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Angry Grimace posted:That sounds like Yuseff I didn't care much for BA Black Marlin. All these varied reviews are making me wonder if they don't blend much coming out of the barrels, so they get a much wider keg variation than you'd expect. I'll try to ask Yuseff if I see him again tonight. Also tried the BA Bigfoot like I said I would. I had it side by side with the 2010 Bigfoot. The 2010 was significantly better, less hot with good balance. The BA was 2012 and very woody, moderate bourbon notes that accentuated the alcohol burn. Give it a year or three and it should be eminently drinkable. I'd still go for an older regular Bigfoot, though. Stone Ruination with habanero peppers was a big surprise - delicious, slight discernible heat, and refreshing levels of bitterness on the finish. It's probably my second favorite chile beer after local Joseph James's Habanero Hop Box. Hop Box is an IIPA and has a lot more malt to complement the chiles (and is also quite a bit spicier); Ruination by comparison is much drier and less fruity.
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Jan 21, 2013 00:11
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He taught me to homebrew at a UCSD class that he does every few months and he's that kind of guy. If you had wanted to ingratiate yourself to him you could just ask about his distillery program since he goes moon-eyed if you act at all interested in distilling.
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Grabbed two bottles of Double Daisy Cutter today and Half Acre had plenty more.I think I also found my new secret beer place. They had Bolt Cutter, Big Hugs, plenty of Pipeworks and lots of Hopslam when every other place I've been to is out.
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Jan 21, 2013 00:25
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Wound up attending Cellarfest '13 at Bailey's in Portland with noted Something Awful Forums poster vice zoomler aestro and one of his buds. Pretty massive event; 20 aged beers for prices that I'm sure would blow away people from the Midwest/NE in their reasonable-ness. Highlights included '08 Consecration and a Rogue RIS from '05, but for me the winner of the night was '10 Figgy Pudding from Block 15 over in Corvallis, a college bar that does a lot of crazy aged stuff. Probably the best holiday strong ale I've ever had, the perfect mix of spice and brandy and size.
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Jan 21, 2013 02:00
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bartolimu posted:They're doing fun stuff like taking a virgin barrel, aging whiskey in it, then aging a beer, then aging a whiskey again to see what beer soaking does to the whiskey's flavor. That's a neat idea and I wish them luck with it. New Holland did this with their Dragon's Milk Stout, they made a bourbon and put it in their used Dragon's Milk barrels. I really want to try it since I love bourbon and the price point is decent.
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Jan 21, 2013 02:52
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Uggggh. Stores less than 2 hours from me are overflowing with Belgian Yeti, but none of the local stores get any Great Divide. At least I got to pick up a few to hoard. 
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Jan 21, 2013 02:57
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Heading to Great Lakes tonight for the Barrel Aged Blackout release party. Can't wait, probably gonna come home with a case of BA Blackout as well.
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Jan 21, 2013 15:55
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Choc's Oak Aged Quad is way too woody and astringent fresh, but I'd like to see what it has with a year or two on it. I also learned that when doing a tasting party for 10%+ beers, too little beer is a better problem than too much. We didn't even get to crack open the BBQ before everyone was too fried to enjoy it. 
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Jan 21, 2013 16:54
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^^^ the only time i've had an honest-to-god deathly hangover was after attending a bottle share with a huge Old Guardian vertical. i've had more to drink before and since, but never so much alcohol in such a sort amount of time. had a lot of beer while brewing yesterday, including a higher-than-normal number of sours: a 2011 bottle of Rivertown's Lambic (yeah, they say lambic, not "lambic-style ale"), which smelled like it should, but didn't have much going on in terms of tartness, funk, or carbonation and was fairly disappointing; a revisiting of Bruery Rueuze, which was better the second time (especially compared to the Rivertown), but was still lacking in both funk and flavor, although i appreciate its drinkability compared to, say, Mother Funker; Supplication, which of course is insanely good and ridiculously complex; and Crooked Stave's Nightmare on Brett, a 100% brett Baltic porter aged in bourbon barrels, which was so complex as to be... a bit of a mess. i love the CS yeast strain, but feel that none of the flavors were very well integrated, with tannins and boozy heat dominating. i'd like to try it again in a year, but i'm not going to trade for it again. funkybottoms fucked around with this message at 17:20 on Jan 21, 2013 |
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Jan 21, 2013 17:17
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I'm looking forward to the BA Blackout Stout release tonight. I'm going to decide how much I'm going to buy after tasting it. I'll most likely only buy 3, or 4 four packs since it's so expensive... and I will probably end up trading a good majority of it. I really can't wait to try GLBC's Jabberwocky, and Rackhouse Ale. Apparently Jack from New Albion fame is going to be in Cleveland tomorrow as well, so I might stick around for that.
