The Cave has been a bit quiet on weekends. My theory is the weather is so undecided shipping season hasn't really kicked in yet. It was nice and cool this week but it will be 90 degrees again next week; that's how it's been going so predicting when to ship this year is a tricky one. This the long way of saying I wasn't sure it was wise to conduct a science experiment if no lab rats were here to participate. Then the lab rats showed up. Now all that's left is the 2011.
The two glasses that are still full were mine. This beer is awful! Ech! It was all cloves and cloves are intense, you have to go easy on those little critters or they'll just obliterate everything in their path, like they do with this stuff.
However, the aging: these beers were remarkably similar, it actually took some concentration to finally distinguish between the two. There was no greater mingling of flavors, no softness or balance or greater complexity. The only difference between the two, very subtle at that, is that the 2012 was just a little bit brighter, a little less dusty. So, if you want to try some warm, dusty, horrible Ale this weekend, we got you covered.