CO Barrel Aged Stouts

I shoyld say easy getting pours, beers etc. Any word on s26?

 

Yeah Odd 13 was super laid back. @tylerstubs, probably saw ya there.

St Nicole Mounds / Vanilla were superb!

 

Dude, now that I look at your pic...we have been right next to each other.

 

Sorry for the late response but I got to S26 shortly after they opened and it completely sucked balls. They had 1 line to get in whether you wanted bottles or not. I just wanted some pours and I wasn't about to wait in line. When I got there the line was back into the gravel parking lot. I hung around for about 20 mins in line talking to some guys around me since I had to wait for my bus anyway. I figured if the line moved quick enough I'd stick around. Not so much. In that 20 mins I think the line moved approx 5ft. I like S26 but they need to find a better method for this release. Fucking terrible!

 

S26 definitely had a long, slow moving line that didn't bother me at all. It was 60 degrees and sunny- for late November, I'm cool with it.

There were about 10 variants of the BA Dark Star available for drafts, the absolute stand-out being Coffee.

I showed up at about 2:10 and had a beer and a ticket for a bottle around 2:30. By the time I got a chance to get a ticket for a bottle all that was left was the salted caramel one, so that was a little disappointing, but to be expected since I didn't make getting there early a priority.

This was my first time attending one of these Beanie Baby releases and I had a really nice time, but don't have enough experience with release events to get super pissed/swear about it like the previous poster.

 

@JakeT469: Sorry you thought the release "sucked balls." You're certainly entitled to your own opinion, but I respectfully disagree with your assessment.

Here's some additional information to help everyone understand the logistics of the event:

- We put over 200 people into the taproom, patio, and brewery within 90 minutes of opening our doors

- Once inside, the lines to get beers from the bar were short to nonexistent

- Almost everyone that made an effort to get bottles (i.e., got in line before 1:00 pm) was able to get them

- Despite a line that was a block long before we opened the doors, we were still pouring six variants at 6:00 pm

- Because we finalized the logistics in advance, clearly posted the logistics on Facebook, and made it clear that we weren't going to change the plan (so everyone knew what to expect) and given that this release happened in late November and our taproom has 52 seats, we thought one line was the fairest option. If it was cold out (we got lucky that it wasn't) and if we had two lines (pours only and bottles only) then the pours line would immediately fill the taproom and almost no one from the bottles line would get into the taproom because the bottles line would need to process a credit card transaction for every person in that line. One line eliminates that issue - if you want to guarantee that you would get bottles, get in line early. If you want to guarantee that you would get to try all 12 variants, get in line early. If you don't want to wait in line, walk in later in the afternoon and don't wait in line at all (as I mentioned, there was no line from 2:30 pm to 11:00 pm).

- Our number one goal for the day was to provide the best experience we could for every guest in the brewery. I think it's far preferable to wait in line and then once in the door have a great time at the actual event. We did our best to make that happen. See: the best version of Dark Star yet (in my opinion), a coffee truck on site selling coffee, pastries, and breakfast burritos hours before we actually opened, a porta-potty on site for people in line, free glassware for the first 50 people in line, and the bottle pickup tent so that guests didn't have to carry six bombers around with them while they were enjoying tasters in the taproom.

- Was it perfect? Of course not. We are already planning improvements for next year. But I/Justin stand behind every decision we made and I'm extremely proud of our staff for handling a huge day incredibly professionally.

Hopefully this helps everyone understand the thought process and the amount of planning (and stress) that went into BLACK FRIDAY. We spent over a year making our batch of 2016 Dark Star and y'all drank 90% of it in 10 hours! Thanks to everyone who came out!

 

True @S26BC - pretty sure I waited about 13.5 seconds to get my pours once inside. Your staff did do a great job yesterday!

 

Tried the Dry Dock BA Raspberry last night. The nose made me think it was going to be pure booze, but it actually tastes much milder. It's sweet without going off the deep end. Raspberry is the star, but it doesn't taste as artificial as the previous version.
It would probably be a hell of a pairing with a black forest cake. Not my favorite of their Signature Series, but certainly worth a buy.
I hope to try the coffee hazelnut sometime this weekend.

 

The raspberry is a dried and seedless raspberry we get through Oregon Fruit, so it's the real deal. I'm glad to hear it doesn't taste artificial! Our whiskey barrels always give us big booze at first, but that eventually mellows to let other aromas and flavors shine. I think that's the nature of those particular barrels. We try to strike a balance with the beers between ready to drink upon release and also them aging well. I do think the aged versions are a bit better. I wish we could pull the beer out of the barrels and age them for the consumer, but like most breweries, we don't have the space to do that.

 

I'll have to grab another one and hang on to it. No clue if it was the same beer, but the one labeled "Raspberry Shotgun Stout" at South tasted very artificial to me. It would have been from a year or two ago. It wasn't awful or anything, but it wasn't 1/2 as good as this one. If it was real, I almost feel bad that the fruit didn't carry over in that version. This one tasted real, although I think my memory of that one probably tainted my opinion of it.
This one had a powerfully boozy nose, but no real fire on the palate. Whiskey notes weren't overdone either. I almost wonder if it's the raspberry and alcohol working together to give the nose that burn.

 

Out of towner here, asking for family...any sightings on Big Bad Baptist variants lately? Got fam in Denver and Parker if that helps. Also, feel free to point me in the direction of a better thread in the Mountain forum if one is out there.

Cheers!

 

Call the brewery as I wouldn't be surprised if they still have bottles for sale.

 

Saw them at Applejack's the other day

 

Tried some last night; can confirm.

 

Not a stout, but the Bull and Bush CBC no 4, BA Double Red Ale is definitely up my alley. It's on the malty/sweet side and the barrel adds some more sweetness. Bourbon up front, sticky/sweet. Almost like a strong English style barleywine

 

I opened one today with @vitaminvert @3bthero and @Dan_K and definitely agree with it being on the sweet side. @Dan_K and I both pegged it as closer to a BA Scotch Ale than anything else. Tasty for sure, definitely unique.

 

The DD Coffee Hazelnut is killer. I'm a big fan of the Double Vanilla, but this one is my new favorite. It's not quite Bligh's (which I think the world of) but it's getting up there.

 

Isn't Nightmare Fuel almost twice as expensive now that they moved to 12oz bottles?

 

Its damn good and dangerously easy to drink.

 

I'm not sure, the Barrel Aged version is available in bottles now though. It's super intense on the whiskey and coffee.