Bourbon County 2018

I was in line at LP by 5:55ish AM and I missed out on all variants. Only got regular and barely. I don't think i checked out until a little before 1pm. So yeah, it can definitely be that crazy.

 

Yeah, I would imagine at least two, possibly three of these variants will be keg only and maybe one of those fobab only. Honestly, I still don't buy these as legit variants yet. Only Wheatwine is confirmed, correct?

 

Nothing is confirmed.

 

I don't think they'd go through the trouble of submitting these labels just to fuck with people...

 

But, at least that one's been approved by TTB

 

I think you may be right in terms of OG Vanilla. I typically think of Vanilla Rye, which is different than this due to rye barrels. But, I think OG Vanilla was bourbon barrels, which would make this a repeat as well. That also leads me to think these ones will be draft only and really only offered at GI locations. I'm all for more draft-only options honestly. As much as I love getting a bottle of something and being able to have it in the comfort of my own home and/or with friends, the draft events are always fun and pretty plentiful.

 

They have all been approved by the TTB that's how they leak.

 

Got it, my mistake

 

I would love to see them really dial in draft-only variants and improve the body to make it more viscous. I had a Fat Joe last night and I just can't help but think how amazing BCBCS would be with that level of viscosity. I do understand sacrificing that when you're mass producing thousands of bottles, though.

 

A couple of things:

• Just because a label is approved by the TTB does not mean that a beer is ever going to be released (although I would estimate about 90% of them are at some point.) There were a couple of different BCBS labels approved in 2016 that have not been released yet (Maple and Scotch Prop.) Think of the labels as possible variants that may released.
• Labels are submitted/approved at different times, so the fact that there are not bottle labels for some yet (i.e. Prop) is not necessarily an indication that bottles won't be released, just like the fact that draft labels for some have not been seen means that beer won't be on draft. It is interesting that the Vanilla and Bramble variants have only keg labels so far, but that could be because a. bottle labels have not been approved/submitted or b. they could be just keg releases that are not distributed (i.e. released only at GI.)

 

SEE: Nothing is confirmed.

 

Sidebar from #bottlegate: I was at the Radiohead concert at the United Center on Saturday and found BCBS on tap at Mad West (Dark Matter's cafe spot inside the stadium...right near the new atrium).

Disregard the pricing on the link as it's laughably low vs. what it actually was, but if you're a sucker like me and find the novelty of drinking BA stouts at events worth more than paying an absurd amount (around $3/oz), figured I'd pass the tip along.

Food is pretty good at that spot, too.

http://www.unitedcenter.com/venue/mad-west/

 

I bet one or more variant will be keg only. Last year they did the double barrel stout which was excellent.

 

Check label first...then post. I deleted about 30 seconds after posting.

 

And depending on how much this costs (is it a one time fee per submission or based on expected barrel production volume) it might be smart for GI to submit duplicates to throw people off so you don't know exactly which ones you'll wind up with closer to the date of release. Kind of like a tv show filming multiple endings...

 

Is there actually any value to them submitting a label just to mess with the public? Assume someone there reads these posts to get a general feedback on variants and ideas for next year?

 

But double chocolate bruh!

Between Neapolitan, Double Chocolate, Horchata, and bringing Vanilla back, it's evident they've been following the secondary market and beer trading scene. If they do these well, and in quantity, this could be a big swing that might cause a creativity shift, or maybe even put a strong chilling effect on the pastry stout phase.

Oh and btw, how about BCBVS for the 'new' vanilla...?