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Jan 21, 2013 18:35
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Midorka posted:I'm drinking a Nectar Ales Humboldt Brown Ale my friend got me in a mixed 6 pack for Christmas. The beer was bottled in September of 2011 but it's held up nicely with cocoa and caramel sweetness with a nice balance. I then noticed that it's brewed by or at Firestone Walker now. Are their beers worth trying? They seem fairly priced and Black Xantus sounds good, from it's description. My local store has 4 packs for $8, I guess I can't pass that up. I'd also add that they brew a lot of one-off beers that only show up at the brewery (and are usually awesome), several of which are almost exclusively used as components in the anniversary series. I love that brewery.
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Jan 21, 2013 19:10
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Black Xantus is in fact delicious, I had the 2011 on tap last night. I've been a fan since it first started coming to Vegas, which was probably 2010. I got to try some weird stuff last night too. Stone 16th Anniversary with green tea leaves (bit of an herby, almost minty mess, but I liked it) and Sublimely Self Righteous with espresso beans (not nearly enough coffee for my taste, it was like SSR with a dash of watery diner coffee thrown in) were the most memorable. I had to leave the fest early to have dinner with friends, so that limited how much I could taste.
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Jan 21, 2013 19:34
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Had a beer tasting with some buddies this weekend and we popped open some good stuff. This one has been in the fridge for a while so I decided it was time. Fairly restrainted bourbon barrel character, more oak than bourbon, pretty interesting. For a BA Barleywine though I think it might be too dry, a little higher sweetness balances the wood tannins better and lets the flavors meld together a bit more. Not talking tons sweeter, but just a tad wouldn't have hurt this beer.  Taking my comment from the previous beer, the Bruery White Oak pulls it off pretty well. Just a touch sweeter really brings out the vanillin, coconut and oak character, though this beer is a Wheat Wine so the "punchy" wheat character keeps it from feeling too sweet. Fairly interesting take on a wheatwine.  Took me a long time to trade for this and had to pass on a few bouts of temptation until I had a good tasting to enjoy it at. About 2 years out this beer is pretty interesting, though it may be a little less than the sum of its parts right now. Lots of Surly Darkness on the nose, which is awesome because that beer smells awesome, some kind of crazy mashup of Dark Lord and Black Albert in the body and then hints of Beer Geek Brunch Weasel in the finish. Ultimately this beer is quite a bit dryer than Dark Lord so it drinks fairly differently. Pretty good stuff.  I brought a 2011 Eclipse Elijah Craig 12 year and someone else brought a 2011 of the Elijah Craig 20 year, and both were excellent. I've never had the Eclipse before and it was a little different than what I was expecting. Overall its a pretty fantastic beer and a fantastic concept, the bottle price at retail ($30) is too high for me to justify buying it again. At 9.5% its big but not a monster, overall body is fairly balanced, not too astringency, good balance of IBUs and sweetness without being cloying. Good for displaying barrel character. The EC12 barrel was great and really well balanced, while the EC20 was big and bourbony but still delicious. A blend of the two ended up being one of the best things of the night.
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Jan 21, 2013 23:19
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Just got my test results back today that I passed the test and am now a Certified Cicerone ®. So ask me anything about being the beer snobbiest of beer snobs. I'm drinking a Great Divide Orabelle to celebrate, it's a pretty great triple if you really like orange peel. Sorry, I'm a Certified Cicerone ® and I can do better than that. Drinking a 12 oz Great Divide Orabelle out of my Duvel artist's series Parra tulip. Bottled in December of 2012 so not quite fresh enough. Pours a lovely honey golden color with a thin pale white head made up of tight tiny bubbles. Upon first smell there's a burst of coriander and tropical fruits, leading the way for a heavy orange peel after smell. Taste is mango mango mango with a pleasent slight alcohol burn on the finish. Orange peel in the aftertaste with a medium-thin mouth feel. If this was aged in a pinot noir barrel it'd be perfection, as is 3.1/5.
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Jan 22, 2013 01:13
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rage-saq posted:
Last month, FFF released a barrel aged version of this (Murda'd Out Stout) that I'm very curious about but the trade/cost is very high right now. I loved Baller and prefer it over each of it's individual parts.
