Expo 2013 Beer Tasting - The Reckoning

RyanMMRyanMM Ferndale, MI Icrontian
So hello there. I've been kind of scarce I know, it's not because I don't love you guys. Life is just...busy. But good! But busy.

I've been meaning to pop in here and get this going sooner, but yeah, REASONS and all.

So here I am! And here's the deal. Friday night at Midnight I have a wonderful time slot to blow your palates away and introduce you to some fine fermented grain beverages.

I've got two ideas. One of them is less work and is the one I'd prefer but it requires me to dig deeper into my cellar for some really rare stuff so it's pricer. I'd joke that I gave my right nut for some of these beers but that hits a little close to home. Suffice to say this is some elite shit. The other is more work since there'll be more people needed to attend but it'll cost less, though it'll be no less awesome.

Both would be once in a lifetime opportunities, I can guarantee. I don't want to go with the spendier option if no one will be able to swing it, so I put this up to a poll. It'll close on June 10th and then I'll open up the admittance process to whichever option is the most feasible. Some people who volunteered for the last tasting will get first dibs at seats and then it'll go up to first come.

Option 1: Extra rare beer tasting. 5 seats plus myself. An opportunity to taste beers of vintage or rarity that you may never get a chance to sample ever again. This tasting will be $60 per person.
This is not going to be a blind tasting. You will know what you will be drinking up front. The six tasters will be splitting bottles of the following 7 beers:

Avery The Beast (2004)
The first ever batch of Avery's high-octane barleywine-style ale. Not very many bottles of this exist anymore. With almost a decade of age, this one should be drinking wonderfully.

Bell's Expedition Ale (2007)
Expedition Ale is an award-winner in terms of its aging potential, despite being a rather 'common' beer in Michigan. A 1995 bottle of the beer took home the gold in the 2011 Great American Beer Festival "Aged Beer" category. A five year old bottle will have seen some of the aggressive notes fade back and for its complexity to come closer to the surface.

Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout (2011)
This is one of those whales of beer geeks, a beer they've heard whipsers of but never seen or had a chance to try. At one point, bottles of this were selling illicitly on eBay for over $150. It's criminal more of this beer has yet to be made.

Dogfish Head Worldwide Stout (2007)
One of the highest ABV beers in mass production, which was sadly put on hiatus in 2012, breaking the vertical of many a collector. At 18%, this stoutwine is reminiscent of a fine port, sweet, rich, and intense in its malty goodness.

Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA (2004)
Another hallmark beer, one of the hoppiest beers on the planet when fresh but with a significant malt backbone that makes aging an interesting proposition. The oldest bottle of this that I've had was 2 years. I have no idea what to expect here, and I don't know if you'd find many beer lovers who could do anything but guess at what this will be like.

Kuhnhenn 4th Dementia (2008)
A truly award-winning brew from Kuhnhenn that gets better with age. I personally feel this beer peaks at the 5 year mark, so these bottles should be just about perfect.

Kuhnhenn Blueberry Eisbock (2013)
During creation of their most recent batch of Raspberry Eisbock, the brothers Kuhnhenn took a chance on a small sub-batch and replaced the raspberries with wild grown blueberries. There were less than 200 375ml bottles made. One of the rarest beers of the last few years.

Option 2: Blind Horizontal Tasting - Belgian Quadruples. 11 seats plus myself. An opportunity to taste a style of beer that is considered one of the best in the world. This style contains more of the top-rated beers than just about any other style of beer. It finds its history in the Belgian monastic brewing tradition and to this day the Belgian monks still make some of the best examples of this beer. But fine examples exist elsewhere. The goal will be to sample the best traditional entries in this style to help find the ones that you like the most (yes, ruling out ones that do barrel-aging or blending with fruit or other tweaks). Belgian quads do well with a little bit of age on them so the samples will be at least a year or more old in order to provide an optimal tasting experience. I do want to keep this blind, but for those in the know, yes. You will be tasting both the beers that vie for the title of "Best beer in the world." This tasting will be $35 per person.

Either tasting would include a small accompaniment of enjoyable food pairings, if you've been to a past tasting you know what to expect.

In order to make things easy on me, please fill out this quick Google survey so I know which tasting will be the most feasible for me to get together in time for Expo.

