CO Barrel Aged Stouts

One of these days I wish Avery would actually bottle (or can) BA Czar. It's my favorite BA beer they have.

 

Anyone want to add their opinion on Oil Man by Elevation? It seems like a good deal. A BA stout in 750ml format for around $16. The reviews on here are also rather high. I have been disapointed woth the hoppy beer offerings by elevation, but have liked the bigger beers I've tried. I'm guessing Oil Man is rather tasty.

 

Personally I have found it to rather weak tasting. The base stout isn't too bad, but I find the barrel to be virtually nonexistent.
The price point for a 750 is pretty good and it isn't a bad beer, but it didn't wow me a bit

 

Thanks for the info. Since it's rather cheap for the amount I may just give it a shot to see what I think. You have any Elevation beers that you really dig? As I said, my experience is either love it or hate it with their beers.

 

My wife likes Senorita, but even though I love the description, I don't think it lives up to it. They did do a BA version last year that was really good, forget what they called it, but I never did get a bottle.
As an IPA I did really like 7437, but word has it that once it went to 4-packs it wasn't as good.
Overall I can't say that anything from Elevation has kept me coming back to them

 

Agreed. For a brewery with such large selections and typically bottle art I really like......I'm constantly underwhelmed. I think I have the BA Señorita bottle sitting in my cellar fridge. It is an imperial porter (11.2% above) aged in Rum barrels with cinnamon and vanilla beans added. Sounds great, but not getting my hopes up until I try it.

 

That sounds like the one. I had it on tap at Hops and Pie and it was delicious fresh.

 

Did it seem like it would improve with age or more of a fresh drinking type of beer?

 

Personally I wouldn't have aged it. The rum might do well, but nothing else about that beer seemed like age would do it any favors. But there's only 1 way to find out ...

 

So I am starting to judge BA stouts on the Big Bad Baptist scale. For $13-14 I get a great beer. So many fail to deliver as much taste for such a value as BBB. I think I like it better than BCBS and no waiting in line.

Does anyone else have a yardstick beer like this?

 

Mines BCBS. Srs. Sounds trolly, but isn't.

 

Mine too. It isn't that BCBS is the best BA stout, but it is par. A few beers will be better than par (Uncle Jacobs and BA Ten Fidy), some beers be will be at par, and many beers will be worse than par. Plus BCBS is relatively consistent from year-to-year and the regular version doesn't have coffee or vanilla or whatever, which makes it easier to use as a baseline comparison.

 

I've pretty much lost my taste for coffee beers, but I hear you. I would also put Uinta Labyrinth up there. I got a bottle for 10 buck recently; it's hard to justify repeat purchases of a lot of other BA stouts out there that cost significantly more, sometimes for half as much beer.

 

Tried BCBS a couple days ago and found it cloyingly sweet. Will have to revisit later.
Will look for Uinta Labyrinth.

 

...solid beer that's almost always on shelves.

 

Put me in the camp of the BCBS is the par for BA stouts. Some are better, some are worse - but it's the one I judge the others against. I still consider Parabola to be the one to beat for ones you can actually buy off a shelf.
Avery's are good, but they're fiery as hell for 6-12 months. I'm not one to age things, but those need a little time to mellow. UJ with a year on it is pretty damn great.

 

I would agree with you if I actually believed they put BBB in barrels. It's a great coffee stout. And I know they say it's barrel aged, but I don't believe them.

 

Haha ... I say the same thing whenever I have this beer! TOTALLY agree with you

 

BBB definitely doesn't have much bourbon character. I think it's a blend of BA and non-BA isn't it? Maybe the non-BA is the vast majority of the blend? Either that or maybe it doesn't spend much time in those barrels.
I remember not enjoying the older Utah version very much (the coffee was harsh) but I think it carried a bit more bourbon character back then. Small price to pay as I think the newer version is pretty great no matter what they're doing with it.

 

I would say not having huge bourbon character is usually a good thing, at least for me. I'd rather just drink bourbon, but if I'm doing that, I'd far prefer to drink single malt Scotch.