Goose Island Bourbon County Wheat-Wine for 2018!

Discussion in 'Beer Releases' started by BoldCars, Jul 2, 2018.

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  1. BoldCars

    BoldCars Aspirant (231) Apr 5, 2018 Maryland

    Goose Island Adding Bourbon County Brand Wheatwine Ale to 2018 Bourbon County Lineup
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    https://tenemu.com/news/goose-islan...ale-to-2018-bourbon-county-lineup/07/2018/amp
    According to labels filed with the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), Goose Island Beer Co. will be releasing a bottled wheatwine-style ale as part of its famous Bourbon County lineup for the first time in its history.

    As the name suggests, Bourbon County Wheatwine is a wheatwine-syle ale that has been aged in bourbon barrels. A 15.3 percent ABV beer with the same name debuted as a draft-only option at the Chicago-based brewery late last year to commemorate the 2017 Festival of Barrel-Aged Beers, but that release was limited to only one keg.


    This is the second Bourbon County variant to come to light so far, after labels for this year’s regular Bourbon County Brand Stout were filed with the TTB early last month and all of the labels indicate that both releases will be packaged in 500ml bottles, which Goose Island introduced in 2015 for the Bourbon County Brand family, replacing the 12- and 22-ounce bottles that had been used for years.

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    While release details have not been confirmed, all but two of the six bottled BCBS variants last year were available nationwide starting on the day after Thanksgiving, which fell on Nov. 24. The exceptions were Proprietor’s Bourbon County Brand Stout, which has always been exclusively available in Chicago since its debut in 2013 and Bourbon County Brand Stout Reserve 2017.

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    In addition, all of the Bourbon County Brand Stout releases in 2016 and 2017 were pasteurized using a process called flash pasteurization, which Goose Island began implementing in direct response to the multiple infection issues the brewery encounteredwith 2015’s releases of Bourbon County Stout, Bourbon County Stout Coffee, Bourbon County Stout Proprietor’s and Bourbon County Barleywine.

    An email sent to the brewery for additional information was not immediately returned.
     
  2. BoldCars

    BoldCars Aspirant (231) Apr 5, 2018 Maryland

    I am quite excited for this. Would love to get a few of these and a few of the barleywines (if they come out) and do a head2head when released and sometime down the line!

    Who else is excited to see what other cool Bourbon County will be coming this year?
     
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  3. Invinciblejets

    Invinciblejets Pooh-Bah (1,710) Sep 29, 2014 South Carolina
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Nice! Hopfully they don’t get rid of barleywine tho...
     
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  4. BoldCars

    BoldCars Aspirant (231) Apr 5, 2018 Maryland

    Exactly my thought. I would love to do a comparison of flavors and grain
     
  5. AZBeerDude72

    AZBeerDude72 Initiate (0) Jun 10, 2016 Arizona

    Wow this sounds cool. Eager for the next release to try this out.
     
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  6. eldoctorador

    eldoctorador Pooh-Bah (2,096) Dec 12, 2014 Chile
    Pooh-Bah

    Nice. I tend to enjoy Wheatwines more than Barleywines, so excited for this
     
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  7. zid

    zid Grand Pooh-Bah (3,132) Feb 15, 2010 New York
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Just keep in mind that there's nothing (yet) stating that they are the same beers except for the substitution of wheat. They could be two completely different beers in ingredients, process, etc. (Not that you are stating anything differently though)
     
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  8. zid

    zid Grand Pooh-Bah (3,132) Feb 15, 2010 New York
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Seeing "English style" on the labels strikes me as the dumbest thing I've seen on a label in a while. An "English style" Wheatwine? Really? :confounded:
     
  9. BoldCars

    BoldCars Aspirant (231) Apr 5, 2018 Maryland

    Oh you could be 100% right. For me it's the fact that they are two different grains made into "wines". I'm no expert haha I just want to see if and what the differences are!
     
