Beer in the new era

Also was served it in a water glass, so that cuts down on any nose. My one other time trying it was at a card game where the host had been given a set as a gift, and I had just a splash, but was able to just keep my nose in it for a good long while before even taking a sip.

I ended up finding Rare at Whole Foods, just sitting on the shelf.

! Recently? Where at?

Oskar Blues' Death By Coconut porter is surprisingly wonderful

BCBS is at my local but it's $14.99 and only one per person.
Should I?

I would.

sure.

+1

That's kinda pricy, my neighborhood Costco still had BCBS for $7.99 each, limit 4 per membership.

have to admit I am baffled by the attention bcbs gets, there are a lot of good barrel aged stouts nowadays and the chatter around goose island seems way out of proportion

as well as the price tbh

xp increasingly agree w/ you on that

What are these easily acquired barrel aged stouts that are on par with Bourbon County? Always felt like this was one of those instances where the hype is warranted.

I cracked open a two year old BCBS the other day and it was legitimately one of the tastiest beers I've ever had.

I'm drinking a local now, barrel aged imperial pajamas by begyle and it's pretty good. Just doesn't quite nail the mouthfeel that BCBS does.

i don't think there are shelf ba stouts as good as bcbs even though i was disappointed with this year's unflavored.

cracked my first 2015 bcbs rn, really not impressed -- whiskey dominating everything, no balance

big bad baptist is a real easy find in my neck of the woods, can get a 22oz for about the same price as these new 17oz bcbs bottles

I wish more people shared your opinion, would make it easier for me to get.

Ha, they ran out overnight.

There are indeed tons of barrel aged options out there right now, but imo very few reach the level of craft and complexity of BCBS. I see a lot of dismissals followed by the usual "there are a million BA beers better than this," but rarely any specific follow-up. (For the record, I think one that comes close is Parabola, but it's just as hard to get; some regular imperial stouts that get it right include Bell's Expedition, Narwal and Dark Horse Plead the 5th). And as a whiskey drinker I am once again puzzled by any reaction to it that cites overwhelming whiskey. I mean, it's there! That's part of the point. But I see reviews that exclaim "like drinking straight bourbon" or "it's too hot to drink," and I'm like, huh? The ABV of BCBS is about that of wine.

Anyway, speaking of options, might crack open a bottle of Neckbeard Nectar that a local shop helped produce with Transient.

Trying to think of shelf BA Stouts that are decent, at least ones available in wide distribution:

New Holland Dragon's Milk
Hoppin' Frog Barrel Aged B.O.R.I.S.
AV Wild Turkey BBA Stout
Unita Labyrinth
All those Eclipse variants that sit on shelves forever $$$

All have their drawbacks, but I'm usually not sad drinking most of them. There are a bunch of local breweries that do them as well that range from mediocre to outstanding. However those are not readily available outside the Chicago market.

I've never much been bothered by how "hot" fresh BCBS is, but it should be noted that aging it cools it down significantly. That two year old one I had the other day was remarkably smooth and drinkable.

And as a whiskey drinker I am once again puzzled by any reaction to it that cites overwhelming whiskey. I mean, it's there! That's part of the point. But I see reviews that exclaim "like drinking straight bourbon" or "it's too hot to drink," and I'm like, huh? The ABV of BCBS is about that of wine.

yea agreed, though if you're not a whiskey drinker it can feel that way, i do remember describing a lot of barrel-aged or even just high ABV beers are "too boozy" or "too hot" before i started drinking whiskey. now even 100 proof whiskey starts to taste like maple syrup to me after a glass or two

how does maple syrup taste after a glass or two?

Good haul today! Prop, reg BCBS, Big Hugs. Heard from a friend there's a shop at Damen/Addison selling 2014 BCBS for $7 a bottle, but couldn't find time to check it out.

My local has been dropping bottles of 2014 BCBS in the cooler at random points in December. I've gotten one each time, even though I still have plenty at home. Just an excuse to open it up and drink right there.

My cellar is stuffed, so I have been successfully keeping to a promise to hold off a bit on new bottles.

Maybe I just got a bad batch, but I've found an Otter Creek beer that I don't particularly care for: the Backseat Berner IPA. It seems a bit too alcohol-y and it has an unpleasant bitter aftertaste.

i love that beer but a lot of ppl don't

FWIW, Chicago locals, it looks like they just dumped a ton more BCBS all over Chicagoland, at Binny's, Whole Foods, Jewel, etc.

Which I'm sure is all gone by now.

I picked up two more bottles of reg, which should be enough for me. See you in 2016.

At least all gone in the northside establishments, it may linger in the burbs.

http://rukkus.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/billy-joel.jpg
"A bottle of reg ... "

Found an '08 BCBS at a cellar sale:

http://i.imgur.com/gie1jEp.jpg

Probably right in the cusp of drinkable, if even.

On the cusp.

had 12-13-14-15 BCS tonight plus 2015 prop and night stalker, my tongue was pretty much dead after the first 3, but it was fun

that 1349 black ale in the pic is good

pretty sure '08 bcbs is dead now

I have bottles back to '09. Need to find a reason to drink them soon.

Dead how? I know they say "up to 5 years," but there are several stouts that basically tout they can be stored indefinitely. Like Bell's Expedition, which some (and more importantly, Bell's) say can be stored more or less indefinitely. What's the dif. between storing one high ABV stout and another? Is Goose Island just covering their butts with the "up the 5 years" instruction?

All depends on how the oxidation has affected it. Bad oxidation and you start to get something that taste like Bourbon Country Cardboard. I did a 10 year vertical last year from '05 to '14. '07 was the worst of that bunch, '12 was the best. '05/'06 were slightly better than '07, but paled in comparison to '12 to '14. It's all subjective, of course. Some beers move towards a sherry flavor from oxidation.

Also it could have been how those older ones have been stored, that's a huge wild card. If a beer is 10 years old, unless you've had it in your possession for that entire time, you never know how many times it's been exposed to light/heat.

I think the "up to 5 years" is a better safe than sorry recommendation. It can be good after that, but the chances that it has fallen off are higher.

agree w/all that. i did a similar vert two years ago and if '08 goes the same way '05 and '06 did back then it's definitely in the danger zone. i didn't find that anything i would call "good" was happening to bourbon county after about the 3-4 year range.

At the same time, isn't there some variation in the formula from year to year? I can't imagine the '08, fresh, tasted the same as the '15, fresh. Or maybe it did!

i don't think the base bcbs recipe has changed ever

I have bottles back to '09. Need to find a reason to drink them soon.

I let a $90 bottle of red wine go past its prime waiting for a "special occasion" so now I've dialed back my "special" threshold. I also should have stored it better, but still.

http://www.mashtunjournal.org/2015/12/what-its-worth-rare-bourbon-county-stout/

Hmmm, so if I can get it without the box I will get a 68% discount?

Barrel $0.59
Barley/Hops $0.49

So that analysis is saying that "ghost whale" 35 year old Heaven Hill barrels that HH didn't know existed is worth the same as the grain bill that went into the base beer? Haha... sorry, but that's a pretty goofy guesstimate. Thanks for the bloggin'.

Same guys who wrote that had a bottle of Rare for sale in their store listed at $120.