ICOK 2017 Beer Tasting - BA VANILLA STOUTWHALE EDITION
Hey folks, sorry for the delay on this. Been a rough couple weeks.
So I've come up with two possibilities for the tasting this year. I do need to get my ass moving on locking down some of these bottles, so I'm hoping to get survey results in the next 5 hours.
Do you like stouts? How about boozy, thiccc bourbon barrel aged stouts? How about ones that have been laid down on copious amounts of vanilla beans, paste, extract, or god knows what else?
Some of the stupidest hype beers on the planet are those using that 'plain' old adjunct vanilla, so let's drink them.
This tasting would be a mix of some very pretty to find stuff, some really hard to find stuff, and some extremely hard to find stuff. There may be a ringer or two of something doctored or bottom-shelf just to test our palates.
The tasting would be Saturday, early afternoon - around 1-2pmish, I'd wager.
The first option is going to be a pretty standard tasting featuring barrel aged Scotch/Scottish/Wee Heavy ales. These beers typically feature a high level of caramelized malt flavor, lower hoppiness, and sometimes will feature a mild roastiness or peatiness (more common in the Scotch ale style than in Scottish or Wee Heavy style, but nonetheless a small part). The bourbon barrel versions featured will be bolder, boozy, and delicious. Depending on how many I obtain for the tasting (I'm aiming for between 7-10) the tasting will range from $30-40 and would ideally seat 11.
The second option is a little crazier. Most of my tastings have featured beers that are, for the most part, easy to obtain if you're in the right part of the country. They tend to be produced in decent enough quantities, with a decent enough initial price, that I don't have to pull out bodily organs to pay for them. There remains an upper-echelon of beer I don't often get to explore at these tastings, and those are the insta-whales - beers that are produced in lower quantities, usually are brewery-only releases, low allocation, often ticketed or lottery-based selling systems, that sell out instantly, and become "worth" quadruple their selling price or more the day of release. There's a lot of these beers I've never personally tried to even bother obtaining, and the few that I've tasted have usually only been from sheer luck of being in the orbit of someone generous enough or crazy enough to open one at a share. We would also mix in some other beers that are harder to find but not quite that level of unobtanium. Depending on the beers I'm able to land, we'd be looking at between 5-8 beers, seating 8 to 12 people, and a ticket price of anywhere from $80-120 depending on what beers we end up tasting.
Voting is closed
Seating will be determined by who picks which in the survey in order, with any additional seats going to people who picked the other option in order. Please click the link below and take the survey asap
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HZLF9FM
The voters have spoken. Y'all gonna make me lose my mind.
In:
@RyanMM
@Tushon
Colt45WorksEverytime (who the heck is this?)
@UPSLynx
@Gargoyle
@Charity
@Cyclonit@
@linc
Pending confirmation:
(YOUR NAMES HERE)
That would put us at 8 for the tasting. The limiting factor for any tasting is the formfactor of one of the beers, so we'll start a waiting list and if we can get at least 15, we can add all the people on the waiting list.
Comments
In for either!
I'd be down for either, too.
I was thinking, man, I've gotten to try so many whale beers thanks to Ryan.
And then I read this post and realized the whales I've had are not truly whale-tier to Ryan.
And now I'm trying to imagine what beers he'd consider for that tasting and damn. 200% in.
I'll break open the piggybank for anything Ryan says is worth it.
@Charity and I have voted and would love to participate. Team Whale!
Oh shit. The Whalez Have Spoken.
@Linc, you in for a seat or should we pass to the next in line?
Speaking of line, if anyone wants on the wait list, please respond to the thread with your "in." Current people already on the tasting in the updated OP.
@RyanMM how cud u do this 2 me
So sorry.
I did not know you couldn't come until after I came up with the options!
I said I wasn't coming in the other thread ages ago YOU JUST DON'T LOVE ME
jk continue with fancy beers I will just drink @upslynx's cellar (without josh)
I don't think Colt45WorksEverytime is a real person unless Billy Dee is showing up.
I'm in, but only because my beer street cred would take a serious hit if I said 'no'.
Someone filled out the survey with that name, so, uh...I guess I'll have to trace the IP.
OMG IT'S COMING FROM INSIDE THE HOUSE
jk
IP registers to a retirement community in Catonsville MD...so your guess is as good as mine? lol
I smell @Cliff_Forster
Whoa
can I at least drink @UPSLynx's coffee beers? lol
Billy Dee is probably retirement age by now, just sayin....
Shows what you know.
Sofa King jealous.
Have so much fun.
Here's a dilemma for the ages - Do I choose a beer that will eat up 40% of the budget that could end up being the best beer in the tasting....with a 10-20% chance it's infected and will be last place, albeit drinkable? Or do I go with 2 beers that are still pretty damn hard to get and likely to be among the top 50% in the ranking?
Decisions, decisions.
Crack it and see if infected with the others as alts?
It's one or the other - if budget were no consideration, it'd be a different story.
Save it for the next tasting
There is no "Buy all 3 bottles" option unless the money fairy drops a sack of cash in my lap. lol
I've had enough infected whales to last a lifetime. If there's a good chance that it's infected, shelf it and put in the beers you know will be 10 out of 10. Last thing I'd want is for us to all dump in money for a beer that could be a drain pour. I've been there, it sucks. Let's pass on it.
Agree with Bobby Tallbeer, even if I'm not participating. At my brother's reception this summer, we cracked a known-infected Bruery porter just to see what it was like.
It was not pleasant.
Oh I didn't realize you were buying beers for this.
You're doing a beer tasting?
Some. I usually acquire beers well in advance for tastings, usually from trades with good trading partners, but this is a tasting where several bottles were 'cheaper' to acquire with cash than to attempt to trade for. Hence the price tag.
This is me the last week arranging this tasting.
I gotta say, I may have outdone myself this time, thanks to you beautiful bastards. I put the word out to my friends, trader network, and local trade/secondary groups, arranged a series of trades and acquisitions, and figured out what should be some good palate-cleansers and food pairings.
I have a total of 10 beers lined up that run the gamut from the mass-produced to extremely small batch, shelf-turd releases to ticketed brewery-only availability, and even one really highly rated homebrew that has traded in the past with high-value professionally-brewed bottles.
One of the beers was landed last minute in a trade from New Jersey, and I am crossing my fingers it's delivered by Fedex to ICHQ before 2pm on Saturday. If it doesn't make it into the tasting, everyone attending will get a pour later in the day.
I'd originally aimed for 5 to 8 beers, but I've managed to squeeze in the 10 and still hit the ceiling I put on pricing, so it is $120 a seat now that everything is locked down.
Due to the way bottle sizing works out on this tasting, we could add a second of one of the bottles if we get 3 more people and bring the total attendees to 11. If we add those 3 people, the total cost of the tasting would drop down to $100.
See you all soon!
10 out of 10.