@UPSLynx said:
I am in. The 2010 tasting was the first real beer tasting I ever did, and pretty much my introduction into barrel aged stouts. Changed my life. I remember going home after that, going to a dive bar, and asking if they had a beer called Bourbon County. Ah, to be young again.
Normally I don't like to reveal anything specific about what's going to be in my blind tastings because people will be looking for that beer in the tasting, perhaps biasing their ratings as they go through. Ideally, I want a blind to be a total black box before we start so that there's no preconceptions going in.
That being said, as far as I know we only have 11 registrants (myself excluded) through Wednesday morning (waiting to hear from @linc if there are any new signups since then) and I would really like to get to 15.
So I will try and give a little more info without giving up any of the specific beers at the tasting:
All of the beers in this tasting:
will have been beers with fairly consistent annual/seasonal releases for at least the last 3 years
will be aged in either bourbon or rye whiskey barrels
will be from the bottles that are, at minimum, 18-30 months old - most of these will be the 2016 vintage
are, as of the most recent release, available in 12oz, 12.7oz, or 16.9oz bottles, or 12 to 16oz cans
That last bullet point rules out a lot of beer, but what I'm trying to do is keep it to candidates that you could possibly open a bottle of by yourself without feeling too guilty
@d3k0y said:
I guess Kentucky bourbon barrel ale is off the list since it isn't a stout, but i can mail some up on you're interested.
Actually they make a stout, but it missed out on a number of your criteria. Is only 8.2, and not aged bottles
I appreciate the offer, but I've got plenty of options for this tasting right now - whittling down and lining up the needed bottles in the next 9 days is actually my next big project. Out of the 10 beers I'll probably feature, I only have 3-4 of the proper vintages on hand.
Please let me know about any food allergies or things you avoid - there will be things to eat during this tasting and I do want to make sure to make accommodations.
Okay folks, I have 3 more seats to this tasting that need to fill - please consider signing up if you forgot or couldn't at the time of registration! I promise you will regret missing this if you're the least bit into delicious, rich, barrel-aged stoutbois.
Tag spam. #sorrynotsorry, if you don't drink beer or aren't of age, I'm too lazy right now to filter.
It only took a half-dozen trade posts, a couple hundred messages back and forth, a few hours of driving and meeting to do 4 in person trades in Detroit and 1 shipped acquisition from Colorado, but all of the beer for the tasting is now on hand.
Although my comments on the tasting score sheet became less coherent as the tasting progressed, I stand by my ratings. Good company, great beer selection, and best smoked fish ice cream on coconut cookies I've ever had. A+++ would beer again.
I'm working on figuring out the winner of the tasting based on people's scoresheets.
I only found 13/15 scoresheets after the tasting, so I'm missing 2. Of the 13, 11 had names or I could figure out whose they were, but I have a couple sheets that I don't have an owner for.
I have completed the ones with thumbs ups; the others I can't be sure I'll be able to count towards the scoring. But as of right now, we definitely have a decisive winner. If anyone kept their scoresheet or can help me decipher their notes, let me know.
Mine had names like "burning" and "smooth" with an X / 10 scale and only had the name of the Brains beer #5 and Dragon's Milk. The rest were labeled as "Beer".
I imagine a lot of people name and grade like this so hopefully that helps you determine which was mine.
Dragon's Milk is a good beer, if you view it in the context of "I can go into the store and buy a decent barrel aged stout." They definitely tweaked the recipe sometime around 2014 or so; it used to be thinner and with less bourbon and more raw oak flavor.
This tasting definitely shows that you can't compare it to some of the other more limited things out there, but, on the other side, it actually beat quite a few beers that plenty of folks would not have expected it to.
As of now, we've got 13 scoresheets in the mix - could have 14 if I can get @doabarrellroll to clear up a couple things on his sheet. With that, here are the current rankings, based on the mean of the scores with the top score and lowest score from each beer discarded:
4.1 - Bull and Bush Legend of the Liquid Brain
3.9 - Bottle Logic Darkstar November
3.7 - Prairie Noir
3.5 - Firestone Walker Parabola
3.4 - Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout
3.3 - New Holland Dragon's Milk
3 - Avery Uncle Jacob's Stout
2.9 - Revolution Deth's Tar
2.9 - Great Divide Barrel Aged Yeti
2.8 - Central Waters Brewer's Reserve Stout
Comments
Buy your damn ticket bro lol
Listen I'ma give you a Real Talk, but I feel like I need an asterisk that you asked me for an attendee list before you registered yourself for Expo.
lol
To be fair, at least I knew I was attending one way or the other!
To be fair, so does he
Not if he waits until after the deadline to register again.
Normally I don't like to reveal anything specific about what's going to be in my blind tastings because people will be looking for that beer in the tasting, perhaps biasing their ratings as they go through. Ideally, I want a blind to be a total black box before we start so that there's no preconceptions going in.
That being said, as far as I know we only have 11 registrants (myself excluded) through Wednesday morning (waiting to hear from @linc if there are any new signups since then) and I would really like to get to 15.
So I will try and give a little more info without giving up any of the specific beers at the tasting:
All of the beers in this tasting:
That last bullet point rules out a lot of beer, but what I'm trying to do is keep it to candidates that you could possibly open a bottle of by yourself without feeling too guilty
Some of the candidates, but not all, are on this list here, in case you want to start fantasizing about which ones may be in the tasting.