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Jan 22, 2013 01:21
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Josh Wow posted:Just got my test results back today that I passed the test and am now a Certified Cicerone ®. So ask me anything about being the beer snobbiest of beer snobs. I'm drinking a Great Divide Orabelle to celebrate, it's a pretty great triple if you really like orange peel. What the gently caress is a Certified cicerone?
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Jan 22, 2013 01:43
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It's the beer equivalent of a sommelier. With that said, congratulations! Was it hard?
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Jan 22, 2013 01:45
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So my gf just got back from visiting her folks in Tampa and she brought back a 750 of Cigar City bourbon barrel Big Sound and needless to say im pretty happy to crack the wax on this one.
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Jan 22, 2013 01:53
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swickles posted:What the gently caress is a Certified cicerone? He's a Made Man now
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Jan 22, 2013 01:58
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Midorka posted:With that said, congratulations! Was it hard? I obviously don't take the title very seriously but it is actually pretty hard to pass the test. I don't think it makes you any sort of beer guru but you have to have a lot of different types of beer knowledge to pass the test. I also didn't totally crush the test, you have to have an overall 80% score to pass the test and at least a 70% score on the tasting exam. I got an overall score of 83%, with a score of 74% on the tasting portion. I got a 93% on the beer ingredients and brewing processes portion of the exam, but only 79-85% on the keeping and serving beer, beer styles, flavor and evaulation, and beer & food pairing portions of the exam. The written portion was 3 hours long with about 200 multiple choice, fill in the blank and short answer questions, as well as 3.5 essays. The half essay was on beer and food pairing and asked you to pair a beer with a very complicated dish with like 9 ingredients and expected you to give a reason why the beer paired well with every single ingredient. The other 3 essays were on beer serving, history of a beer style, and a portion of the brewing process. There was also a video taped mechanical demonstration you had to do with disassembling and reassembling a piece of draft equipment and explaining all the parts and how to clean it. The tasting portion was definitely the hardest and was split into three parts. The first part they gave us a sample of a beer (Amstel light in our case) that we knew what it was then four samples that were blind. One of the samples was uncontaminated, the other 3 were dosed with off flavors. You had to tell which was undosed and what the off flavors in the other three were. The second section had four parts each with two commercial examples of very similar beer styles and you had to tell which was which. Ours was kolsch vs. pilsner, pale ale vs. ipa, scottish ale vs. amber ale and porter vs. stout. The last portion you were given commercial beers and told that you were a bartender and a beer was sent back, and asked if there were any off flavors and what they were. Two of the four had off flavors and two didn't. One example was easy but the other three were pretty difficult. While saying that I don't take the title very seriously we did study hard for it. There ended up being only 4 of us at our company that ended up taking the exam and we were having monthly sessions to study for it all year. Those monthly sessions turned weekly, then bi and tri weekly as the test drew nearer. We did a whole lot of blind tasting with off flavor kits which really helped. I think I'm the only one of the 4 of us that passed, and one of the women at work that I definitely thought would pass before I did didn't quite make it by about 2% overall. I pretty much base my passing on the fact that I have a pretty drat good palette and am good at taking tests in general, and my homebrewing giving me a big advantage in the brewing ingredient and processes portion boosting my overall score.
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Jan 22, 2013 02:32
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I'm not trying to be mean, but why the hell would you want to do all that? It sounds dreadfully boring to take something as enjoyable and drinking and standardizing it down to what amounts to an SAT. And jeez, that sounds like A LOT of work!
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Jan 22, 2013 05:24
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Josh Wow posted:The tasting portion was definitely the hardest and was split into three parts. The first part they gave us a sample of a beer (Amstel light in our case) that we knew what it was then four samples that were blind. One of the samples was uncontaminated, the other 3 were dosed with off flavors. You had to tell which was undosed and what the off flavors in the other three were. The second section had four parts each with two commercial examples of very similar beer styles and you had to tell which was which. Ours was kolsch vs. pilsner, pale ale vs. ipa, scottish ale vs. amber ale and porter vs. stout. The last portion you were given commercial beers and told that you were a bartender and a beer was sent back, and asked if there were any off flavors and what they were. Two of the four had off flavors and two didn't. One example was easy but the other three were pretty difficult. never looked into the specifics of the exam- what were the off flavors and how were they produced (a few drops of lacto in a keg, etc)? RiggenBlaque posted:I'm not trying to be mean, but why the hell would you want to do all that? It sounds dreadfully boring to take something as enjoyable and drinking and standardizing it down to what amounts to an SAT. And jeez, that sounds like A LOT of work! sounds like grad school- yeah, it's a shitload of work, and maybe you already have been doing it professionally, but it's proof that you've mastered the material. also, i'm sure his company is happy to say "we have X certified cicerones in our production facility, so you know our poo poo is on point!"
