Bourbon County 2017

They were giving samples in line at LP on Black Friday and I personally wasn't a fan. But I wasn't sure what to expect since I don't drink Schnapps. I was envisioning something drinkable right out of the bottle. This one didn't do it for me.

 

schnappsnothops.com

 

That's unfortunate. Was considering giving it as a Xmas present, but given your review, I may keep it for myself and give it a try tonight.

 

Thank you so much!

 

Saw a few casss of it at Binny's LP today if anyone is still looking for the schnapps.

 

Regular & Prop on tap at Butcher’s Tap on Southport @ Addison. 10oz/$15 for either.

And I gotta say - I don’t get the fucking hype around this year’s Prop. Like, at all.

 

That's unfortunate (for you that is). I think it's great and wish more people would share your sentiment so that there's more left for me.

 

Damn I was just at Corridor this afternoon. Had I'd known I would've stopped in for a pour.

 

Curmudgeon

 

So I'm right there with you. Let me first say that I found the banana to be much more present out of the bottle, than on tap. I also think this year's Prop is a lot like '14 Prop. I thought '14 was just an okay beer in 2014. After it sat a year the cinnamon exploded and the booziness (what little there was) went away and '14 Prop became a well balanced beer that is now one of my favorites. These are my same expectations with '17 Prop. This time next year we're going to be talking about what a phenomenal beer it is, even though the banana will be mostly gone. That's my prediction anyway.

 

If it is made with extracts though rather than raw ingredients, I wouldn't expect it to change much.

 

Wasn't 14 as well? I thought 13 was the last year they actually put ingredients in the barrel to age with the beer.

 

Funny, I thought they've used the actual ingredients every year.

 

I stand corrected the majority of Prop 17 is real ingredients. They use banana extract, but also real banana purée.

I believe this is first year they have used extracts. Almond extract for Northwoods and banana for Prop 17.

 

I live near Butcher's Tap, and I always feel that their beer tastes off, like the have dirty lines or grab me the wrong beers from time to time. Anyone else experience this?

 

Ok real ingredients, but they don't age the beer on the ingredients. It is blended before bottling. In 2013 they put actual coconut / fruit in the barrels for the variants.

Starting in 2014 they started making a "flavor syrup" by blending the ingredients and then whirl-pooling it with the beer.

 

Would also agree that bottles have been more adjunct forward than draft pours for ‘17 prop.

 

Interesting. Although using the term "flavor syrup" still makes it sound artificial, like something you use to make a sno-cone. If they're using roasted almonds (2017 Prop) or toasted pecans (I think that was used for 2015 Prop), it's not just some liquefied infusion into the beer, right? They mention using whole, roasted, unsalted almonds for this year's Prop. I realize now that I know very little about the process.

 

adding solids to the beer will result in losing alot of volume in the process, and is usually less efficient. as far as I know its easier to extract the flavor, then concentrate it before blending, that way they have the most amount of control over the final products taste

 

This could be why (if '13 used solids vs. '14 using a liquid blend) I found a few of my bottles of Prop '14 to be more coconut-forward than '13.

(and before anyone mentions that I'm crazy, or that '14 was always a cinnamon-bomb every time, I've heard that before, and it's not true, at least for 2 bottles )

While a "flavor blend" doesn't sound as romantic as putting the actual ingredients in the beer, as long as it's not an artificial flavor blend, I'm all for it if it yields better results (or comparable but easier results).