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  10. drtth

    drtth Initiate (0) Nov 25, 2007 Pennsylvania
    In Memoriam

    For the same reason there's an "English Barleywine" and an "American Barleywine?" I.e., to indicate to the consumer the type of hops being used?
     
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  11. eldoctorador

    eldoctorador Pooh-Bah (2,096) Dec 12, 2014 Chile
    Pooh-Bah

    While may be stupid, it does give me the indication that the wheatwine won't be hopped to death, and that alcohol will be the main thing balancing malt sweetness.
     
  12. zid

    zid Grand Pooh-Bah (3,132) Feb 15, 2010 New York
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    As far as I know, there's no English "wheatwine" tradition. Wheatwines are an American concept. Of course I could be wrong and will look foolish if so. I can make guesses as to why they'd label it as such, but it's ultimately just a foolish designation to me. There are better ways to inform the consumer. If I put Fuggles in a Rauchbier, I'm still not going to call it an English style Rauchbier. That's just me. BTW, Goose calls their Bourbon County barley wine "English style" even though the hops are an American variety.
    I get it, I just don't like it. There's no precedent that there are American wheatwines that are hopped to death and English ones that aren't. Brewer's using the term "English-style" to indicate that any beer isn't very hoppy is a bad move in my opinion.
     
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  13. drtth

    drtth Initiate (0) Nov 25, 2007 Pennsylvania
    In Memoriam

    Be calm Amigo, I was suggesting a possible reason not a justification.

    (Also, as we have both pointed out in the past, one of the problems with the current style categorizations is that "they just growed" and were not created on a rational, principled basis. :sunglasses:)
     
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  14. zid

    zid Grand Pooh-Bah (3,132) Feb 15, 2010 New York
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Yeah - I know. My post was :slight_smile: and not :rage:, but the internet happens. Cheers.
     
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  15. drtth

    drtth Initiate (0) Nov 25, 2007 Pennsylvania
    In Memoriam

    Gotcha.

    BTW, as for foolish designations, how about those German brewers back in the day who started making a beer they called a "Pilsener" even though it was not being brewed in Pilsen (and may not have even been using the identical hops bill)... :sunglasses:
     
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  16. bbtkd

    bbtkd Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,790) Sep 20, 2015 South Dakota
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Hopefully besides some great variants they can also make enough to get it distributed everywhere regular BCBS is.
     
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  17. zid

    zid Grand Pooh-Bah (3,132) Feb 15, 2010 New York
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Seeing as how "Pilsner" is a German word, was first brewed by a Bavarian, and predates Czechoslovakia... things clearly get very complicated. :wink: I just hope they didn't call it English-style Pilsner. :wink:
     
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  18. drtth

    drtth Initiate (0) Nov 25, 2007 Pennsylvania
    In Memoriam

    Yup, all that. Now add in that in German the world Pilsener means "from Pilsen." :sunglasses:

    Edit: Hmmm, if those Germans back in the day could have a German-style Pilsener, why couldn't/shouldn't the English have an English-style Pilsener.... Or the French a French-style Pilsener.... Or the South Africans a South African-style Pilsener... etc.
     
    #18 drtth, Jul 4, 2018
    Last edited: Jul 4, 2018
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  19. zid

    zid Grand Pooh-Bah (3,132) Feb 15, 2010 New York
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Rather than bog down the thread further, I'll just say that English brewers brew barley wine in the English tradition, wheat beers in the German tradition, wheat beers in the Belgian tradition... but don't make English-style wheatwines. I know of no such thing.
     
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  20. ndepriest

    ndepriest Zealot (714) Feb 21, 2012 Georgia
    Trader

    Only tangentially related but have any other states started seeing another round of Bourbon County coming through? BCBS vintages, coffee, barleywine amd Northwoods have been popping up all over Georgia, both bottles and draft. Not sure if it's part of some promotion or just clearing out unsold inventory.
     
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