The Locals HINTS AND HAULS THREAD

Using @jdhowe 's picture, but we checked it in together. Shared this one with him after he shared BA narwhal with me. Both fantastic. Thanks for the bottle @I_BYE_MI_BEER !! The stuff you sent still doesn't cease to please

 

Alright, so I'll start with #VCS, this afternoon and just polished off respectively:


Then, my 12 Days of Xmas BIF for today:

God I love this beer. It's now 18 months old, and the barrel character has come out to play in the aroma; meanwhile the pecans (of all things) are really forward when tasting it. Yum.

 

How was the BA Narwhal? That Passionfruit was incredible IMO.

 

I'm curious about this too, been hanging on to mine while locating another bottle of the regular (just grabbed a 4pk) to compare it to.

 

Same here @MMBrew got me one and then I got another in trade. I gave one to @kgncfl or @UcDru Tuesday night so I'm curious how it's drinking.

 

Just had a 2.0 and consensus was that it was really good but would have been better with some age. I'll have to track down another.

Had a BA Narwahl last night. I was under-impressed (although I had it up against a 2014 bcbs, CW BBS, BA Drago and a few others). Good, but nothing worth going back for when there are so many other greats (that are more easily found too...). Just my two cents.

 

Change of pace before going back to some big boys...

#VBS Christmas Entry #5



#VBS Christmas Entry #6

 

Just in case you need one, a bottle of the base beer is yours. Leaves me one to drink with my BA bottle and 2 to age/give as extras, which is perfect.

Yeah when I had 1.0 the first time it was a bit under a year old and was drinking nicely, but I don't remember anywhere near this level of pecan flavor, which is very unique. I'd love to track down a first 2.0, with its limited roll-out it was a tough find.

Of frickin course it's going to pale in comparison to BCBS and CWBBS....those are both pretty damn exceptional.

How do you like that kriek? As krieks go I enjoyed it but thought it wasn't excellent, and from them I like the gueuze better. Wondering if I just had it on a bad night or some other factor.

 

I feel like I enjoyed it slightly more than Josh, but it also wasn't an overwhelmingly exciting beer. It was a nice take on the base beer, it had a very boozy smell, but surprisingly went down smoother than the base. Nice flavors, but overall, for the price point it commanded, there are better alternatives out there. I can't see myself spending the $20 on a bottle, but if it was $12-15 or so, I probably would.

Edit: FWIW we had it following a bottle of the 2014 base beer

Edit 2: Also I guess I should note I really enjoy the regular narwhal, enough that since I'm down to my last 2 bottles of 2014 I might pick up one more 4 pack (a store near me has plenty on the shelf last I was there), and I have a 2013 I'm sitting on as well

 

So no idea where else to put this but Tuesday night one of my best regular trade partners @Treebute who I think should join the thread hosted a great bottle share that included @UcDru and @kgncfl amongst others. If pictures work right it included:



CCB Cubano Espresso
Cantillon Kriek
Cycle Cream and Sugar Please
Plan Bee Precious
Crooked Stave Night Cap
Persimmon Ship



Wild Peach
Pot & Kettle
Bungas Old Bruin
KRE
Solstice Stout
Nancy



St Bretta something with citrus
Chocolate Rain
Infected Vanilla Noir x2
Rubus Rojo
Anna
JO Berliner Weisse



Permission Slip
Plan Bee Farmstand
Winefication II
BBA Sexual Chocolate
Dynamo Hum



Alchemist Lucious
Framboise for a Cure
Opuntia
Mahogany Lush
Vanilla
Map of the sun

Note that this is a little if not completely backwards of how we did it. It also doesn't include the Bohdi, Sap or Julius.

What a night!

 

I'm pretty unversed in sours, but I enjoyed it. I thought that it was pretty mild--mild barnyard funk and very little cherry, but the cherry came out a bit more as the beer warmed.

#VBS Christmas Entry 7


Is this getting old? Very bitter and not a lot to balance it out...

You win! Nice Lineup.

 

The bottle I was sent (I saw it on the shelves but had expressed interest in receiving one before I knew I would) had a price sticker of $16, which seems much more in line with what it is; though that's PA for ya.

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on the 2013 vs 2014, especially if you do those side-by-side as well. The 4pk I just got I may have one or two to sit on, so I'd like to know how it ages.

 

It was tasty but not worth the asking price, given what else is available in the style at that price point. I'm glad I tried it but probably won't make an effort to revisit it. Passion fruit sour was really nice but the carb was a bit high. Berliner malt profile and a huge tartness and fruit, but the carb was just a little too dominating.

Doing this from my phone, so multiquote doesn't work.

How was Map of the Sun? I have a bottle coming and I loved the growler I had months ago, but I am curious on how the bottles are. Killer line-up. I really wish I had better access to the Allagash stuff.

Edit: also I am a beer Scrooge, apparently. I guess that happens when we get used to absurdly good as the average of what we drink.

 

@jdhowe seeing what is being asked for the map of the sun it didn't live up. It was a good beer but not a toss out the cellar lineup. The apricots (right?) were delicate.

 

That's an awesome line up! I'd love to pick your brain about your thoughts on different things in there, would you rather I text you or just throw them in here?

I apparently have not even had Boon's Kriek, that is if my Untappd checkins are to be believed over my own memory (this is not at all up for debate)... I'm now very curious what beer I had that made me think I had drank their Kriek.

Maybe Drie Fonteinen's Oude Kriek, I remember not loving that as much as I thought I would have (it still got a 4.5, but with that brewer's reputation I was expecting a shoo-in 5)

A high test (15%) barleywine like that has no reason at all to be in bad shape after only two years. That ABV should keep it safe from any oxidation issues for at least 4 or 5 years I'd think. With that said, I've not had that particular beer, fresh or aged, so I have no way of knowing what's going on with what you're drinking, I'm just commenting on how beers age in general.

I call bullshit.

 

Text me @Lehighace06 though only about 1 of 3 beers are memorable. I'll forward you to the others if they've got more experiences than I do from Tuesday night.

 

Only thing better than the lineup of beers consumed was the people I met that night. Thanks again @Treebute for hosting!

 

Thanks! Will probably wait until tomorrow when more of your brain cells are functioning

 

Interesting. The growler I had was super apricot-forward and juicy... Crushed Fou Foune for what I was looking for. It's a shame if the bottle isn't as stellar. Mine is coming by way of a "hey Map is coming out on Sat should I grab one for you?" Text so thankfully I am not breaking the bank for it.

 

I really enjoyed Map of the Sun when I had it at the Festival a couple months ago. I'm a peach and apricot addict though.