Cheers everyone!
primesuspectGargGnomeQueenBandrikLeahVoiceJBoogalooPirateNinjaBobbyDigiWagsFTW
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Comments

  • GargGarg Purveyor of Lincoln Nightmares Icrontian
    So hard to choose! Quads are one of my favorites, but the rare beers sound phenomenal.

    Think I'll vote for the quads just so more people can participate, but I want in either way.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    Subtitle: "The 'Who Needs Liquor, Anyways?' Taste Test"
    RyanMMUPSLynx
  • BandrikBandrik Elkhart, IN Icrontian
    Rare and vintage? Shut up and take my money. IN.
    RyanMM
  • mertesnmertesn I am Bobby Miller Yukon, OK Icrontian
    How large are the rare beers? I know the Kuhnnen Eisbock is 375ml, but what about the others? I voted for the rares but I have trouble with large volumes of alcohol now due to current diet. If it's a large volume I'd be willing to share with someone.
  • MAGICMAGIC Doot Doot Furniture City, Michigan Icrontian
    Wow, nice list. Enjoy.
  • RyanMMRyanMM Ferndale, MI Icrontian
    mertesn said:

    How large are the rare beers? I know the Kuhnnen Eisbock is 375ml, but what about the others? I voted for the rares but I have trouble with large volumes of alcohol now due to current diet. If it's a large volume I'd be willing to share with someone.

    Great question, @Mertesn! I didn't feel like doing the math last night but here's the skinny:

    At 1/6 of each bottle, we'll be each drinking 18oz of beer with average ABV of 14.1%. The samples would be 2oz of Expedition, World Wide Stout, 120 Minute IPA, 4th Dementia, 2.1oz of Blueberry Eisbock, 3.7oz of the Beast, and 4.2oz of CBS.

    So its' not a large volume per se (18oz in an hour wouldn't normally be so bad) but it is at a high ABV. If you want to share your seat with someone I don't have a problem with that at all.

    Alternately we could extend the tasting to a 7th person, which would keep it manageable and reduce the total oz per person to 15.4oz and the cost down to $53 per seat. The pours would be 1.7oz, 1.8oz, 3.1oz, and 3.6oz respectively.
  • mertesnmertesn I am Bobby Miller Yukon, OK Icrontian
    RyanMM said:

    mertesn said:

    How large are the rare beers? I know the Kuhnnen Eisbock is 375ml, but what about the others? I voted for the rares but I have trouble with large volumes of alcohol now due to current diet. If it's a large volume I'd be willing to share with someone.

    Great question, @Mertesn! I didn't feel like doing the math last night but here's the skinny:

    At 1/6 of each bottle, we'll be each drinking 18oz of beer with average ABV of 14.1%. The samples would be 2oz of Expedition, World Wide Stout, 120 Minute IPA, 4th Dementia, 2.1oz of Blueberry Eisbock, 3.7oz of the Beast, and 4.2oz of CBS.

    So its' not a large volume per se (18oz in an hour wouldn't normally be so bad) but it is at a high ABV. If you want to share your seat with someone I don't have a problem with that at all.

    Alternately we could extend the tasting to a 7th person, which would keep it manageable and reduce the total oz per person to 15.4oz and the cost down to $53 per seat. The pours would be 1.7oz, 1.8oz, 3.1oz, and 3.6oz respectively.
    That's what I needed to know. I can handle that much on my own. Was just concerned about ending up with the equivalent of four beers.
  • RyanMMRyanMM Ferndale, MI Icrontian
    Excellent.
  • SodaSoda Ann Arbor, MI Icrontian
    Oh yes, the Belgian tasting. I've waited a long time for this one. Take all my money, let me taste the delicious ways.
  • JBoogalooJBoogaloo This too shall pass... Alexandria, VA Icrontian
    Officially bummed I won't be making it to EPIC this year...THIS would've been my highlight. I'd definitely go for the rare tasting.
  • RyanMMRyanMM Ferndale, MI Icrontian
    You'll be missed @Jboogaloo!
    JBoogalooprimesuspect
  • JokkeJokke Bergen, Norway Icrontian
    Yeah, I'd love to try some great brews. All the fun stuff seems to be happening this year.
  • RyanMMRyanMM Ferndale, MI Icrontian
    Still waiting from known attendees and past beer tasting participants @UPSLynx @Gargoyle @tiberiuslazarus @CannonFodder @bobbydigi @ryder @ghoosdum @humerusmeg SURVEY GET

