Ram Brewery Side Note Releases

Not gonna get into specific tastes (cuz I'm still kind of drunk) other than to say the hops on hops was damn close to my favorite Chicago NE style. As croush said - this can all depend on the palate.

Regardless, it was a great event. Pours were twice as big as what I was expecting and they had plenty of everything. Couldn't ask for more.

 

I agree. Very well run event. Not overly packed or anything, good food provided and pours were quite generous. This all without mentioning the high quality of all the special beers released. If only more releases were so smooth.

 

Were you able to purchase extra bottles of Chaos? And if so, how much each?

 

No extra bottles (or pours) of Chaos '17 were available beyond the 2 bottle allotment and the 1 (generous) pour.

 

Coco nilla and hops on hops were def still flowing at the bar at the end of the event session 2. Chaos was heavily regulated, so doubtful. Good luck!

 

With as well run as this was, I hope Shaun and The Ram see how much better ticketed releases like this go than the shitshow of MeHeCoco... What an amazing afternoon!

 

On a facebook post he announce he will have some ghost pepper stuff. I got there, went in line, turned around and noticed that Mr. Boyd was standing by his car. I made a straight b line to him and asked if he had any ghost pepper left and said it was his last one!!! DAMN you first session people!!!!! Also picked up a gimme samoa bottle too.

On the way out this evening, I mention to Shaun that it would be awesome if all the side notes were like this. A good food spread and guaranteed allotment with some specially taps. I doubt that will happen thought but one can only hope.


But how awesome was Chaos 17, Coco-nilla, and hop on hop?

Chaos 17 up front I got the coconut, chocolate, and caramel with all the associated sweetness. But then, the chocolate stayed, I got the cinnamon and finished with some heat/vanilla from the barrel. I've only had a small pour of gimme samoa at SN4, but this was everything I loved about gimme samoa plus the extra vanilla/bourbon on the back end.

Coco-nilla cold was a chocolate bomb with some of the alcohol heat cold. Once it warmed up, it was just a milk chocolate till the end.

Hops on Hops was pretty awesome. I had JIL and Morning Fog on Thursday, but I still like JIL better than Morning Fog and Hops on Hop. I do like Hops on Hops more than Morning Fog though.

 

It will be on for the next couple of days, with the exception of Chaos. That was not on tap, nor will it be as there wasn't enough to keg.

What a great event. The food was a surprise and it wasn't as nearly crowded as I expected it to be. After the initial rush, everything was very organized and very little wait for anything. There's always things that could be tweaked to be a little better, but Ram came really close to knocking this event out of the park. I'd say the folks that showed up at 2:30 to 3:00 were probably the smart ones. You were in no danger of getting shutout from anything, even in the afternoon.

I'll go against the grain, I don't want to see normal release turn into ticketed events. It's too difficult and there's no reason to give BPT or Eventbrite a few bucks. Yeah, this was great with the organization, but it was an event, not a bottle pick-up.

 

I wonder if they will have Hops on Hops for growler fills. I want some of that for home consumption!

 

Please explain "too difficult". There was ample room to enjoy ones self today (untrue of MeHeCoco). No rush to push ahead of the next guy for beers either bottled or draft. Most importantly, no one showed up today that got shut out, and Ram avoided the unruly line bottle share liability and cleanup. No near fights over mules/line jumping.

I don't see one negative to ticketed releases on Side Note. Shaun always knows he's selling out Side Note, so no reason to dick around with "let's see how many people show up to determine allotment." You get a ticket, you get beer. You don't, don't come and drive up the liability risks. They don't even have to provide the food and special drafts for each bottle release. But again, zero downside to advanced logistic management of a limited quantity product.

 

I was in the morning session. Got there right at 10. Small line outside but it took all of 5 min to get in. I was expecting ass to elbows in there but managed to get a pour of Chaos, A plate full of food, and a seat at the bar ..All with ease.

