CO Barrel Aged Stouts

Distro or brewery only?

 

Opened my only bottle of BA Helluva Caucasian from Living the Dream last night. Contrary to many reviews I had heard, I really enjoyed it. Not a whole lot of barrel character, which is the way I like my BA beers, but it's definitely there. I would buy it again if given the chance.

 

Nevermind, just picked up at hazels.

 

Just cracked 2014 Liquid Brain. Tasting awesome! Lots of Vanilla and Coconut...when does the next iteration get released? or did I miss it?

 

The wife and I shared a bottle of BA Avarice from River North yesterday. Really fantastic beer. I think the price is right and would definitely consider purchasing it again. I'm seeing some really polarizing reviews on here. Puzzling to me seeing complaints about sourness and lack of barrel. I thought the barrel was quite pronounced. Got even better as it warmed opening up to vanilla, oak, and tobacco. Not hot by any means but a very distinct whiskey flavor.

 

I am consistently impressed by both River North and Funkwerks ... both do really solid, consistent brews across different styles ... and seem to get really mixed if not negatively weighted reviews ... odd to me. I just picked up a few Peach Whiskey BA Tropic Kings from Funkwerks last weekend on a quick road trip to FoCo -- opened it, and it blew my mind amazing. Stoked to send one to a consistent trading partner, looked at the rating (3.8-something) and couldn't believe it!! So now am hesitant to send it to him ... Hmmm ...

 

Nice, that sounds awesome! Haven't seen that around but I'll look out for it now. If you know your trading buddy likes that style, I'd send it. I like to assume people can still form their own opinions but sadly that's not always true.

First beer(s) of 2016 :

 

I just had BA Tropic King yesterday and it made me wonder why I've never seen such a thing before. Really nice. But the beer from them that really blew my mind was Nelson Sauvin. Why didn't I buy a bomber of that? I did leave with a bomber of Oud Bruin though. Probably the best Oud Bruin in the state? And coincidentally I also agree with River North.
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Anywho, I was at the Barrel Bar today picking up another BA Yeti and I noticed they have Espresso Yeti back on tap. Okay, so technically it's not a BA beer, but wood aged.. but anyway, it's so dang good this year. The coffee really cuts down on the sweetness and reaffirmed my belief that it's the best Yeti out there. And also, even at tap temperatures, no hint of green pepper flavors that plagues so many coffee beers. I think I need to do an Espresso Yeti/BBB face off this year. The bartender also recommended blending it 50/50 with last years Chocolate Yeti.

 

(Agreed, LOVE Nelson Sauvin!) :-)

 

I love Funkwerks and definitely agree with always being a little surprised that they don't seem to be as loved upon as I think they deserve.

As for the beers mentioned, Tropic King in Peach Whiskey Barrels has grown on me with each try, but I will admit my initial opinion of it was mediocre. That was also their first release of the beer and I think they have improved upon it with each release. I am not a huge fan of barrel aged saisons, but of the ones i have tried that might be my favorite. Nelson Sauvin I like a lot but would love if they removed the grape must from it. I still think their best beer is their flagship, Saison, and I don't know if they tweaked the recipe of just me coming around to it, but last couple times I had Tropic King I thought it was great. In the past, I thought the yeast was a little too aggressive for me.

 

Yea, I would agree. If you have a solid trading relationship with this person he/she should try anything you with an open mind. If it's an "extra' in a trade then even if they don't like it I don't see any harm since they didn't trade something specifically for it and it was just a freebie.

You can always preface the trade with, "I included this beer that I really like, but the ratings on BA are lower than I'd agree with."

Just my two cents.....I dunno.

 

Did they have the red wine barrel aged Yeti on draft? That was pretty delicious...

 

Just saw this on Dry Dock's final entry to the Signature Series: http://thefullpint.com/beer-news/dry-dock-brewing-cascara-imperial-stout-release-details/

Cascara Imperial Stout... sounds tasty to me, I'll be picking one up for sure.

 

That Cascara sounds great and it seems like they think highly of it. I'm in.

 

I got a bottle of Ctayt for Christmas and decided to drink it rather than age it. I really enjoyed it. To me it tasted like Parabola. A little on the sweet side, but I like that in barrel aged stouts.

 

What the heck. In for Cascara.
Still anxiously awaiting the Liquid Brain release, do they usually do limits? I think I want 3-4 of them.

 

I haven't been disappointed on any of the Dry Docks Signatures.

As for LotLB the past couple releases they limited to 3, but between B&B and Grapevine, plus whoever you can bring with you, it shouldn't be to hard to get 1 more.

 

LOTB is usually pretty easy to find in Denver (in my experience). Hits the distro pretty good - hoping to score three or four as well.

 

There were no limits on LotLB when it was first released at Grapevine last go round. In fact if you bought six LotLB last time when they released in on Black Friday 2014, you got a free ticket to the Xmas beer tasting...

 

Not barrel aged, but picked up a bottle of Dry Dock Signature series quad today. Not sure how long it's been out (since their anniversary duh) but I'm looking forward to trying it. Will definitely grab a Cascara when I see that too.

Does LotLB show up in Boulder? I may be looking in the wrong places but I didn't see any Royal Oil and really wanted to get a bottle of that.