Kate the Great: A White whale?

A beer I would love to try. However I wouldn't bring out DDG or similar beers that call for only the sharpest 'poons

 

There are a thousand imperial stouts worth a chase, but none a whale

 

Buy Black Albert and Kabert, drink 'em side by side, and then decide if the difference is enough to make you want to go after Kate the Great. For me, the answer is no.

 

Kate the Great is my favorite non-BA imperial stout. That said - I have found it is best fresh and from my experience, doesn't hold up well in the cellar. Tributary, Tod Mott's new brewery in Kittery, is supposed to be releasing the the beer again although under a different name - I'd keep an eye out for that if you really want to try it. The issue is going to be that it will probably be a small number of bottles.

In response to the previous post, Black Albert and Kabert taste nothing like KTG. Kabert is a blend of Black Albert and Kate, but I wasn't a huge fan of Kabert personally.

 

Yep, fresher is definitely better. I wouldn't chase a bottle down now as it's been a few years now they stopped producing it.

 

Coming back (or at least a version of it). Will be interesting to see if it garners the same praise now that everyone has moved on to bigger and boozier barrel-aged stouts with all sorts of fancy adjuncts

http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/katherine-is-back-and-in-the-tanks.253470/

 

I just had the 2012 KtG at Portsmouth Brewery a couple of weeks ago. I thought it aged amazingly, more so than any other non BA stout I've tried. Super creamy and the flavors were all melded perfectly.

 

I couldn't agree more. I opened my 2012 about a month ago at a beer share, it was absolutely outstanding.

But to answer the question, that depends on what you define as a harpoon.

 

I have some older bottles in my cellar - a 2009 (22oz)and 2 '11s (12-oz) I had them fresh at the releases, along with a couple other releases that I did not get any bottles, and thought it w3as fantastic. I know the 2009 ages dramatically for the better after just a few months in the bottle - I had it at release and about 6 months later, it was night and day.
I should dig those out and see what is going on with them, but there's that part of me that says that it is so limited, it needs to be a really special occasion. (my kid getting born in a couple months might qualify...)

 

Let me know how the 2011's are, I am debating on whether it's worth going after a bottle so I can finally try this one.

 

Released April 1st and was gone that day by all accounts.

http://www.seacoastonline.com/article/20150401/NEWS/150409923/101098/NEWS

 

Neither were even close to KtG. Kate was/is worth chasing. Black Albert and Kabert, not at all.

Also, Portsmouth Brewery has tapped a few aged kegs of KtG over the past year or so. Kate ages beautifully. Fresh is very good, but the 2010 and 2011 versions were spectacular.

 

FWIW, I was in line next to a Portsmouth employee at the Mott The Lesser release and was told they have NO more kegs of KtG. The 2010 they tapped recently was their last log of any.

 

Well this is just a ridiculous comment.

Also, KtG is an amazing, world class beer IMO. So chase away, OP.