As far as Chaos goes..The pour was so generous and more than I was expecting. My first impression was Wow. The mouthfeel was fantastic, the coconut and cinnamon was so well balanced. Neither overpowered the other..It def reminded me of Prop 14. Dare I say I prefered Chaos...I felt really lucky to be able to drink such a great brew.

Onto Cocoa-Nilla....It tasted like a Chocolate covered marshmallow. Super sweet but that was a good thing. Mouthfeel was fantastic, and the flavors were spot on...For being a big beer the alcohol was hidden so well...

Hops on Hops was killer. The mosaic worked so well..Mouthfeel was great. Hard to pinpoint more flavors as drinking it went on mainly due to my buzz.

Overall I will say Ram blew this event out of the park. I had a blast just chillin and enjoying some great beer. Well worth every penny and supporting Shaun is something I will always do he deserves it

 

What do you mean that Chaos wasn't on tap? I'm curious because I know they were pouring somethings out of pitchers, but they definitely had a tap (or what sure seemed to be a tap) underneath that they poured mine from. I wasn't sure if you knew something I didn't, or if you just assumed it wasn't on tap because they were pouring from a pitcher for some people.

 

It wasn't for sale at the bar, nor will it be. They had just enough kegs for Chaos Day.

 

OK - we're on the same page. I thought you meant they weren't pouring it from a keg when you said it wasn't on tap. Yeah, they clearly had it completely separate from the bar.

 

Loved the event today, very well run. Easy to get in and get pours. And while Chaos was out of this world, can't express this enough. I was surprised at how tasty Hops on Hops and CoCo-nilla were. Hops on Hops gave Juicy a run for its money and CoCo-nilla brought me back to my childhood drinking the milk left over from Coco Puffs. Just so tasty.

Well run event and I had a nice time chilling and discussing beer with @DeadWax and his friend.

 

Yes, today was run very well. If only all ticketed events were as all inclusive and relaxed as today was. But.. feel lucky you got to go. I did. How quick did tickets sell out? Somewhere between 15 and 5 secs? Essentially, it was a lottery. Many people got shut out. Most of my friends who go to these releases with me got shut out of tickets. I'm like 15 min from Ram and have successfully gone to every Ram release to date and would be pretty bummed if I miss out on most of the future releases because my page refresh was a millisecond off. Chaos Day started ticketed and if it remains ticketed that's fine, understandable, but I don't like the idea of every release being ticketed. Makes it difficult for the locals.

 

Lotteries are about as fair as it gets. BTW there is probably close to a million people within a 15 minute radius of Schaumburg

 

I don't understand what you are getting at. If anyone didn't get lucky enough to be there, they knew it the very instant the tickets sold out. There wasn't 800 people or more that all showed up to the Ram to try to push their way ahead of the guy in front of the next, when only 400 would get anything. Those people didn't wait 3-5 hours or more in line wondering if the line police would ensure their place would be secure. The Ram didn't have to worry about babysitting extra people all that extra time. Requiring the names of people weeks in advance prevented trading of tickets and minimized mules.

It seems like your argument about having a physical line is based solely on a desire to have insider preference and the desire to keep a system in place that has flaws and allows shadiness. Other than that this system may not reward you every time, what can you objectively point to that shows an unorganized mob is a preferable distribution model?

 

I'm all for crowd funding to get this man his own brewery so he can brew only his own recipes all the time (NOT kidding). I don't think I've ever had anything that I wasn't, at the very least, very impressed by and I'd love for Shaun to stay in the area going forward.

Today's selection of 3 beers I drank: Chaos, Coco-Nilla and Hops on Hops were all high end/top shelf. I'd put any of them against anything in those styles. Now, maybe I'm a bit of a homer because it's Chicagoland, but still... if this kind of quality was readily available from Shaun at all times I would be one hell of a happy camper.

Again, kudos to Shaun. The dude clearly knows what he's doing.

 

The Ram shouldn't have to babysit the line. The only adjusment needed is to gove out numbered tickets an hour or two ahead of time which should solve most issues. I agree that every sode note should not be a ticketed event. Getting their early and waiting in line is jut fine for those releases.