2017 FOBAB

Yeah yesterday definitely felt more crowded than a year ago. There were fewer places to stand around and talk though still a fun time. It was fun to run into Chris Quinn, Mike Pallen, Chris Betts, and the ABV Chicago guys on the floor. My Top 5:

1. Medianoche Reserve
2. Soursmith Black Razz
3. Bourbon County Reserve
4. BA Darkness (no line!)
5. Dosvidanya Rye

Disappointments- BA Crack the Skye was a green pepper bomb the likes of which I’ve never had. Northwoods wasnt bad but the maraschino cherry note was dominant. Rum Medianoche was way too hot for me with alcohol burn on the finish

Pleasant surprises- Penrose Wild 24, Transient Montmorency, Vlad with Raspberries

Excited to give my liver a break and behave like a healthy human being this week haha.

 

They "found" more bottles of Cable Car at about 920pm last night... This might not remove the sting, but the Spon was better anyway

 

Isn’t all Crack the Skye barrel-aged?

 

I really enjoyed crack the skye. Didn’t get any green pepper notes at all.

 

That's shocking because I don't think Spon is very good. I missed Cable Car as well, though, so I guess I can't say what my palate would think.

 

It's a pretty complex draft setup (if one beer goes down, all of the beers on that long line might go down with it) so the goose island staff is responsible for making sure everything flows correctly. It's not easy and takes many quick fixes throughout each session. Goose obviously has a huge staff and I'm guessing they volenteer their services

 

Did you have Stay GOLD while at Bracket Room? Did it taste like banana runts like mine did?

 

Agree. I enjoyed Cable Car. Spon was interesting but it was not my cup of tea. I’ll also reiterate others comments about Arclight Black Raspberry. I enjoyed it a lot. My guess as to why it didn’t medal in the category was out of balance fruit and barrel character. Tons of fruit, but hid any subtle flavors.

 

Spon was meh. Cable Car was great.

1. Medianoche Reserve
2. Rum Double Medianoche
3. Prop 17
4. BA Karma

Lil Beaver had a really nice coconut stout.

 

So am I the only one who was blown away by Blackbeards Rum Barrel Aged Bear Hug Stout by Bells?

I need to get more of that somehow

 

I completely missed that one. Wish I didn't though. Only Bells I saw was Blackberry Lemon Oarsman.

 

It's essentially Rum prop 14. I had several pours both Friday and Saturday night. That and Batch 2000 were the two sleepers of the year.

 

I enjoyed it, but I had it a few times last year at bells on different occasions, and though this years is good, last years was on another plane. This year is a much more rum barrel and sweetness coming through.

 

dark charge ancho I really liked, I was also at about the 3hour mark by the time I tried it so that could’ve helped.

 

I had a blast at the event. Was cool to see how all of it worked from the other side of the fence (brewery rep)..

Most memorable thing of the event was the 2 guys who mocked me for having a can of High Life late into the Sat early session.

 

Did you tell them it was BA High Life?

 

Don't give Off Color any more ideas

 

Haha.. Nah. Just laughed and said "barrel fatigue".

I saw this the other day and was like "OMG they're doing it aren't they... "