Icrontic St. Paddy's 2012 Beer Tasting - Barleywine Cellar Review Edition
Hear ye hear ye, it's that time again!
We're way overdue for a beer tasting. I wanted to do one at ICOK or ICNY, but I just couldn't get my shit together in time. I'm gonna find time to do one for ICSP though, come hell or high water.
One tasting I've wanted to host for a while is a cellar review of some of the beers I've been aging. In a cellar review, we compare an old vintage and a fresh vintage of multiple beers. Because of the nature of beer cellaring, candidates for this tasting will inherently be strong and intense brews. Stouts, imperial stouts, barleywines, and dark belgians are all common aging beers.
I've decided to center this cellar review around barleywines and old ales. We'll be reviewing two vintages apiece of 6 to 7 different beers, with about 1oz per sample if I end up seating 12 people total. If due to interest or based on logistics, I decide to seat less people, the samples will be larger but so will the price.
With 12 people seated, it'll be $18 per person and 1 oz samples.
With 8 people seated, it'll be $29 per person and 1.5 oz samples.
So what are you going to get out of this tasting? Two things.
First, you're going to get to see the benefits of aging on a specific beer style. With some of these beers, we'll be tasting a 3 year vintage differential. I promise at least two of the beers I'll be offering a 4 or more year delta.
Second, like past tastings I've done, this one will be blind, at least to the beer brand. Since we are comparing similar beers, all of which will be represented by their most recent vintage, you can compare and contrast these beers to further develop your palate and help you define what you like most in a beer.
The tasting is going to be held at 4pm on Saturday, March 17th. Hey, that's St. Patrick's Day! How convenient. It should last until about 5pm at the latest, I'd wager.
So are you in? Seats will be offered up in the order in which people message me about their interest. Either send me a private message here, hit me up on twitter, or shoot me an email.
We're way overdue for a beer tasting. I wanted to do one at ICOK or ICNY, but I just couldn't get my shit together in time. I'm gonna find time to do one for ICSP though, come hell or high water.
One tasting I've wanted to host for a while is a cellar review of some of the beers I've been aging. In a cellar review, we compare an old vintage and a fresh vintage of multiple beers. Because of the nature of beer cellaring, candidates for this tasting will inherently be strong and intense brews. Stouts, imperial stouts, barleywines, and dark belgians are all common aging beers.
I've decided to center this cellar review around barleywines and old ales. We'll be reviewing two vintages apiece of 6 to 7 different beers, with about 1oz per sample if I end up seating 12 people total. If due to interest or based on logistics, I decide to seat less people, the samples will be larger but so will the price.
With 12 people seated, it'll be $18 per person and 1 oz samples.
With 8 people seated, it'll be $29 per person and 1.5 oz samples.
So what are you going to get out of this tasting? Two things.
First, you're going to get to see the benefits of aging on a specific beer style. With some of these beers, we'll be tasting a 3 year vintage differential. I promise at least two of the beers I'll be offering a 4 or more year delta.
Second, like past tastings I've done, this one will be blind, at least to the beer brand. Since we are comparing similar beers, all of which will be represented by their most recent vintage, you can compare and contrast these beers to further develop your palate and help you define what you like most in a beer.
The tasting is going to be held at 4pm on Saturday, March 17th. Hey, that's St. Patrick's Day! How convenient. It should last until about 5pm at the latest, I'd wager.
So are you in? Seats will be offered up in the order in which people message me about their interest. Either send me a private message here, hit me up on twitter, or shoot me an email.
0
Comments
In. PM Sent.
Definitely in for bottle sniffing, though.
PM sent.
T'is a good life.
7 beers.
2 vintages of each, minimum 3 years difference with up to 6 years of age.
Slightly more than 1oz per sample for 14 samples
Average alcohol by volume of 10.8%
Snacks including fine crumbly cheese, rich fruits, nuts, and cheesecake.
The following people are IN unless they contact me to drop out:
@Mertesn
@TiberiusLazarus
@UPSLynx
@Annes
@Pragtastic
@Lincoln
Lincoln's guest
@Bandrik
Kati
@WagsFTW
Please check your DMs and confirm whether you'll be attending or not. I do have a waitlist of a couple people, in case you no longer want your seat.
That was a triumph. Except for the part where I followed up with what we drank and talked about it! Boooo, 2012 Ryan you slacker jackass.
So to recap, we tasted the following:
JW Lees Harvest Ale (2010 and 2005)
Anchor Old Forhorn (2010 and 2006)
Sierra Nevada Bigfoot (2012 and 20??)
Bell's Third Coast Old Ale (2011 and 2008)
North Coast Old Stock Ale (2012 and 2007)
Kuhnhenn Fourth Dementia (2011 and 2008)
Flying Dog Horn Dog (2011 and 2008)
It's been a spell now, but here are some things I remember:
14 beers was unwieldy AF and I remember telling myself I would never feature that many at a tasting again.
This was an awesome tasting that included some fantastic food pairings. I wish I did a better job of documenting what I brought to tastings as far as food goes. I'm pretty sure that I brought two kinds of cheese, and everyone liked one, the second was more divisive and folks either loved or hated it. I feel like it might have been Stilton and Shropshire Blue but I'm not 100% sure on that.
Barleywine and cheesecake was sublime. I don't remember if I made my famous cheesecake for this event or just brought one from Peteet's.
Most everyone's favorite ended up being the dark horse that I threw in for contrast, which was Kuhnhenn's Fourth Dementia, which is more of an 'old ale' than a barleywine but we're gonna let that slide because yeah.
Anyways, barleywine is life. Thanks to everyone who came to this one. If anyone can remember anything else from it, post up your memories!
@Mertesn, @TiberiusLazarus, @UPSLynx, @Annes, @Pragtastic, @Linc, @Bandrik, @lershee, @WagsFTW
better late.... than... never? o.O
Yes. Beer. I remember... beer.
I know, right?
I was reminded of it a few weeks ago when I finally got the "Remember this day" feature on Facebook and this tasting popped up. Went to the thread to stroll down memory lane and found a half-composed follow-up post that never got finished.
Look at all these happy Barleywine drinkers!