Theakston Old Peculier

Old Peculier is a prime example of an old ale. Here is the
description from Beeradvocate.

Old Ales, also referred to in the past as Stock Ales, are low attenuated beers with high levels of dextrins, creating a full malt body with plenty of character. Old Ales from centuries past were often transferred into vats to mature, hence the name. Commonly a rich, dark amber to a deep brown color, some examples are nearly black. Tamed aromatics. Although bittering levels can greatly vary, expect fruity, vinous, intense malt flavors and sharp alcohol characteristics. The often racy but mellow attitude of the beer may also include acidic notes, raisins, and black currants.

Brewer's Notes

THE LEGEND! Old Peculier is possibly one of the country’s most well-known and loved ales. This unique, beautiful brew is often imitated but never matched and is sold literally all over the world. With countless awards to its credit, it is something of which every Briton can be very proud and is the epitome of the greatest of British brewing tradition. The name pays tribute to the unique ecclesiastical status of Masham as a ‘Court of the Peculier’ and is also a reference to the strong characteristic of the beer! For many years it was affectionately referred to as Yorkshire’s ‘Lunatic’s Broth’.

Old Peculier is a beautiful, yet very simple beer, brewed using a very generous blend of finest pale, crystal, and roasted barley with two bitter hops combined with the majestic and noble Fuggle’ hop to produce a beer of awesome full-bodied flavour with subtle cherry and rich fruit overtones.

Tasting Notes

20250824
BBE = 31082005. I guess the beer is near its expiry and has aged at least six mouths. I think the beer has improved with age. I don't remember liking earlier cans for the 4-pack as well. 

The notes from Beeradvocate and the brewer are on the spot. A subdued beer with some sweetness and fruitiness. The brewer says that the aroma is subtle cherry and banana and that the taste is rich and fruity.

Rating: 3.5 glasses

Cantillon Kriek 100% Lambic

Brewer's Notes

Blend of Lambics and Morello cherries at a rate of 200g per litre.

A beer with a tangy taste of red fruits and subtle almond flavors.
Kriek will be most fruity when enjoyed young. Age allows the Lambic to fully express itself, at the expense of the fruit.

Our certified organic sour cherries come to us from Türkiye.

The fruits are blended with a Lambic aged on average 20 months, at a rate of 200g of fruit per liter. Since morello cherries are a powerful fruit, we need to choose a Lambic with enough character to harmonize with the fruit.

After a maceration of two to three months, the Lambic will have extracted colors, aromas and flavors from the morello cherries.

It will then be blended with a one-year-old Lambic, which will provide the sugars necessary for the second fermentation in the bottle.

We work exclusively with fresh fruit, and just like wine, Cantillon beers have a vintage effect.The weather plays a major role in the ripeness and quality of the fruit, which is why a fruit beer will vary slightly from year to year.

Beer Advocate

Tasting Notes

202508 Bottled date = 27 January 2025. Too sweet and too much cherry for my taste. I felt like I was drinking a fruit drink.

Rating= 2.5 glasses.

Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA

120 Minute IPA is a big beer. I have read it described as a triple IPA. Dogfish Head reports that IBU = 120 and abv = 18%. Wow!

Brewer's notes: "Clocking in at 15-20% ABV, 120 Minute IPA is continually hopped with a copious amount of high-alpha American hops throughout the boil and whirlpool, and then dry-hopped with a boatload of hops. Unfiltered and abundantly hoppy, it's the Holy Grail for hopheads!"

BeerAdvocate: "Too extreme to be called beer? 120 Minute IPA is brewed to a colossal 45-degree plato, boiled for a full two hours while being continuously hopped with high-alpha American hops, then dry-hopped daily in the fermenter for a month and aged for another month on whole-leaf hops!"

Tasting Notes

2025 08 Bottled date = 2019 08 23. The beer i6l.s a delight. Tons of sweet malt. A nice hoppiness but the sweet dominates. A hoppy English Barleywine. The hops are still present and have mellowed substantially in six years. Aging = good!

Rating = 6.5 glasses.

2312: I drank the first of a six-pack dated 2017, making the beer 3.3-years old. I enjoyed it while Lisa and I enjoyed a fire and put up our new artificial Christmas tree. Perhaps 120 Minute IPA will become a Christmas tradition. The taste has mellowed some but still resembled a BIG and rough IPA. Lots of hops and plenty of malt for balance. I might not have picked 6 glasses for the rating but enjoyed it enough to leave the rating unchanged.

Rating = 6 glasses

2006: I drank a second bottle dated 1908 last night with a sweet dessert and the pairing was fantastic. 120 Minute bursts with hop flavor with big malt for balance (and alcohol) - much more a HUGE IPA than a barleywine. The bottle-date means that the beer is about 1-year old.

Rating = 6 glasses

2002: I drank the first of a six-pack bottle dated 1908. It tastes like a BIG English Barleywine. BeerAdvocate calls it an American Imperial IPA and says abv varies from 15-20% and IBU = 120. Bottle says abv = 18%. Bitter hops fight to emerge from a sweet raisin mash, followed by big alcohol blast. It is a 2+ hr. sipper. A 12 oz. bottle usually goes for $9 or $10 dollars. I just picked up two four-packs from Costco for $24.99 each. I plan to drink them over the next six years.

Rating = 6 glasses.

Eggenberg Samichlaus

Samichlaus is a delicious Doppelbock. It is so strong I would call it a Triple Bock.

