King Henry's Whale Status ?

clearly someone has no bottles of rare or king henry in their stash.

 

I'll let everyone know when Todd and I drink our KH tonight.

 

Totally agree with everything you said - GI -bals are going to be *****d out eventually - it makes way too much sense for AB not to do it.

I just wanted to add on the topic of "one-time"... as you alluded to, even annual releases change up barrels all the time. Plus small limited releases have all sorts of batch variations, ABV's change, hops change with availability, etc, etc. Basically, most of these limited releases we talk about are true "one-offs", as they are different beers every year. 2010 BCBS Rare will never be made again, but if in 2014 they release a BCBS Rare 2 year aged in 15yo Pappy barrels, it's going to be the same beer just as much as Black Tuesday 2009 and 2013 are the same beer.

 

I think he was referring to me, but I'm totally in agreement with blaming it on masterski

 

I'd say it's probably equivalent to a sperm whale or a bowhead whale.

 

just in case i inadvertently walked into some actual-chicago-BA-bashing, should make clear that i said "someone in chicago" because goose island is based there, not because i have any beef with how chicago BAs act. more a "home team" kind of thing (also, a joke).

i need to try more bourbon. i had pappy 20 recently and loved it. my current goto is woodford reserve because i'm a cheap fuck.

 

/me bites tongue

 

A Rare series would be cool, with differing high end barrels.

 

Bushes aren't relevant Pear Trees are where it's at.

 

Well there are plans already for a Wheat Whiskey Bourbon County Stout this year (there was a thread about whether this might mean a wheated whiskey or a whiskey made from wheat in the old forums - no one really knows at the moment). It really wouldn't be surprising if those barrels are used for another barleywine -- hell, it would be more surprising if they didn't given the near-universal love of King Henry.

Also, anyone looking for a new bourbon to try, I cannot recommend enough W.L. Weller's 12yr. It's wheated, like Pappy (and most suggest it's the same spirit as what eventually gets bottled as Pappy) but also runs $30/bottle. Hoo-ray!

 

Haha, wow. Yes, obviously. Doh!

 

Haha! That picture is friggin' funny!

 

Is it available all over the place? I might have to give some of that (W.L. Weller's 12 yr.) a try.

 

A lot of people in general and in this thread specifically misuse the term "whale"...this used to have some meaning. Here are a few things that aren't whales:
1. The 100 bottle release from your local brewpub that happened last Thursday...NOT A WHALE
2. Anything you can get a (legal) growler fill of.......NOT A WHALE
3. Something you bought at a bottle shop recently (if you could so could thousands of others)....NOT A WHALE
4. Kate the Great, Darkness, Darklord, Black Tuesday, Sexual Chocolate......NOT A WHALE

Generating artificially low supply of it doesn't make something a whale, making something "hard" to get doesn't make it a whale, putting something in a barrel doesn't make it a whale. To be a whale you have to have a low bottle count, the beer has to be retired (or a vintage that used a different recipe making it unique rather than just old), and there has to a crescendo of demand over a (relatively) long period of time. Like over a year, the value increases, there is far too much value placed on beers released yesterday, or last week, or a month ago.

FT: Rare OR KH ISO: M, Dave, Lorick

 

By the looks of the review, KH more than lived up to the hype. What say you, Jason? Whale or not? If offered would you trade KtG, Black Note, or other rarer beers mentioned in this thread for KH?

 

it's pretty easy to come by. i recommend checking it out. in fact i think a 3-month crash course (this should not be interpreted as " binge ") of bourbon, whiskey, and port would be instrumental to budding beer drinkers, particularly ones talking about the irrepeatability of barrel-aged beers.

 

Well 12000 isn't necessarily a low bottle count, but it is retired and if it stays so it continues to become rarer and rarer. If the demand keeps up, if it isn't already, does it become a whale?

 

Yes, it is a worthy whale ...

 

I would say no (in my opinion). If you release a beer that is realistically "good" for 5 years like the bourbon counties might be, the question of the "whale status" in 5 years is a function of how many "good" bottles remain. With the apparently relatively "short" cellar life of 5 years or less, the effective bottle count never falls low enough for it to become a whale. With >10000 bottles, it may take 5 years for everyone to get around to drinking this beer or the people intentionally aging them. Look at the 020202 market, by now only a handful of tickers (BTW ISO: 020202) are even interested in that beer now. By the time the supply dwindles, the demand should be gone as well since the beer would have peaked and is in decline. Whales eventually age out of being whales too in my opinion. PVW eclipse probably won't have the quality of being a whale in a few years since by all reports that beer is fading. Is ANYONE going to be trying to trade for an 020202 next year? No. Also Yellow Bus is supposedly going down hill now. After that it is just ticking, the ultimate dick tick measuring contest.