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Jan 22, 2013 06:04
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RiggenBlaque posted:I'm not trying to be mean, but why the hell would you want to do all that? It sounds dreadfully boring to take something as enjoyable and drinking and standardizing it down to what amounts to an SAT. And jeez, that sounds like A LOT of work! Just like any industry, if you have a skill set beyond most everyone else it makes ob/retaining a job in that field that much easier. Doesn't mean he's got to speak and describe beer like he's reading off a flavor wheel, but the point is he CAN if he wants/needs to and not BS his way through it. Pretty sure most breweries are encouraging their staff to do things like this. Unlike an IQ or SAT exam, it's too bad you can't just grab a copy of the test and try it for yourself. I'd probably get about 38% but it'd be fun.
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Jan 22, 2013 06:36
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BA Blackout Stout release last night was really fun, and I'm glad to have bought tickets for it. Here's a little run down of what I thought about the beers. 2007 Blackout Stout: I had heard this stuff doesn't really improve with age, and I couldn't agree more. It doesn't get worse with age, but it sure doesn't get any better. I didn't drink it side by side with the un-aged version, but I really wish I would have... it could have possibly let me pick out subtle differences. The only difference I could detect was that the bitterness had really faded with age on this beer, which I think is kind of expected with a 5+ year old beer. I got the typical chocolate, slight coffee, and roasted malt flavor that I normally get from a fresh Blackout. I think fresh Blackout is incredibly smooth, and so was this, there is really no detectable alcohol for being a 9% ABV beer. 2011 BA Blackout Stout: I'm almost positive that the girl who was running the BA Blackout station got this, and the 2013 BA Blackout taps mixed up. This beer was extremely hot, it had a huge bourbon aroma, and a big bourbon taste. You could taste the underlying chocolate, and roasted malts, but I had a hard time detecting any coffee flavor through all the bourbon flavor. 2013 BA Blackout Stout: This was exactly what I'm looking for when I drink a BBA beer, the bourbon flavor/aroma was evident, while not being overpowering. I was able to detect the coffee, chocolate, and roasted/burnt malt flavors through the bourbon taste, and the beer didn't seem 'hot' at all, in fact it was incredibly smooth. 2011 Rackhouse Ale: Apparently this is a BBA American Strong Ale, you probably wouldn't be able to tell by drinking it, because it tastes like no other American Strong Ale I've ever had. This is one of the most disgusting beers I've ever had, and I kind of wish I had just gotten a double pour of another beer instead of this. It tasted like bourbon, mixed with cherry cough syrup, and I found it to be absolutely vile. My friend that I went with took one sip of his, and threw the rest of the 5 oz glass away... I kind of wish I had done the same! Gross! Jabberwocky: Holy poo poo, this is probably the best sour I've ever had. This beer was sour, without being overwhelmingly so... which I really enjoyed, as I don't like beers that are so sour they make your lips pucker. This is a beer that makes me wish I had a better palate, which could discern all the different flavors I was tasting. I mostly got a flavor which almost tasted like a sherry mixed with a combination of green apples, and some tart/funky grapes. I didn't really get much oak/wood flavor from this beer, but I think that's because it had a few years age on it. I would buy this up like crazy if they ever decided to bottle it. My friend that I went with enjoys wine a bit more than beer, and this was his favorite beer of the night. I'm going to leave out reviewing the 2012 Blackout Stout, because I'm pretty sure that a good amount of us have tried it, and it basically tasted like a more bitter version of the 2007. I didn't think the girl had mixed up the taps until I tried the 2013 BA Blackout (I drank the "2011" first), am I correct in thinking that an aged BBA beer shouldn't be as hot, and the bourbon shouldn't be as evident? e: Sorry if my reviews are lovely/hard to read, this is the first time I've typed something up like this. I think I'm one of the younger guys in this thread, and my ability to distinguish all the nuances of some of these complex beers is still pretty difficult for me. 
Kudosx fucked around with this message at 15:04 on Jan 22, 2013 |
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Jan 22, 2013 14:39
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Kudosx posted:I didn't think the girl had mixed up the taps until I tried the 2013 BA Blackout (I drank the "2011" first), am I correct in thinking that an aged BBA beer shouldn't be as hot, and the bourbon shouldn't be as evident? Usually that's the case. If she did mix this up, that's a pretty huge screw up for a big release day.
