Fremont B-Bomb

of course.

 

You guys are in for a treat with that Leon. The barrel treatment on that is unbelievable, had it recently at a tasting over at Cap's n Corks thanks to a generous BA. Great beer for great news indeed.

 

Opened my first B-Bomb tonight (2011) -- this brew is unreal. Perfect amount of bourbon, oak, vanilla, chocolate -- def deserves it's spot as #3 strong ale! What a treat -- looking for my KDS from these guys!!

 

Wait until you try the 2012. I have a feeling this year's edition is going to be fucking unreal.

 

BTW-I thought the KDS was a little bit of a letdown after having the B-Bomb. It's still a delicious beer, though on the thin side. Don't expect it to be what the B-Bomb is.

 

Why?

 

I think it is absolutely fantastic. I've had it twice. Reminds me of Parabola meets a winter warmer. Thought the barrel was integrated very nicely. Wasn't over the top, but the barrel presence was most def there.

 

They are getting better and better at blending. The 2011 (not sure about the 2010) was a blend of 24, 12 and 4 month bourbon-aged Abominable ale. I heard that they kept some barrels of last year's 24 month old barrels for this year's blending. People were saying that the blend of the 2010/11 that they had at the new UBG was insanely good and that leads me to believe that the 2012 is going to be along those lines.

 

As long as its better than The Lamb lol. Not good. I love B Bomb but it'd be cool to see T Bomb bottled!!!

 

You didn't like the lamb? I didn't think it was amazing or anything, but its something I'd drink again. Actually I had one the other day and really liked it.

 

By the time I got there Saturday there was a big piece of masking tape across B-Bomb on the tap list. I hope you're right, and I have no reason to doubt your optimism.

 

I'm willing to let that one slide. I'm not a fan of the name, either. But to be fair, wild ales are tricky, and I give them credit for going outside of their comfort zones. I'm looking forward to trying the Flanders when it's ready.

 

I wasn't crazy about The Lamb either. It had a weird coarse, grainy quality that wasn't working for me. But, I have three more bottles so I'm interested to see what a little time will do.

 

I agree with draheim. Something was weird. I think I was hoping for a Brett bomb but was let down. It was good but not what I hoped it'd be. I do think Fremont is the best WA brewery and look forward to all subsequent wilds

 

What I got from The Lamb was a lot of fruity quality, like a blend between the Chardonnay barrels and the yeast. The weird thing I tasted with the 2nd bottle I opened, which was the night after I drank a bottle of Martin's and my homebrew barleywine, was a very (pretty much identical) fruity finish. I'm guessing we ended up using the same Belgian yeast strain. That might be tilting my opinion on it since it's nice that I like both a commercial beer and one of my own because they taste similar, but I really didn't taste anything in The Lamb even the first time that I didn't like.

I love the things Fremont is doing. I think the state needs a brewery like that. I've certainly tasted much worse beer, including a few that were highly touted nation-wide.

 

From my notes, this one had a nice balance between the barrel and the base beer, which I really appreciate. Not a huge fan of bourbon bombs, so this one worked well for me. I haven't uploaded my review yet, but it will end up scoring pretty high.

Jeff

 

+1 to this. Fremont is doing all the right things in its growth as a brewery. It has established a quality line of mainstream session beers which affords them the option of exploring more experimental and creative brewing ideas for artisanal beers. They just need to keep it up and continue to push boundaries.

 

This. The beer garden has been packed every time I've been there. Always something great on tap. The Brother? Cowiche? B-Bomb? Dark Start/KDS? Even their wheat ales are tasty. The best thing? They're not focused on increasing their footprint, like some other breweries are, but rather on brewing great beers. If this is the "go fishing" attitude, then by all means, I hope they keep it up.

And speaking of The Brother, has anyone tried the Merlot experiment?

 

Correct me if i'm wrong, but weren't these Merlot barrels? Chardonnay barrels would have been a MUCH better choice IMO.

 

I also noticed this on the UBG site. I've never been a fan of barrel-aged IPAs or DIPAs. For me, barrels tend to lend a sweetness from the wood that I don't like in my IPAs. I can't say the same about stouts, sours, etc., though, as I love what the barrels do to these styles.