FOBAB 11/16/2013

Mr. Castries Vilnius (http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/287/101753). This was my 3rd or 4th beer and was my least favorite beer of the afternoon.

 

Ah yes. Thank you. Good to know. Saves me a trip to the brewery for when or if they (silently) release it.

 

I didn't drink the Le Bretteur but it won best in show. probably want to wait for that one, not sure if they are planning on bottling.

 

Le Bretteur was incredibly average for a beer that won FOBAB.

 

Very well done beer, but not best in show.

 

Couldn't disagree more, that was one of my faves of the night - that beer was likel sour cherry pie.

 

i found it utterly flavourless.

 

Did BA Abraxas kick immediately in the 2nd session? It was the first one I got in line for in the first session and it kicked while I was still in line. Maybe at 1:15 or 1:20 it was gone. (Same for Utopias). I'm wondering if the early imbibe people drank most of it, and then they didn't have a full keg to re-tap when us regulars got in at 1.

 

agreed. I was hoping for Founder's maple syrup barrel aged-level goodness, but nada. I think someone here speculated that the keg was maybe a couple of years old. I agree - it tasted all washed out.

 

I got my pour at 6:40 and they were still pouring after that.

 

i got in line outside at about 530 and was in the doors on my first beer at about 6:10pm. i saw a huge line that snaked around. i asked what it was and they said BA abraxas. no thanks. a huge favorite last year but to hang out with so many other beers that need to be drank. Not to mention when a beer is that popular, they're going to give out smaller pours.

 

So, for anyone wondering, I would say that the early imbibe people do significantly cut into the total amount of super hyped beer available at the first session. If you are looking for the best chances of trying the super hyped beers, you'll want the early session only if you are an imbibe member. Otherwise, the later session would be your preferred one. Regardless, there were a ton of awesome beers to try and I'm glad that I got to go.

 

I was kind of wondering about that. I'm not too bent out of shape that I didn't get to try everything I wanted, but it would be nice to not have Abraxas half drained by Imbibe members frantically drinking as much as possible before they let us plebs in.

 

You can always just purchase a membership...

 

imbibe members were busy draining the sour room, I hit BA abraxas once (as did my wifey) and there wasn't a line or anything. When the clock hit one, there was a decent/steady line similar to fuzzy and utopias.

Anyone else get a giant laugh that kentucky bourbon barrel ale was there? I was laughing behind the back of some guy who was getting a sample and then my wife put me in my place and told me to "settle down snob."

 

Or go to the night sesh.

 

It lasted almost an hour in session 2. And there were more than 100 people in line the whole time. Somebody feel free to correct me, but from my understanding, FOBAB requires that there are 2 1/6 barrel kegs of each beer (5 gallons, or ~200 3 oz samples). One for each session. However, the first session keg is tapped 1 hr early for the IMBIBE, and is also used for the judging. So second session has an advantage if you are not IMBIBE.

 

How many imbibe member are in there by noon? i'm assuming the total number of tickets sold for first and second session is the same. I got in right at 1PM and it seem relatively empty except for in the sour room.

 

I thought that was pretty funny myself. I made the mistake of touring the Town Branch/Lexington Brewing facility when I was doing some distillery tours last year. What an incredibly contrived, sanitized experience that is. The impression I got was some rich guy just wanted to own a distillery/brewery, so that's exactly what he did. The icing on the cake is that their products are pretty crappy, both bourbon and beer.

 

Sounds like 1 out of 2 upstart places nowadays...