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Jan 22, 2013 15:17
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That sounds very difficult, but why wouldn't you be proud of having that title? Sure it carries an air of pretension about it, but it's also a milestone of sorts that I know one day I hope I can attain. It's just like my father who has all of these certifications for being a mechanic and he's proud of having them, it gives his efforts and hard work some sort of meaning not to mention it looks great on a resume. I'm actually going to get my Cicerone Certified Beer Server certifications soon and though the test is said to be very easy (though I know poo poo about the kegging part) I'll be proud of it even though it's the equivalent of an A+ certification in the IT world.
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Jan 22, 2013 15:18
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funkybottoms posted:
But once you graduate grad school you usually get a pretty significant pay bump, does the same apply to being a cicerone?
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Jan 22, 2013 15:27
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RiggenBlaque posted:I'm not trying to be mean, but why the hell would you want to do all that? It sounds dreadfully boring to take something as enjoyable and drinking and standardizing it down to what amounts to an SAT. And jeez, that sounds like A LOT of work! Not sure what sounds so boring about learning a poo poo ton about beer and serving it, actually identifying off flavors, getting feedback on tastings, etc... Especially since it sounds like he did it through work, which probably paid for it. I mean, lots of people become sommiliers, I don't see why beer should be any different? I don't know that I'd go through with the test, but I'd be fascinated to hear more about the off-flavor tasting and the kits you used, Josh. Are they through Cicerone, or a third party thing?
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Jan 22, 2013 15:47
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RiggenBlaque posted:But once you graduate grad school you usually get a pretty significant pay bump, does the same apply to being a cicerone? I don't think grad school is a good comparison. I think Midorka's mention of mechanic certs is probably more apt: if you're in the beer field, having your CC on your resume makes you more attractive to potential employers and may advance you at your current job. It's essentially a tech certification... for drinking.
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Jan 22, 2013 15:49
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There are a few places where you can order the kits for off-flavors. You need just a drop or two per 12 ounces to get the threshold and a drop or two more to make it very obvious. I don't think they are cheap though, but you can get a variety of off-flavors and common flavors in beer.
Midorka fucked around with this message at 15:57 on Jan 22, 2013 |
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Jan 22, 2013 15:52
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If you have a homebrew club in your area, they'll often have a study group going for either the BJCP exam or nowadays sometimes the Cicerone program. Connect with them if you're seriously interested in doing structured learning about beer styles and off-flavors and whatnot. Hell one time the club met at New Belgium and the head of their sensory program busted out the off-flavor kit they use in-house and let us play with it for free.
Docjowles fucked around with this message at 16:23 on Jan 22, 2013 |
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Jan 22, 2013 16:21
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RiggenBlaque posted:I'm not trying to be mean, but why the hell would you want to do all that? It sounds dreadfully boring to take something as enjoyable and drinking and standardizing it down to what amounts to an SAT. And jeez, that sounds like A LOT of work! It is a lot of work. Friend of mine's going to be sitting for the next Master Cicerone exam, it's an even higher level and I think there are only like a half dozen master cicerones in the world. It's a professional certification, like MCSA or CCNP; if you want a job as a sommelier, a real sommelier at a Michelin-star restaurant or something like that, you're going to need more than to talk about at the job interview than how much you like drinking wine. You're going to want some sort of sommelier certification on your resume. Same thing with cicerone. The higher levels are about a lot more than drinking beer, they're about the legal aspects of selling beer, how to properly maintain and rotate inventory, history and significance of beer styles, off-flavors and where they come from, pairing beers with food, draft systems and plumbing, and so forth. It's not about drinking beer, it's a certification about everything you could reasonably be expected to know if you are going to work in the selling of beer to customers.
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Jan 22, 2013 16:27
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Congrats, Josh Wow! Wear your crown lightly. (And thanks for the Orabelle recommendation, I love orange peel so much I drink Blue Moon on purpose.) My favorite bottle shop is getting both Nitro Milk Stout and Barrel Aged Old Rasputin in first week of Feb. There are rumors that's when the Barrel Aged Bigfoot hits the shelves too. Could be an expensive visit.