    Of course if you've seen the survey and have no interest, that's OK too. Do me a favor and post in here so I will remove you from my "POKE THIS PERSON" list. :)
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    Although I technically appear on the red carpet since I bought a ticket, I won't be there to attend the beer tasting. Sorry to miss it :(
  • RyanMMRyanMM Ferndale, MI Icrontian
    Bummer!
  • UPSLynxUPSLynx :KAPPA: Redwood City, CA Icrontian
    Tough, tough decision. Really really want to go for the rares, but as big as expo is I'd like to give more people the chance to get in, so I went quads.
  • UPSLynx said:

    Tough, tough decision. Really really want to go for the rares, but as big as expo is I'd like to give more people the chance to get in, so I went quads.

  • RyderRyder Kalamazoo, Mi Icrontian
    Thanks Ryan, out for this one. Come on newbies!
  • GnomeQueenGnomeQueen The Lulz Queen Mountain Dew Mouth Icrontian
    Easy decision, Belgian quaaaaads
  • BobbyDigiBobbyDigi ? R U #Hats ! TX Icrontian
    edited June 2013
    As much as I hate to say it, I will not be participating in the beer tasting this year. To those that do, Enjoy!

    Thanks Ryan for putting this on. Some of those beers sound delicious!

    -Digi
  • HumerusMegHumerusMeg Something, something medical professional, Fitness bitch, Sexy chef Austin Icrontian
    I will have to pass this time around, enjoy to those that participate thought!!! ENJOY the great beersssss :D
  • BandrikBandrik Elkhart, IN Icrontian
    If we do go rares over quads, I would be perfectly happy with having a 7th person, or even splitting my seat with someone if need be.
  • GargGarg Purveyor of Lincoln Nightmares Icrontian
    RyanMM said:

    Still waiting from known attendees and past beer tasting participants [...] SURVEY GET

    Thanks for the heads-up, didn't see the link on the mobile version. VOTE PUT!

  • maliamalia Sconnie Nation Icrontian
    mmm...quadrupels...

  • RyanMMRyanMM Ferndale, MI Icrontian
    Based on the quick response so far I'm going to close up the poll and make the final call this evening, so if you haven't voted yet, please do.
  • lersheelershee Keeper of J Sterling Heights, MI Icrontian
    I voted - come on, Belgian Quaduples!!!
  • RyanMMRyanMM Ferndale, MI Icrontian
    Y'all know how to represent the Icrontic life. The Belgian Quad option was very popular. But I exceeded interest levels in the rare tasting and I don't know if I'd have time to pull off the prep for a larger thing as might be needed with the Quad tasting.

    I promise you all the beers I'd set aside for the Quad tasting aren't going anywhere. You're going to blindly drink Westy 12 alongside Rochefort 10 the same day I do.

    The Rare tasting is on.

    I am going to bump it up to seating 6 plus myself because I'd like to disappoint as few people as possible.

    The names of everyone who voted for the rare tasting are going into a hat tomorrow. Since they exceeded the number of seats I have, they get first crack. If anyone passes, it goes to the next in line, and if none of the voters are left, then seats open up to general lottery. I don't expect that to happen but you never know.

    Stay thirsty, my friends.
    LeahVoice
  • RyanMMRyanMM Ferndale, MI Icrontian
    And hey, it's tomorrow! EST, what what.

    image

    @primesuspect
    @Tushon
    @UPSLynx
    @Gargoyle
    @mertesn
    @Cannonfodder

    You 6 have first dibs on a seat at the tab. Say 'yea' and you're in. Say 'nay' and it goes next to @bandrik and then @momofrose.

    I expect zero nays from you gentleman, though. I know your bodies are ready.
  • RyanFodderRyanFodder Detroit, MI Icrontian
    NOM NOM NOM
  • TushonTushon I'm scared, Coach Alexandria, VA Icrontian
    BODY IS READY
    LeahVoice
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