Chicago Stout Releases (2018)

Has everyone here had Darkness before? And I'll preface this with the fact that if/when it hits my local Binny's I plan to grab one to try again. However, I had 16 regular and BA Darkness this past summer side by side at a bottle share, and no one was really blown away by them. No one thought it was bad, they were fine stouts, just nothing to get too worked up about. Especially considering the cost. And this is coming from the guy who brought the bottles. I'll only add that it was plenty early enough in the day where we were all in pretty good shape too, so I feel like it was not just drunk talk from everyone.

 

I enjoy darkness but not enough to justify that price point, seems a bit ridiculous

 

i really liked 16 BA Darkness, thought it was delicious and the mouth-feel was off the charts. Regular Darkness at the price point however is definitely a stretch.

 

How is Darkness 17 relative to Darkness 16? I recall Darkness 16 being a bit too sweet to my liking, but still a descent beer with good mouthfeel.

 

I went to a tapping at Bavarian lodge 2 years ago. Had two years of regular darkness and one year of barrel aged darkness. I really liked the barrel aged darkness. Regular darkness was okay but for over 20 for a bottle there is no question I will pass every time. And I did pass 2 nights ago when it was in front of me. Personally there are plenty of imperial stouts I would rather have that are much much cheaper. If I see barrel aged darkness...that would be harder to pass on.

 

Had both last night. I preferred the 16. The 17 has a pre-2017 Dark Lord taste/smell to it which I thought was a little strange. Still tasted great just didn't expect that.

 

Also, I asked at Binny's Mokena if they had any Darkness yesterday and was told they did not have 2017 from the guy who introduced himself as the new beer manager. The guy who shared the 17 Darkness last night said he did buy it at Binnys Mokena which irritated me a little bit since they get a considerable amount of my paycheck. Maybe they got in later, who knows.

Wasn't all bad since I ended up with a BA cocoa coconut Narwhal. Rough consolation prize...

 

Anybody going to Hailstorm for the BA blueberry Vlad and or BA Conquistador with coffee release today?

 

Always found regular darkness to be just ok. Hard to drop that much money for 1 bottle of a non barrel aged beer. Now, abraxas on the other hand......

 

Darkness is just too damn expensive as is any plain old RIS bomber that's over $18. Stick with a classic 6 pack of Bell's Expedition and get 3x more beer.

 

Get out of my brain!

 

After cracking my '16 recently, I decided on no Darkness for me this year. It's not a cost thing; my palate has changed to the point that it's fallen into the "good, not great" category.

I may revisit it in a few years, but for now I'd rather seek new adventures.

 

Normally I'd jump on anyone who said this, since Darkness was one of my all-time favorite non-BA beers, but it wasn't good enough last year (or my palate has changed) to the point where I can't justify the cost/format over other comparable beers. And BA just doesn't do it for me.

 

A bit off topic but does anyone know where in the city I can find last year's Founders Imperial Stout? TIA.

 

I know a place that has them right over the boarder in Wisconsin maybe next week I can get you a pack

 

Does anyone know/have a feeling for when BA 1050 normally drops? I was able to go to a local place's instagram and found that it dropped a week before black friday here 2 years ago, but I have no idea if that is consistent or not. I know a place in Alabama that I visit in the spring gets it (or maybe a second shipment of it?) around the new year.

I guess question #2 is: does a second drop normally happen, or is it a 1 and done like so many other releases?

 

I didn’t think there was a “regular” pattern for BA Ten Fidy drops. IIRC, last year may have been only the first or second time it hit distribution.