Bourbon County 2018

That's my own personal tastes tho. I'm just telling you what I got. I got a lot of those dark fruits

 

Yeah totally fine, and I appreciate the input. That's just the exact opposite of what I expect from, and want, my BCBS to be.

 

Uh oh.

 

Regular is cheap and always solid. That’s the last one to worry about.

 

Overwhelming dark fruits to the point of wondering if it was a new fruit variant.

 

I agree...I was wondering if they gave me Cherry BCS

 

First ABI came for the 12oz bottles, and we did not speak out.

Then they came for the BCBS Coffee, and we did not speak out.

Then they came for Regular, and there were no widely distributed world class stouts left to drink.

 

Maybe it's just the lacto slowly kicking in showing those fruit notes. Hah

 

Actually, I don't know if it's been mentioned here, but apparently one of the "welcome" kegs was actually pouring Bramble, not regular. Some people had mentioned it, and I thought they were full of it. But, later as the welcome station was out of beer, I wandered over there and saw the kegs were still sitting there. I looked at all of them, and one of the kegs sure was Bramble. It was the station on the north side of the street (on the right as you walked into the festival).

 

I don't know what it was either. Last year it was very bourbon forward, this year it was very fruit forward. It was really damn good I know that. But it may piss the purists off

 

So it seems a bunch of people might have thought they got regular... and they were actually drinking bramble...

 

My bottle which I posted pics of said it was the regular BCBS. It tasted like a dessert fruit forward stout. I was reminded of The Abyss by Deschutes with vanilla flavors.

It may need to develop in the bottle to get the bourbon and chocolate to bloom out.

Honestly it was really good, but it tastes more like it was aged in wine barrels than it was aged in bourbon barrels. The alcohol was replaced by sweetness.

Take that for what it's worth.

 

Ok. So we really need to clear up the confusion around the "welcome" beverage. I was told by Goose PR that it was Prop. And I got a chocolate note on the back end but did not taste "chocolate bomb" as some have described. Now I see a lot of people say it was regular. Did they say what it was to anyone? Now throw in the monkey wrench that some of it was Bramble. Ugh.

 

What I had was what I'm going to assume is what gets released to stores on Black Friday (the store I got it at just put it out too early). No mention that it's a variant anywhere on the bottle.





I sipped it for about an hour last night starting with it slightly cool (probably 51 degrees) and letting it warm up to room temp in the glass out of a teku.

The dark fruit was what was the most notable thing in the bottle. That was the #1 flavor that the stout gave off. I gave it a 4.75/5 myself. I really enjoyed it. It tastes more like something you would have during the Christmas season. Maybe that's what they were going for with this batch? It was very desserty and sweet.

I drink a lot of red blended oaky wines with my gf during Christmas, and honestly I think she would have liked this despite the fact that she thinks every stout in the world tastes like soy sauce.

 

What?

 

Pack it in, guys, 2018 BCBS is infected.

 

People serving it said Regular....Year's past the welcome beer has been the new Prop. Someone f'd-up.

 

Maybe they filled the snifters 3-4 days in advance and let Chicago flaura and fauna spontaneously take over...

 

You're making me feel like I need to try '18 BCBS on draft before I bother buying any bottles. Dark fruit flavors in BA stouts aren't my favorite thing.

Skipping the bottles this year would be a good thing for me anyway. I might actually make a dent in my cellar if I stop adding bottles.

 

Maybe buy a bottle and sit on it? It was everything I love in a stout, but I really like those kind of flavors. My tongue may be just tasting completely different things than anyone else will. Get a bottle and tell me what you think.