Perrin Unfinished Business

Unfortunately you will find out that it's not that great and that is why it is still there. It's still all over Grand Rapids. No Rules is much better....

 

Pretty easily available in metro Detroit as well. I have a bottle, but haven't cracked it open yet.

 

I'll second this. None of the Perrin large format bottles have anywhere near the depth of No Rules, and most are in fact seriously underwhelming. Big Griz was super boozy, Unfinished was as thin as a Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale. They won't fool me again - that is until they bottle Funk You Very Much, as I'll buy a bunch of that stuff.

 

Good but not great in my opinion

 

I was in the Battle Creek Mega Bev today and they had 2.5 cases available.

 

My local Meijer has maybe sold 2-3 bottles out of the 36 they have out on a display. It's been "on sale" for $15.49, regular price of $17.99. I find it OK, and if it was $9.99/22oz it would probably sell better. It's not No Rules, lacks depth, complexity, and body.

 

It was okay. I am sad I bought two. Trades semi decent, but most likely off the clout of no rules.

I want more no rules.

 

Huge disappointment after No Rules. I think the name says it all... funky after taste, maybe it was "unfinished"...

 

Def not quite on par with No Rules, still a great beer though. The mouthfeel isn't super thick but it's nice and velvety, so it works well.

 

If you're talking release party prices, I couldn't agree more. I would pay $14-15 for a couple bottles though. But not loving buying a case for $18+ per bottle.

I would conclude though, that Perrin's barrel aged beers do actually have some decent barrel notes. And that I actually appreciate. I'm tired of Kuhnhenn, Dark horse, and others putting something in barrels for 3 months and calling it "barrel aged".

 

I guess I'm in the minority here, I thought this was Perrin's 2nd best barrel aged offering, but obviously a far second behind No Rules. If you compare it to Kill Em All, the body was a lot thicker, and the barrel character was definitely present and complementary to the beer. I don't believe the beer was aged in bourbon barrels, but instead, scotch barrels or something closer to scotch, because when has anyone ever bought a single malt bourbon? I'm probably wrong on this one, but those are just my thoughts.

 

I suspect your statement is probably geared at certain beers rather than all Kuhnhenn/DH beers. But both of them do have some beers put in for long-er term aging like BBPT5. I get plenty of barrel from that beer.

I'm not sure how long they were in barrels for, but BA Raspberry and BA blueberry eisbock were some of the best BA beers I've ever had. Again, plenty of barrel notes compared to regular, and I had them side by side.

How long is No Rules aged for?

 

Yes, certain beers. Something has changed with Kuhnhenn's BBBW and BA4D the last few years. I think I also saw a post on Kuhnhenn's facebook not too long ago that said "Getting ready for Winter Solstice" and they were putting BW in to barrels. This was like 2 months ago....

And with Dark Horse I think of things like BA Toonilla, BA Scotty, BA Tres Blueberry.

I agree with you, the BA eisbocks by Kuhnhenn and BBPT5 have great barrel character.

 

Yeah, that's my guess as well. Sort of, anyway. Given the designation on the bottle as a "Japanese Imperial Stout", I suspect that the barrels they used were Japanese whisky, which is essentially scotch, even though it isn't referred to as scotch since it's made in Japan instead of Scotland.

Plus the barrel flavors I got from it reminded me a little bit of that phenolic, almost medicinal flavor that you'll get from some varieties of whisky.

The interesting thing--if correct--is that they didn't really play up that facet, instead referencing it obliquely by noting the single malt barrels and being goofy with the style of beer. I wonder if they were worried that people would be turned off by the idea of scotch (or scotch equivalent) barrels being used instead of bourbon.

 

If I recall correctly, the "Japanese" reference was due to rice being used as one of the grains, purportedly to make it "smooth".

 

What time frame would you say is needed before a beer can be called Barrel Aged?

 

I would suggest putting it on the bottle like some brewers do:




My insinuation is that some brewer's barrel-aged nomenclature is disingenuous at best and intentionally misleading at worst. Make it blatantly clear to the consumer and then no one can complain.

 

So it is not the time period in the barrel that is the issue as you stated in your previous post, but rather the verbiage some brewers use?

If the successful brewers you called out labeled thier beer as being barrel aged for 3 months, than does that then meet your definition of barrel aging?