Goose Island Amps Up Bourbon County Brands For Black Friday Release

Had the vanilla/coffee/barleywine on tap last night. Barleywine tastes very different from last year - less boozy, more piney, but once it warms up it tastes a lot more like last years release. The coffee is a great coffee beer, it tastes exactly like a coffee beer should. The vanilla is one of the best beers I have ever had. I will be trying very hard to get my hands on a bottle of it as soon as I can.

 

So I went to the Clyborn tasting and asked this very question to an individual who sampled over 1400 of this years BCBS barrels for quality/blending...

This is a farce.

Next years Rare(r)? won't even be in Pappy barrels - It's currently aging in Elijah Craig barrels...

In relation to the different lettering on the bottle caps - It looks like the different batches have different Caps (14.4 vs 13.8) one batch has white lettering the other has gold... Not sure of that infamous 12.9'r that is out there somewhere...

 

You guys didn't happen to see any of the coffee or vanilla rye in Johnson City did you?

 

Just sent you a dm

 

Perhaps, but I'm not going to jump to conclusions without evidence.

 

If you got one with gold lettering on the cap, double check the year. I got bottles from both batches this year (13.8 and 14.4), both have white lettering. My 2013 bottles have gold though.

 

You are comparing a bourbon barrel aged beer to a bunch of non-barrel aged offerings. The point is for it to offer the booze in the taste & aroma profile. If you just want just a barrel age influence, look for beers aged in virgin oak barrels (like the Odell Woodcut releases) or ones that use oak chips (like Great Divide's Oak Aged Yeti).

 

I think the 13.8% batch might be the best-tasting fresh batch of BCBS I have ever had. Will drink another bottle or two before making up my mind.

 

Better than 06???????? *cries more for not getting any*

 

Seriuosly how do they determine who gets what and where. Nothing but BCBS in CT. No Coffee, no Vanilla and no Barleywine. Most stores are charging $40.00 a 4 pk. Would loved to had tried the Vanilla.

 

Barleywine's definitely kicking around in places! I've heard that Vanilla's making an appearance next week.

 

I'm inclined to believe this. I popped open a few yesterday with some buddies and we were all blown away with how fantastic it was tasting.

 

I hope you are right about the vanilla. May I asked where in CT you got yours and what you wound up paying?

 

Check out the Bourbon County in CT thread: http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/bourbon-county-ct.230948/

 

I have the unfortunate displeasure of traveling to Indianapolis today for my grandfathers funeral. While the least of my concerns, all the stores back home by home are getting their shipments this week and I'll most likely miss out. If anyone has any info of where to grab some in Indy I would greatly appreciate a pm. Cheers

 

I'm sure this has been answered before, but could you please reiterate for my benefit? What was the bottle count, or barrel yield, on Vanilla Rye and Prop this year?

 

People are trying to cash in on Vanilla's trade value. Next week there will probably be more in the market.

 

I just found out this evening that the Bourbon County Brand Barleywine that I purchased on Black Friday was from last year... Bottled 09/17/13 but sold as new 2 days ago. Anybody else experience this with their brands? This kind of sucks because I wanted to do a vertical comparison and now I've got a ton of 2013 Barleywine on hand!

 

That sucks, and you're not the first person I've seen report this. I would not be happy, I much prefer these beers fresh.

 

Happened in Los Angeles as well at a few locations I personally know of...