I gotta say, this whole cleaning out the beer cellar thing has been a bit of a roller coaster. For every gorgeous gem I have found (read here), there has been a dud (here) or at least not quite what I was hoping for (here). I got the latter this weekend with a bottle of Fish Tale 10-squared Anniversary Ale. This is the Washington brewery’s barley wine, first brewed in celebration of their 10th anniversary in 2003. It is 10% alcohol, has 10 varieties of hops and runs 100 IBUs. Get it?

My bottle is about three years old, enough time to smooth out any rough edges. It was voted out of the cellar earlier this fall and has been sitting forlornly alongside my homebrew and assorted bottles of standard strength beer. I thought I would give it a try a few days ago. It poured a very murky dark orange with a thin cover of white head that looks like detergent on a sink full of water. The aroma is thick, rich and alcoholic. There is a n intense multi-layer hop aroma (pine, citrus, earthiness) backed by a lot of caramel and some biscuit.

The flavour is similarly thick. It is rich upfront with a mixture of caramel, brown sugar, toffee and sticky bun (!!). The hops are quite assertive, to say the least, offering a sharp edge and a substantial linger after finishing. This is one punch you in the mouth beer.

I was surprised. I was expecting the hops to mellow in the cellar, but they don’t seem to have. Some of the crisp definition of the hops has faded, but the kick remains. Maybe it was the mood I was in, but I found the beer had too much of everything – too much sweetness, too much hop aggression, too much hot alcohol. I am doubly surprised because I know this beer has a positive reputation in the U.S.

I found myself comparing it to one of my favourite barley wines – Thomas Hardy’s Ale (now deceased). That beer is also big and quite sweet. But what I like about Thomas Hardy’s is that it displays its substance in an understated way. It lets you into its complex world slowly and gently. Ten Squared grabs you by the tongue and tosses you about much like a fish caught on a fisher’s line. I needed more time to slowly take in he beer than it was willing to offer.

Ultimately the good thing about the beer cellar project is that there is always another awaiting me. I am sure I will get to one or three over the holidays.