2015 Black Note

False. The base is Cook County Stout. It is not very good before barrel treatment.

 

Not necessairly. Depending on the blend the addition of DC will dilute the batch over all. Also as others have said the black note deconstructed tastings are Exp. DC. BN. and Four Roses.

 

Little off topic, but has anyone ever mixed the Double Cream and Expedition? How was it? Have been thinking of trying it for years just never have.

 

Depends on the barrels. I'm sure they try and source the same ones and blend to make the batch uniform, but I've seen barrels still dripping with bourbon before, while others are as dry as a bone. Add in sanitizing or steaming them, and you loose a lot of booze character that would transfer to the beer. Some beers can gain 4% off a barrel, while other loose ABV.

 

Is big john not cook county stout with the chocolate? I've never had the cook county stout but I was under the impression that's the base of both beers plus night stalker wasn't it a dry hopped/over hopped version?

 

@deweese

I mixed Expedition and DCS earlier this year to test it out. Did not taste like Blacknote at 50/50 or even 75/25 EXP/DCS (which is the direction I thought it needed). Also added some bourbon to each mix with no success.

Not even close.

GL

 

i need to try mixing both EXP, DCS. but i have heard you need the certain bourbon that the barrels are that makes it better. they had a mix party at a local bar not that long ago.

 

Adding actual bourbon to a beer will never be able to replicate the flavors imparted from barrel-aging, it just doesn't work that way. The barrels impart the oakiness/vanilla/char/toast/coconut/vanilla/etc etc and while all of those flavors are also added to the raw spirit that eventually becomes Bourbon, they can't be directly passed on from that point; Bourbon is not a tincture, it's not an essence or extract. If getting those flavors into a beer were as easy as throwing in a splash of Bourbon, don't you think brewers would just do that instead of dedicating the months or years they do to barrel-aging?

 

not saying it is a perfect example but it may get you your fix.... bells actually does some of these events. i my self havent tried it so i cant talk to much to it. other than i have heard and seen places do it.

 

Black Note is at the general.... Never mind.

 

Once Black Note discussions leave the Great Lakes forum and show up in the Beer Releases/Beer Talk forums, that's when the madness truly begins.

 

I was always under the impression the CCS was not the base for Night Stalker and Big John. Im almost 100% sure. Maybe @Vav can confirm.

 

I believe you are correct, they are different beers.

 

Name names!

We get a lot (most?) of Bell's stuff here on LI, but not Black Note - so no, apparently it doesn't get the same distribution as their other products.

 

I mean it comes out like every 18 months, so another 6 months or so sounds right

 

@Greywulfken was quoting a post from March, almost 6 months ago. Take it for what you will.

 

HEY...I like night stalker!

 

There is no timetable with Black Note. I've asked two different employees this summer at their production facility when it would be released. They are very tight lipped about it. They wouldn't even answer if they have any Black Note filled in barrels. I have seen some bourbon barrels laying around there when I've gone on the tours but those barrels are not necessarily filled with Black Note.

 

Yeah the last 2 years they've had a "roll out the barrel" party in the fall with something like 30 barrel aged beers on tap. So many amazing beers. Hoping there's a third annual. I'm sure there's a lot of barrels maturing with something other than black note.

 

I had a 2010 Night Stalker in late 2014 and it was just about perfect. I had a BCBS right after and actually preferred the Night Stalker, at the time.