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Jan 22, 2013 16:37
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Retemnav posted:Not sure what sounds so boring about learning a poo poo ton about beer and serving it, actually identifying off flavors, getting feedback on tastings, etc... Especially since it sounds like he did it through work, which probably paid for it. I think it probably just sounds boring to me because anytime something fun gets put into a rigid, structured and standardized framework, I instantly lose interest in it. That's a personal quirk of mine, though. Either way, I hope it didn't come across as me diminishing the accomplishment, it looks hard as poo poo and you should be proud, Josh Speaking of Nitro Milk Stout, I managed to grab some from Long Island this week and even though the ability to bottle nitrogen beers without widgets is pretty cool, I found it to be severely lacking compared to the normal version of it. I find that's my personal experience with all nitro beers, though.
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Jan 22, 2013 16:46
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RiggenBlaque posted:Speaking of Nitro Milk Stout, I managed to grab some from Long Island this week and even though the ability to bottle nitrogen beers without widgets is pretty cool, I found it to be severely lacking compared to the normal version of it. I find that's my personal experience with all nitro beers, though. But the pour! It's the most satisfying beer I've ever poured. I usually don't like nitro versions of beers either, but Milk Stout is my new favorite beer when nitrod.
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Jan 22, 2013 17:06
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RiggenBlaque posted:I'm not trying to be mean, but why the hell would you want to do all that? It sounds dreadfully boring to take something as enjoyable and drinking and standardizing it down to what amounts to an SAT. And jeez, that sounds like A LOT of work! Yeah that's pretty much the bar exam in most states. (Of course, not my state. My state's Bar Exam is 200 MC, 6 1 hour essays and 2 3-hour performance exams  )There are also multiple levels of Cicerone. Being a "regular" Cicerone is just passing the test, whereas you have to do a lot more to get to Master Cicerone level.
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Jan 22, 2013 18:01
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Chicagoons: LO is having a thing on Friday. This thing has a pretty awesome tap list: http://localoptionbier.com/2013/01/17/a-tribute-to-scarface/ I will be in Greenville, SC that night, likely drinking at the Trappe Door or Barleys.
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Jan 22, 2013 18:34
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danbanana posted:Chicagoons: LO is having a thing on Friday. This thing has a pretty awesome tap list: I may have to hit this up, if only four a pour of Flanders Fred. Baudoinia and the BA kentucky common don't hurt either...
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Jan 22, 2013 18:53
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crazyfish posted:I may have to hit this up, if only four a pour of Flanders Fred. Baudoinia and the BA kentucky common don't hurt either... I'm not sure if the Templeton version of KC is new/different than what they've previously done but yes, that poo poo is killer. Flanders Fred blew my mind. Very glad I'm sitting on another bottle. Also, Tilquin on tap.
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Jan 22, 2013 19:05
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Angry Grimace posted:There are also multiple levels of Cicerone. Being a "regular" Cicerone is just passing the test, whereas you have to do a lot more to get to Master Cicerone level. One of the main reasons wine is so well-respected and universal among fine dining establishments is the ultra-high standards of the sommelier program. Having a som on staff is a sign of quality control and Giving A gently caress About Wine. In theory the cicerone program serves the same purpose for the beer world. That's not really true at the moment, because a ton of both diners and chefs don't "get" craft beer in fine dining context. Supply of cicerones far outstrips demand for qualified individuals. Whether or not that's going to change over the next couple decades is uncertain. The Court of Master Sommeliers was founded in 1977, and they had centuries of wine being associated with fine cuisine to help establish their place in high-end restaurants. Beer's origins, at least on this side of the Atlantic, are a lot more democratic. There's institutional inertia to combat. But it's really drat appealing to some day be paid (relatively generously) to expound about beer to interested parties.
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Jan 22, 2013 19:06
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crazyfish posted:I may have to hit this up, if only four a pour of Flanders Fred. Baudoinia and the BA kentucky common don't hurt either... I can check the store near me to see if they still have bottles of Flanders Fred if you'd like. I believe it was $17 for the bottle. I'm opening the first beer I ever intentionally aged, a Firestone XIV. When I first had this I had little to compare to so my notes aren't very good, but this has held up well. The nose is a mix of bourbon, oak and chocolate, but the flavor is very intense and complex. On the intro I pick up dark chocolate syrup, caramel and light tobacco, the midtaste adds oak, a stronger tobacco, stronger caramel and the chocolate is transitioning to a sweeter flavor more akin to cocoa powder. The finish adds bourbon, a tad stronger oak, and thick caramel, and finishes semi-dry. I am glad I saved a bottle to be reminded of how good this beer was.
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Jan 22, 2013 19:11
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