Side Project / Shared (2021)

I too think it must be a large batch. I've been getting Instagram adds for the release with the link to blog on how to purchase.

It's a showcase package with basically two "best in show" beers. Definitely capable of growing their brand. Hopefully some new people get to try them this year.

 

Considering Tete is included in the package, if there's a shit ton of BBT then there'd have to be a ton of Tete too. Is that really likely?

 

This is a fascinating question that I hope someone can really dig into. On this note, I have a similar question, admittedly not knowing a lot about Tete.

For some reason I thought that Tete in some way is "selected" the same way that 'honey barrels' are selected for bourbon. It's important to note that while there is an expectation that barrels that go into X, Y and Z locations will be earmarked for a particular brand, it does not always work out that way. So, at some level, in the end, they are still tasted and the "honey barrels" are still earmarked for the rarest of labels.

Is this the same sort of thing that is going on with Tete? Or, what ultimately limits Tete?

 

Tete is a blend of basically any barrel they would qualify as Oude. It's been almost all barrels that would qualify as Oude Fermier, but I believe 1 or 2 batches might have had a little Oude du Ble blended in as well. They sample all the barrels and then mix and match to find the right combo for what they are looking for. The limits are basically set by which barrels they select for the blend and any artificial limit they may self-impose.

No barrel is earmarked for Tete beyond the fact that it's the type of beer that qualifies to be blended in. Obviously, the big bourbon warehouses are on a scale way beyond what Side Project operates at. If SP sets aside 5-10 barrels and said these are going to be Tete next year, they're screwed if those barrels aren't up to the standard they expect for Tete.

 

You're pretty much spot on. Tete is just a blend of wilds and showcases the best of the best that are selected by Cory and the team. I'd imagine that beers that meet the Tete status are aged a little longer than their standard white label. But I do believe I heard Cory mention experimenting blending with younger beers as well. So all in all, I don't think there are rules to blending Tete, lol.

 

Understood. It sounds like the "honey barrel" analogy still follows, just that obviously nothing can be set aside. (To be clear, this is also true in Bourbon. It's just that what they go on is, you know, 100 years of averages. There's a not-so-well-known quote from Julian where he talks about how at one point barrels that didn't make the cut for any of the VW line ended up blended into Old Crow. So, while they 'hope' barrels earmarked as honey will turn out to be that way, it doesn't mean they will be. Same thing here. Any barrels with the recipe could become that, but after tasting them they figure out whether they can ultimately become a blend into Tete.)

 

Nice breakdown. I believe Tete always has a blend of different styles. So I don't think there is a Tete that is all fermier. Otherwise it would be Oude Fermier? I could be wrong though.

 

seems even less unlikely than BBT, however, as soon as i saw foeder-aged components in the blend i felt that was a dead giveaway.

 

It can be all Oude Fermier. Here is the description of v2019.

Threads of the Saison du Fermier recipe which were aged for more than 1 year in oak, thus becoming Oude Fermier. The blend consisted of 4 brews of Oude Fermier aged in White Burgundy barrels, Neutral French Oak Puncheons, a Neutral Missouri Oak Foedre, a lightly toasted Missouri Oak Foedre, and 225 Liter California Chardonnay Barrels for 13 to 20 months.

 

Tete v16 was straight Oude Fermier but from various barrels / puncheons aged for various lengths of time.

i believe blend 1 did contain some Oude Du Ble as well as Oude Fermier. Vintage 15 and 18 also contain a recipe called Tete, which Cory described as a “slightly tweaked SdF recipe”

 

No Tete that I am aware of has anything aged less than a year.

 

Cory did mention “younger threads” in the newest blend, but i think younger in this case means 12-14 months. it’s all relative i guess when you’re talking about past blends having 30-month aged barrels in the blend.

 

btw would totally take a CdC blend of Oude Fermier from Missouri oak foeder (Oude Foeder Fermier)

 

According to an LC member it was mentioned there would be roughly 2700 packs for sale on Monday, so basically 900 per pickup weekend. It's a decent amount, but it'll still sellout in minutes.

 

If we can get past the 20-second sellout, I...think I can get a pack.

 

Does anyone know how many there were last year?

 

no. and i’m surprised (and a little uncertain) we would have an idea this year. SP never seems to give batch sizes / bottle counts with the exception of like an OWK where the bottles sold to-go were numbered on the labels.

 

all I remember about last year is Apple Pay shitting the bed and scrambling to find my credit card to put it in manually

 

Yep, that's why i missed out last year, hopeful I'll have better luck with ShopPay this time around.

 

I'm just relaying what I heard with absolutely no way to verify its validity, so there's my disclaimer.