There will be an assortment of food and snacks to go along with the beer.
Hurry up and buy your expo ticket, and make sure you don't miss this.
I guess Kentucky bourbon barrel ale is off the list since it isn't a stout, but i can mail some up on you're interested.
Actually they make a stout, but it missed out on a number of your criteria. Is only 8.2, and not aged bottles
A friend who I have convinced to attend Expo, but not yet convinced to join the forum, also tells me he got the beer tasting ticket.
I appreciate the offer, but I've got plenty of options for this tasting right now - whittling down and lining up the needed bottles in the next 9 days is actually my next big project. Out of the 10 beers I'll probably feature, I only have 3-4 of the proper vintages on hand.
Your friend is going to be off to an awesome start here. He should definitely get his account so he can start racking up cheevos! Is that JHB?
Please let me know about any food allergies or things you avoid - there will be things to eat during this tasting and I do want to make sure to make accommodations.
@Gargoyle
@MAGIC
@cola
@bobbydigi
@ghoosdum
@linc
@Tushon
@lershee
@doabarrellroll
@aaron
@UPSLynx
@The_Ischyros
Yes, he signed up on eventbrite as JHB. He says he's signing up on Icrontic today, not sure if he'll use the same username.
Things I avoid: chicken, pig (including any form of sausage based upon pig, and dare I say - even bacon).
He signed up as @The_Ischyros
I volunteer to sit next to @GHoosdum and eat his pork.
Please, hold your applause. I'd like to bear this burden with quiet dignity and a mouth full of sausage.
I guess I'm just gonna have to do steak and scallops or something. Damn.
Note to self: don't wrap the protein in bacon.
I so read that Barrel Aged Scouts....needless to say I just got of work.
Okay folks, I have 3 more seats to this tasting that need to fill - please consider signing up if you forgot or couldn't at the time of registration! I promise you will regret missing this if you're the least bit into delicious, rich, barrel-aged stoutbois.
Tag spam. #sorrynotsorry, if you don't drink beer or aren't of age, I'm too lazy right now to filter.
@HumerusMeg
@THRAX
@BELLS
@CB
@CHOOCH
@COLGERE
@CRAZYJOE
@DJMEPH
@DRASNOR
@EVONNECAMERON
@FARGE
@GNOMEQUEEN
@GOATMONGER
@J
@THE_ISCHYROS
@JOETHESHMOE
@KAINTENANCE
@KWITKO
@MALIA
@MASSALINIE
@OBSIDIAN
@QCH
@RYANFODDER
@RYDER
@SASSCHAN
@SAZBEAN
@SAZBOOM
@SODA
@SONOROUS
I'm sure the children, all under 18, will be well served by this tag spam
Anyone with "Kid" in their name has been removed - if there's anyone else not of age, let me know.
I'm out, just not interested in paying that much for beer.
That's what she said.
Currently experimenting with some food pairings for the beers. This is rough. Oh, how I suffer for you all.
I'm so excited looking at that photo. Barrel aged stout and pistachios = SO GOOD!
It only took a half-dozen trade posts, a couple hundred messages back and forth, a few hours of driving and meeting to do 4 in person trades in Detroit and 1 shipped acquisition from Colorado, but all of the beer for the tasting is now on hand.
One day left!
Although my comments on the tasting score sheet became less coherent as the tasting progressed, I stand by my ratings. Good company, great beer selection, and best smoked fish ice cream on coconut cookies I've ever had. A+++ would beer again.
Thanks again for everyone for attending!
That was a lot of fun.
I'm working on figuring out the winner of the tasting based on people's scoresheets.
I only found 13/15 scoresheets after the tasting, so I'm missing 2. Of the 13, 11 had names or I could figure out whose they were, but I have a couple sheets that I don't have an owner for.
I have completed the ones with thumbs ups; the others I can't be sure I'll be able to count towards the scoring. But as of right now, we definitely have a decisive winner. If anyone kept their scoresheet or can help me decipher their notes, let me know.
Mine had names like "burning" and "smooth" with an X / 10 scale and only had the name of the Brains beer #5 and Dragon's Milk. The rest were labeled as "Beer".
I imagine a lot of people name and grade like this so hopefully that helps you determine which was mine.
My ratings:
What's weird is how much I've liked Dragon's Milk (#10) on other occasions, but in comparison to the others, the body seemed so weak.
Dragon's Milk is a good beer, if you view it in the context of "I can go into the store and buy a decent barrel aged stout." They definitely tweaked the recipe sometime around 2014 or so; it used to be thinner and with less bourbon and more raw oak flavor.
This tasting definitely shows that you can't compare it to some of the other more limited things out there, but, on the other side, it actually beat quite a few beers that plenty of folks would not have expected it to.
As of now, we've got 13 scoresheets in the mix - could have 14 if I can get @doabarrellroll to clear up a couple things on his sheet. With that, here are the current rankings, based on the mean of the scores with the top score and lowest score from each beer discarded:
4.1 - Bull and Bush Legend of the Liquid Brain
3.9 - Bottle Logic Darkstar November
3.7 - Prairie Noir
3.5 - Firestone Walker Parabola
3.4 - Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout
3.3 - New Holland Dragon's Milk
3 - Avery Uncle Jacob's Stout
2.9 - Revolution Deth's Tar
2.9 - Great Divide Barrel Aged Yeti
2.8 - Central Waters Brewer's Reserve Stout