legendary Of Foam & Fury. Though the fresh hops were long gone by 2017, it was still good drinking. And now, almost nine years after that?

At first I thought all the carbonation was gone, but it's a viscous creature, and though it began by pouring flat, a head did form. It has got darker, presumably from oxidation, and has passed out of amber and into deep garnet or even brown. There's still a trace of the port aroma from last time out, but it has deepened further, into chocolate and toffee. It smells beautiful, though.

Amazingly, the first thing that hits on tasting is the hops: still bitter after all these years, presenting a very English mix of metals and minerals. After that there's a rush of tannin, something which had been a feature from the get-go but is now the central character, by a long way. Where there used to be port-like grape and musky spices there's only old leather and raw tea leaves. Its smoothness and relatively gentle alcoholic heat prevent it from turning harsh, which is good. I still think it's past its best, though. The complexity is gone. A winey nose and starkly dry flavour are all you really get.

Still, it hasn't spoiled, and although I'm sure that evil oxygen has been getting busy in it, it hasn't quite turned to cardboard. My advice is to drink it now anyway, unless the sentimental value of the liquid is what matters.

Cheers Andrew.

Beoir#1

Origin: Ireland | Date: 2014 | ABV: 9% | On The Beer Nut: April 2014

This once-off double IPA is the youngest vintage beer yet featured on Stash Killer!, but it's the last hoppy beer in the stash, and the main thing I've learned from this project is that hop-forward beers don't age as well. That said, I've opened a number of these over the years and have always found it to be good. When the fresh hops faded away they left behind a still-fruity barley wine that has always been enjoyable to drink. Let's see where the end of the line has left us.

I don't remember it being as muddy as it apparently is, though it's still an attractive deep red colour. The aroma still speaks of hops, though it's an aftershave-like musky spice rather than any fruit. Lots of caramel in the flavour, reminding me of the stronger sort of American amber ale. There's an almost port-like grape sweetness and tannin, matched to an alcohol heat, and then a leathery dryness in the finish.

It all still feels coordinated and balanced, almost like it was supposed to turn out like this. There's a luxurious richness to the whole thing; a lovely comforting warmth you can just sink in to. And I doubt if it has in any way disimproved in recent years, so if you're one of the project funders still hanging on to a bottle or two, I'd say it's good for a while yet. And your stash has just become that little bit rarer.