Founders KBS Release (2014)

To use a line from one of my favorite intros in professional wrestling....no chance, thats what you got, no chance in hell. No real deal brewery reuses a bourbon barrel after one batch for another batch. Secondary use is reserved for sours, weird one offs, fermentation weirdness or for sale at their general shop as they were last year at founders.

 

I'm sure he's just trying to keep the hype down since Founders does not make bad BA beer...

 

Um, really? Bourbon County Barley Wine was put in reused bourbon barrels this year...so was King Henry if memory serves me right....

 

Didn't this years BCBBW go in last years BCBS barrels.
Didn't King Henry go into the Goose Island Rare barrels
from the year before? Maybe I was heard it wrong.

 

yes and yes, but please point me to one barrel aged stout reusing a barrel. And I think I covered it with one-offs and weird fermentation stuff...ya know, like a barleywine made of second use beer barrels. Laffler at off color reuses bourbon county barrels for a few different things too, but to repeat, no one worth a dime reuses the bourbon barrel for the same beer. This isn't like me being some sooth sayer, know it all, this is just the fact. Everyone uses fresh bourbon barrels for bourbon barrel stout. From KBS to BCS to Black Tuesday, all fresh bourbon barrels. This site has people that work inside and on the fringes of brewing, they will all agree. Can me move on to discussing merchandise available at the shop?

 

You speak as though you are an insider. You are not, right?
One thing Founders has been is smart. Do you think they think that every needle dink beer geek can tell the difference whether 100% of their KBS batches are using 1 use bourbon barrels, or if 50% of the batch (blended in) contains more than one use? No way. I'm purely speculating, you are outright denying the possibility.
Based on cost alone it would not be wise to reuse some. I'm sure they've done the test batches.

If you are correct, where are the barrels going?
The are not selling thousands of barrels in the shop, and they aren't destroying them.
Who is buying them?
Where can I buy one (if not the shop)?

 

Finally someone from Michigan admitting that last year's batch was rubbish.

I think you might be thinking of the 2012 batch which was very hot, and was incredible a few months later. The case I drank of last year's batch had zero bourbon heat or flavor.

I've suspected that last year's KBS was very 3rd and 4th use barrel heavy.

 

hey its the guy who doesnt like KBS but is mad that he cant buy more than 8 bottles this year.

 

Panther Cub is back on.

And to add to the dramz, I'm wondering if this is aged in third use KBS barrels. It's got barrel character but it's not that wallop like you'd expect from KBS. Similar beer, aged for a year.

 

Didn't like KBS last year, but previous batches have been great.

Founders as a business has been incredibly inconsistent with their plans for this release. Make apologies, triple the output, and then cut the allocation each successive year. Makes sense to me. Gotta expand that footprint into Idaho and Oklahoma!

http://foundersbrewing.com/latest-news/2012/kbs-release-party/

 

Trades bro.

 

I just have faith and doubt a reputable beer company would reuse a barrel for the same beer but you're right I dont know for sure. You really think founders would try to cut corners and reuse a barrel, thats kinda a bold claim especially when they publicly state they buy 3500 barrels a year.

And a handful of my friends do work for breweries in chicago and I run a beer company, but am no expert on barrel aging as I've only done a couple myself and worked on a couple with friends. I can personally tell you that a second run beer barrel has 75% of the oak and like 10% of the bourbon.


EDIT - I just did some research on probrewer and found the following - The assorted non-ethanol and water chemicals in a spirit are collectively called 'congeners'. There's hundreds of them. Some of these are bad; fusel alcohols, acetone, aldehydes, etc., and ideally the distiller makes the cuts to avoid most of them. Others impart flavors, (such as furfural, one of my favorite named chemicals) and distillers try and ensure a measured amount to create the character of their spirit. When the raw white spirit goes into the barrel, months of expansion and contraction cause it to interact with the charred wood. The wood and char "scrubs" some of harsher congeners, making the whisky smoother. At the same time it extracts more congeners from the oak, like vanillin and lignin. The concern in reusing barrels is that you're going to extract all those 'crap' congeners back out from the wood, along with all that whisky goodness. But it hasn't been my experience that that happens, though I chock that up to much shorter contact time and maybe different solvent characteristics of beer vs. spirits. And Scotch distilleries will often use old Bourbon barrels, with some cleaning and retoasting, so I don't think it's all that big a deal.
Russell Everett
Co-Founder / Head Brewer
Bainbridge Island Brewing

 

Faith? FAITH? Oh child, please.

I didn't make a claim. Speculation based on economics and operational experience.
Lord knows THEY won't tell you about their barrel program.

Best of luck in your business. Srs. Cheers!

 

This has quickly escalated into a Michigan BA thread....nice work broz!

 

warriors come out to playyyyy......but seriously does anyone know any other merch they got besides the glasses and the barrel tops from second used (possible third use ) barrels and shirts and clothes I dont buy because I'm a fashionista. Basically I'm looking for a print or poster.

 

Man, I really desire one of those KBS snifters....

 

Not a fan of the new glass at all, after holding it in my hand it feels really fragile.

 

Cool story bro. Why are you always hating?

 

I really hope they have Panther Cub on KBS Day!