Notable Releases - DC/NOVA/MD

I have not opened my BWs yet. I had been planning on aging them a year or two, and the people at Goose Island said I could still get a refund then if they turn out poorly.

I was really hoping SlothB77 might chime in on this. Based on the closeness of our BCBCS time stamps (one digit off from each other), I suspect we were shopping nearby each other, so his BW may be right around ours too. He said he opened one, and it was fantastic, but he didn't provide any date/time stamp info.

 

Thanks. Still a few bottles of Dissident left at their limited release counter. Also a couple cases of BCBS. They had Regal Rye earlier, but they sold their last bottle before I got there.

 

Had one of the barleywines on first purchase Nov 27th, and the other yesterday... both were fine.


Goose Island Brewing - Bourbon County Brand Barleywine 2015 by imbibehour, on Flickr

Goose Island Brewing - Bourbon County Barleywine 2015 by imbibehour, on Flickr

Like I always say, ain't no time like the present Bottles were both from 28 Oct 2015 - 1511

 

Look at that sexy glass.

 

has anyone seen x-mas morning around DC? I saw it hit maybe a week ago but i was sick, hoping to snag a bottle for the game today.

 

Indeed I did, Rodmans had it a 3+ days ago.

 

The Barleywines i purchased in Santa Monica, CA, so they are probably a completely different timestamp. I did not acquire any barleywines that were distributed in a time zone that isn't PST. So i offer no assurances.

 

I went to New District yesterday. They debuted 9 beers at their grand opening. A saison, ginger saison, pilsner, ESB, pumpkin beer, black ipa, american strong ale, brown ale and something else. No porters, no stouts, no double or imperial ipas. They said they are brewing a chocolate pilsner now. The 1821 saison was my favorite. It had some dankness to it.

 

Did anyone get any Old Rasputin barrel aged came out? I picked one up and am wondering if i should drink it now or wait on it...thoughts?

 

Wait. It's incredibly boozey.

2 years will make it palatable.

 

My general rule of thumb is that barrel aged beers usually get worse, not better, with age, so in general my advice is not to age them.

 

Has anyone else found hardywood X-mas Morning to be inconsistent? The very first batch that came out was silky smooth expresso with very little gbs coming through, this last batch (guessing a month later) that hit DC has a ton more gbs with just a little coffee changing the flavor, almost an inverse of the flavors.

 

How much was each pour? I heard $8 at the soft opening. Was the overall quality of the beer good? I know they just opened but the beer list doesn't sound great. Especially the chocolate pilsner

 

$8 sounds about right. My wife and I got one flight of four tasters (maybe 5oz each??) and one full glass and it came to $24.
As for the quality of the beer, i would say these scores on untappd are representative or perhaps even a bit generous:

https://untappd.com/w/new-district-brewing/219737/beer

 

If you have never had it before drink it.. life is too short.

 

If it's my first time trying a beer, I usually aim to try it fresh. If I can pick up multiple bottles, I'll drink one now and put one away to try in a year or so. I noticed that there are two BA versions this year, Rye Whiskey and Wheat Whiskey. Would be interesting to try them side by side.

I with you. I believe that many BA beers will hold up for a few years, but I haven't had any that have become better with age. I tend to enjoy the booziness of a fresh BA stout, so having it mellow out over time doesn't qualify as an improvement to the beer for me.

$24 for a flight? Hard pass. It seems rare to find a brewery around here that charges more than $10 for a flight.

Edit: missed the part about flight+pint.

 

I think the pours were $6.50 - $9, depending on which one. The flights of four were $12-14, depending on which set, seemed steep for a flight. I got a pretty Belgian-yeast-heavy take on everything that I tried (not really fruit-estery, but more clove and spice). I agree with the polite reference to the untappd scores.

 

MattXT is correct.

 

Had it on draft twice and had a similar experience. First time, at HW, the coffee and GBS had a nice balance. Second time, at a Paradiso, coffee dominated and there was very little ginger. Could be flavors fading with time, but I was surprised at how different they tasted.

 

Is this a new cream IPA?