Kuhnhenn BBBW actually NOT on tap @ Bierkraft...

For anyone scoping out BeerMenus or the event page on Facebook, please be advised that the Kuhnhenn Barleywine that's being advertised by Bierkraft is not actually the Bourbon Barrel version. In all actuality, it is their American Barleywine (not barrel-aged).

Wanted to bring this up as I drove down to Bierkraft from Westchester County in great (but rather skeptical) anticipation of enjoying this beer on tap/growler fill. However, I was incredibly disappointed to find that it was not, in fact, the BBBW, but rather the American Barleywine (anyone who has had BBBW will absolutely confirm this).

Anyone who knows me in the local beer circles (and otherwise) knows that my tasting group and I are solid authorities on the subject of this beer and it was quite clear to us that this was not the beer they were advertising (lighter color, zero barrel presence and quite bitter). I brought this up to whom I presume what the manager-on-duty and he seemed perplexed by the suggestion (apparently they paid close to $500 for the keg). I asked if this was confirmed by Mike B. at S.K.I., but they weren't entirely certainly (apparently acquired via another rep at the distro). The odd part is that when they originally posted the tap lineup the night before, it had just said "Barley Wine". Someone had asked why they weren't featuring DRIPA or TRIPA (since it was IPA Day and all) and Bierkraft responded with a mention that they had the BBBW as somewhat of a consolation. They immediately updated the tap list on the event page replacing "Barley Wine" with "Bourbon Barrel Barley Wine".

Making an attempt at a public service as there is already a "FT: Kuhnhenn BBBW growler" thread in the ISO/FT forum.

(Funny...this whole thing really reminds me of that time that Spuyten put "Cherry Adam From The Wood" on tap for their Big & Woody event a couple years back. As the day went on, it was discovered that this was not the case and the tap list was subsequently edited to suggest that it was actually "Adam From The Wood".....ultimately, it wasn't even that, but rather a keg of plain old Adam as confirmed by Alan from HOTD.)

 

Yeah, I brought it up in the ISO/FT which inspired this particular thread. Still unclear as to whether it was simply "mislabeled", falsely advertised intentionally or what.

 

Tough to say who's to blame. Of course, most of us are well aware of Kuhnhenn's "charm", but the way in which it was announced (initially NOT as BBBW, but then later updated to be BBBW) seems slightly fishy....like this occurred outside of Kuhnhenn's sphere of influence, so to speak.

EDIT: BTW, thank you again for those BBBW at Zwanze last year. They certainly didn't last long.

 

I can totally sympathize with this as those kinds of things can happen (mislabeling). Especially with breweries such as Kuhnhenn where their distribution methods are a bit more "casual" than most breweries.....but it's an entirely different story when a business is consciously advertising/serving something entirely different for one reason or another. I don't want to speculate too deeply, but Bierkraft, historically, has always had a curious way of doing business.

 

No worries. I was still able to tick a Kuhnhenn that I haven't had before (Conundrum) which is a pretty big deal for me.

Funny....I now recall a comment that one of the bar guys made when we asked if they would be tapping any of the Kuhnhenn beers that were missing on the board when another keg kicked. He remarked something to the effect of "We'll be putting on the TRIPA once the BBBW is kicked" almost jokingly. Hmmmmmm.

 

Yup. Was actually brought up just a few minutes ago in an ISO/FT thread involving the "BBBW"...

http://beeradvocate.com/community/t...w-64-oz-growler-iso-list.107006/#post-1571910

 

I think it was a place on Long Island. There were some murmurs of a "local" spot having it on tap for growler fills while everyone was waiting in line for the Southampton release that year. It was a wacky back-and-forth of confused people that were all plagued with misinformation all the while swearing up and down that it was the real thing.

I guess this is just one of the many caveats of being a person who's deeply invested in alcohol dealing with other people who are deeply invested in alcohol.

 

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