Beer Advocate: The once strongest beer in the world is back! Brewed only once a year on December 6. Samichlaus is aged for 10 months before bottling. This beer is perhaps the rarest in the world. Samichlaus may be aged for many years to come. Older vintages become more complex with a creamy warming finish. Serve with hardy robust dishes and desserts, particulary with chocolates, or as an after dinner drink by itself. Brewed under the exclusive licence of Feldschlösschen-Hürlimann-Holding, Switzerland.

Brewer's notes: This is brewed only once a year, on December 6th, in a complex process Strong beer is a rarity. It can age in bottle for many years and gains complexity. Red-brown shimmering, complex aromas of dried plums, malt and caramel.

Tasting notes
2508: A can with some age on it was a delight. Sweet toffee and alcohol sweetness. A ale version of a sticky English barleywine. I want more.

Rating = 7 glasses

2401: Another glass at Can Can with L and ML. Sweet toffee goodness. Let's up the rating to 6.5.

2312: I had a glass on draft last night while dining with L and E at Can Can. I sampled the beer years ago but could not find my notes. Well, I was blown away; the beer is better than I remember. It is deep and dark and malty and delicious. It paired well with a good cheeseburger. It reminded me of Alesmith Private Stock and Bells Third Coast Old Ale - a strong ale with loads of flavor and complexity. I want more and will buy some when I see it. It impressed me more than BFM Abbaye De Saint Bon-Chien which I rate as 7 glasses. I need more tastes to go that high for Samichlaus. 

Rating = 6.5 glasses.

Great Lakes Oktoberfest

Great Lakes Oktoberfest is a delightful Märzen-style oktoberfest. 

Brewer's notes: Prost! Our take on this classic German style is a celebration of maltiness— packed with rustic, autumnal flavors to put a little more oomph into your oom-pah-pah.

Über smooth with vibrant malt flavors and a festive flourish of noble hops (lederhosen not included).

World Beer Championships
4-Time Medal Winner (Gold, Silver

Beeradvocate

Tasting Notes

Aug. 2025: A tiche too malty. I like Hacker-Pschorr's version is better.

Rating = 4.5 glasses

Oct 2023: Liking it better and upgraded the rating. A tiche malty but not overbearing.

Rating = 5 glasses

Sept 2023: I am liking this beer less - too malty - and think Hacker-Pschorr's version is better.

Rating = 4.5

Aug 27, 2023

I had the first of a six pack last night. My preference for Oktoberfest beers is increasing and this one is my current favorite of the Märzen style. The flavor combines toasty malts with some spicy hops. The beer has flavor and is made to drink in quantity.

Rating = 5.5 glasses. (Downgraded to 6 in 2022, to 5.5 in 2023)

Aug 25, 2019

Last night I drank a Great Lakes Oktoberfest. It is delightful. Extremely quaffable with a nice toasty malt flavor. The first one calls for a second. Maybe the perfect beer when you want to drink beer. It fits perfectly the line from an old ad for Schaefer, "The one beer to have when you're having more than one."

Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine-Style Ale

Brewers Notes: Bigfoot is a beast of a beer, brimming with bold flavors of bittersweet malt and heaps of aggressive whole-cone Pacific Northwest hops. First introduced in the winter of 1983, Bigfoot is a cult-classic beer brewed in the barleywine style, meaning a strong, robust, bruiser of a beer with the refined intensity of a wine. Bigfoot is prized by beer collectors for its supreme cellarability. Under the proper conditions, it can age like a fine wine, developing new flavors and character as it matures in the bottle. Each new release or “expedition” is vintage dated. Collect your own and see the flavors develop and progress.

BeerAdvocate

Tasting Notes

Aug. 2025: I drank a 19.5-year old 2026 vintage with a Pecan Bliss Bar (Our thick, crumbly oat cookie bar filled with chopped pecans, caramel and chocolate chips) from Shyndigz. Fantastic beer and pairing!! The head was minimal. The hops had mellowed down to a dark sour bitterness. Chocolate notes abounded.

Nov. 2023: I drank a ten-year old 2013 vintage with pumpkin cake from Shyndigz. The pairing was great. The beer still had robust flavors and the hops had mellowed some. I noticed a nice chocolate flavor coming forward. Yummy!

August 2023: I drank a 2023 vintage with Jen's Chocolate Cake at the conclusion of dinner to celebrate my 71st birthday. The beer continues to amaze me. What I noticed was the fantastic lacing clinging to the glass as it emptied. I revisited my review to see if I rated it 6.5 or 7 glasses. The flavor, color, and lacing merit 7.

Feb. 2022: The first 1.5 bottles of 12. Alex got the other 0.5. May not be as sweet as last years but it has hops galore. A flavor bomb. I plan to purchase another 6-pack.

Jan. 21, 2021: I drank the first bottle of a case of just released 2021 vintage. It paired wonderfully with carrot cake from Publix. It did not disappoint. Loads of caramel-sweet almost sticky malt coupled with tons of hops. At $13 a 6-pack, I think it is a great value for a fantastic beer. 

July 5, 2020: Bigfoot is the classic American Barleywine. It is a flavor bomb - tons of sweet malt and tons of bitter hops. It ages fantastically and my "cellar' has bottles dates 2006. It has been a favorite of mine for years. It goes great with carrot cake and other sweet desserts. My understanding is the "Barleywine-style" in the title arose because the ABC folks feared that buyers would confuse it with wine if the SN called it simply "Barleywine".

Rating = 7 glasses.