Goose Island Bourbon County 2019

That’s the one I really wanted to try!

 

Definitely worth seeking out. Took me by surprise.

 

Yeah, glad you said that! I have a few regular and BA’s cellaring, and trying them intermittently yields disappointment. I used to think that any stout, BA or not, would age well, but OB Ten Fidy doesn’t play that way, IMO.

 

Do they have distro in upstate NY? I don’t recall ever seeing them, but we have a lot of gaps around here...

 

Not sure. I'd check beermenus

 

I don't have a horse in this pissing contest, but Kane shits all over GI. Everything I have had from their barrel program was next level beer. Modern times too. GI is flogging a dead horse, exploiting their fan base via a poor $/oz format, and putting out the same lackluster variants they have for years or worse, InBevs idea of a good variant.Yikes.

 

I love Kane. An infinite amount more than anything by GI. But the consistency of BCBS at the absurdly vast volume they produce...it's unmatched. And they either created, or at least perfected, this whole entire style to begin with. I can't take that away from them and I don't care who owns them today. I personally don't feel quality has dipped. 2015 infection-gate and subsequent pasteurization measures included. I'll take almost any BA Kane beer over GI if given and either/or choice, but still.

 

Had a busy day cleaning gutters and installing gutter guards...knees are not happy...another beer will shut them up. 2 year old Founders Curmudgeon is in the glass. Still pretty spicy up front, but settles down quickly enough to a malty old ale. No nose on this one, or maybe a touch of old musty Monte Carlo when water got in the carpet. After the Odravein, this is a weak follow up.

 

I get that Kane is standing on Goose Island's shoulders here, and GI at it's best was the best, but I feel like they are a shadow of themselves. It's not because of the buy out, but as mentioned before it's hard to not feel like the consumer is being exploited by GI these days when I used to buy 4x for 20 bucks.

 

Um, wrong thread?

 

Yep, sorry.

 

The effects of aging are quite subjective. I like what happens to Founders CBS and Prairie Pirate Bomb/Noir aged six months or more, while I prefer most other stouts fresh. From my experience few improve, some don't change much, and many degrade. Often what seems to happen is some flavor(s) fade, allowing other flavors to prevail. Some breweries encourage aging but I suspect much of that is to boost sales and cult status. If aging improves their beer, they are admitting they couldn't hit the mark.

 

Reflecting back on this comment here. These attributes alone don't make BCBS the king of (barrel aged) beers. This is like saying Budweiser is better than Jever for the same reasons.

 

You're right. But while palates change, I don't think the beer really has seen a dip in quality. Some here have made that argument but I just don't see it. I can be pretty picky and boycott stuff for all sorts of reasons. I don't buy a lot of BCBS, but I do buy some every year because it's pretty much the best barrel aged beer you can buy off the shelf, especially over such a wide distribution footprint. And it also still trounces 90% of all smaller batch, brewery-only, non-adjunct barrel aged stouts. The ones that are significantly better than BCBS are in the extreme minority and everyone knows what they are.

 

Dragon's Milk?








*ducks*

 

I agree with you. I easily access and drink central Florida’s good stuffs daily (Angry Chair, Cycle, Cigar City, Hidden Springs etc.). I won’t say GI is better than them, but BCBS and some of its varients (e.g. last year vanilla) are comparable, and still top-tier considering their huge production.

Apart from that, I complain about their price. Large production can lead to lower price I beleive. Considering their format (16.9 oz?), their varients are a bit pricy.

And barrel aging is a complicated procedure, not easy to control. So it may not be a good example of comparison with larger production.

 

I think we found the barrels GI is going to use for 2020 BCBS Rare: https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/03/us/jim-beam-warehouse-fire-kentucky-trnd/index.html

Rare barrels chosen by fate to survive an epic fire. Oaky smokiness....

 

GI RARE 2020
BCBS AGED IN EXTREMELY RARE FIRE BOMBS FOR 2 YEARS

 

If it happened in 2019, how would there be a 2 year rare release in 2020? Just curious

 

GENEROUS ROUNDING